Trinity College in Dublin has the Book of Kells in its library. This illuminated manuscript containing the 4 gospels dates from c. 800. A long layover provided enough time to taje the bus through morning traffic to the city center and see the manuscript. I was lucky enough to be able to get an entrance ticket for 10:00 at about 9:45. They asked for my family name; "that's a good Irish name they replied."
There is a display on the history if the book. Inscribed on vellum, it is esti.ated to have used the skins of more than 150 sheep. The fragile book is kept in a temperature and humidity controlled glass chamber in a darkened room. The exit is through the upstairs "Long Room," where the library's most important works were housed (1). A stroll about the campus through the drizzle followed.
The afternoon flight to Mallorca flew directly over the islands western mountains before landing in Palma (2).
(1) The library is currently moving most of its volumes.
(2) Not to be confused with La Palma or Las Palmas, two different airports in Spain's Canary Islands.
No comments:
Post a Comment