Out of the darkness and into the library Resident recently put Book of Kells copy on display in Middletown BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer Book of Kells MIDDLETOWN - Written by Irish monks during the Dark Ages, the Book of Kells is credited by scholars with helping to save modern civilization. A copy of the 680-page illustrated book, considered a national treasure in Ireland, was recently on display at Middletown Library, on loan from resident Richard Roden. The book contains the four Gospels of the New Testament, called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. "It's an eighth-century manuscript," explained Roden, a retired high school English teacher. "It's written in a combination of old Latin and St. Jerome's Vulgate, the Latin which was used by the Catholic Church for 1,500 years." The monks are credited with inventing modern script, which is the standard shape and size of the letters used today. "The Book of Kells is the most valuable work of art created during the Dark Ages," Roden said. The Dark Ages (500-1,000 A.D.) are considered the early part of the medieval period, following the fall of collapse of the Roman Empire. "It's called the Dark Ages because people were ignorant," Roden said. "There was just no learning. Literacy was kept alive almost exclusively due to the efforts of Catholic monasteries, he said. Monks dedicated their entire lives to painstakingly copying religious works and imagery by hand, using natural pigments to create color. "There are 680 pages; all but two pages contain color," Roden said. To create the color, the monks used natural pigments mixed with egg whites. In order to create blue, a stone quarried only in the Himalayan mountains, now modern-day Afghanistan, was used. "They charged a lot for it, just like they do now for their oil," Roden said. The color red was created using a female insect, only the pregnant ones, found near the coast of the Mediterranean. And green was made by scraping the surface off weather-worn copper. The images created with the pigments were often grotesque, Roden said, and depicted attacking animals. "Books were such a valuable possession," Roden said, adding it often took a lifetime to complete one book. Adding to its value, the Book of Kells is a rare early example of the first known books. Prior, documents were written on scrolls or clay tablets. "Somewhere around the first century someone came up with the idea of a book," Roden said. "Just around the time of Christ and the New Testament. Christianity is really the religion of the book. For 2,000 years, Latin became the language of the intellectual, all the way up into my childhood, when all prescriptions were in Latin. You couldn't become a doctor or a lawyer without a full knowledge of Latin." The original purpose for copying the Book of Kells was to share it with the world. "The monks would travel the world with them," Roden said, allowing people to see the book; for most it would probably be the only book they would ever see. Could this be the reason why Roden decided to put the text on loan? "This is the only rare book I have," he said. "I'm just fascinated by anything to do with literature, especially ancient literature." Roden paid $10,000 for the book in 1988. A limited number of 1,000 copies were produced by a Swiss firm. "They guaranteed it would go up to $15,000 in a year. Around 10 years ago, a copy sold for $30,000. I don't know what they're worth today. Of course, I wouldn't sell mine."