The Book of Kells

The fourth in this series of monographs on medieval culture, this work studies one of the world's most celebrated manuscripts. The Book of Kells is assessed here as a liturgical document, focusing on the possible meaning and function of its illustrations and decoration in the context of early western liturgies. The author analyzes the decorative articulation of its text, showing how the decoration makes connections with the graphic structuring of the text for reading, especially for public presentation of the liturgy, as found in other fifth to ninth-century gospel books. The book has been amply illustrated, and is addressed to students and art historians, and anyone interested in the making and meaning of illuminated manuscripts.