Illuminating the Word: The Making of the Saint John's Bible

Written and illustrated entirely by hand, "The Saint John's Bible" is a monumental artistic endeavour. In this companion volume, the author takes us ona behind-the-scenes tour of this extraordinary project. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, this book tells the story of the makers of the Bible and the community at Saint John's Abbey and University.

This book explores a modern version of an age-old relationship between patron and sponsor, and the artistic director, scribes and artists producing this monumental artwork. It describes "lectio divina," the unique method the Benedictine monks use to read the Bible, in which the Holy scriptures come alive through the power of imagination. It explores the challenge of creating new images for ancient stories. It chronicles the artistic techniques, the tools and materials and the workshop practices Donald Jackson used to create his lifetime masterpiece.

The longtime scribe used age-old calligraphic techniques to create a modern manuscript: egg yolks, gold, silver and platinum in the illuminations, goose quills and hand-ground ink on carefully selected calf-skin vellum for the text. The imagery incorporates symbols as diverse as Navajo basket-weaving patterns, to microscopic views of today's viruses, even cosmological images inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Experience for yourself the story of the most extensive scribal commission in the world since the Middle Ages.