Lindisfarne Gospels in Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, England with Frank ...
I contacted The British Library regarding ownership of The Lindisfarne Gospels and the possibility of them being sent on loan to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne.
I also asked them for information as to what happen with the considerable sums of money that they charged for people to view them when they were on loan to Palace Green Library, Durham during 2013.
The reply is attached and below.
19th February 2015.
Thank you for your correspondence.
As you pointed out, the Lindisfarne Gospels were once in the possession of Durham Cathedral Priory, according to Symeon of Durham, who refers to them in his twelfth century ‘Tract on the Origins and Progress of this the Church of Durham.’
After this period there is very little information on how or when the Lindisfarne Gospels left Durham Cathedral Priory. Lawrence Nowell, an antiquary and lexicographer, is known to have consulted the Lindisfarne Gospels in the 1560s, but he is not believed to have visited Durham.
The name Thomas Turner also appears in the codex, and his annotations have been dated to the early sixteenth century.
The sixteenth-century antiquary Thomas Bowyer (d.1569/70) may also have possessed the manuscript; by 1605, it was in the possession of his son, Robert Bowyer (b. c. 1560, d. 1621), a parliamentary official and politician, who inscribed his signature on the verso page of the second leaf of the manuscript.
In the first few decades of the seventeenth century Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (b. 1571, d. 1631) 1st baronet, antiquary and politician, acquired the manuscript.
It was then passed on to his son, Sir Thomas Cotton (b. 1594, d. 1662), and grandson, Sir John Cotton (b. 1621, d.1702). The Cotton collection, including the Lindisfarne Gospels, was bequeathed to the nation ‘for Publick Use and Advantage’ by Sir John Cotton at his death in 1702.
When the British Museum was established in 1753, these manuscripts formed one of the foundation collections of the Museum.
The library of the Museum became the British Library in 1973.
As you note, the Gospels were recently loaned to Palace Green Library, Durham, for an exhibition, and the accompanying book Richard Gameson, From holy Island to Durham:
The Contexts and Meanings of The Lindisfarne Gospels (2013) contains an excellent analysis of the manuscript’s history.
The library does not have details of the funding for that exhibition. Regards Mark Reaveley Customer Services British Library.
I have had letters of reply and support for my quest from His Holiness, Pope Francis, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, His Eminence Cardinal, Vincent Nichols, His Excellency, Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
https://independent.academia.edu/FrankDougan/Papers
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