Inside Salisbury: 13th Century Bible saved for Salisbury Cathedral
Friends of the Nations Libraries raised thousands of pounds to secure precious bible
By Annette J Beveridge
A SPECIAL Bible crafted more than 700 years ago in Salisbury is finally coming home.
The 13th-century Bible was up for auction, and the Friends of the Nations’ Libraries successfully raised £90,000 for its purchase and have returned it to Salisbury Cathedral where it will soon go on display.
The Bible was illuminated by the famed Sarum Master who was one of the greatest artists of his time. A manuscript illuminator working in the mid-13th century, he led a large workshop at a time when no other cities, apart from London and Oxford were known to have supported this scale of book production.
The Bible is one of only six manuscripts definitively attributed to the Sarum Master.
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An expert on medieval manuscripts, Christopher de Hamel, said: “The Sarum Master was one of the earliest manuscript artists in England of whom we have a recognisable oeuvre. Salisbury and Oxford had the first professional book illuminators in England, ahead of London. Salisbury had been founded as a new town in the 1220s, and artists were working on the stained-glass and chapter-house carvings of the new cathedral.
“Like Oxford and Northampton, it had schools which might easily have developed into a university, and it had access to court money through the royal palace at Clarendon, as Oxford did with Woodstock. This was also the moment when Breviaries and Missals were coming into use. Because Salisbury had a book trade (and Oxford did not have a cathedral), Salisbury manuscripts were available for purchase, which no other diocese could match, and thus, the local Use of Sarum became standard for all of southern England and, at the Reformation, for the Book of Common Prayer.”
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Chair of FNL, Geordie Greig, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the magnificent generosity of many donors and nearly 150 members of the public. Thanks to them this 700-year-old Bible has now returned to the City in which it was created and will forever be in Salisbury Cathedral Library, one of the treasure houses of our country.”
The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury, said: “We are hugely grateful to the Friends of the Nations’ Libraries for their work in raising the funds to bring the Sarum Bible back to Salisbury. It will be thrilling to welcome this important and beautiful manuscript to the Cathedral and to share it with our many visitors.”
There are plans to fully digitise the Bible and details for viewing will be announced in 2025.
Photo: Left to right - Rev Edward Probert, Canon Chancellor, Dr Anne Dutton, Cathedral Librarian, The Very Revd Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury
