Columbanus--That
of Mael Brith Mac Durnan--The Lindisfarne Gospels--_Cumdachs_--Other
book-shrines.
We have seen that in both Roman and Byzantine MSS. the titles and
beginnings of books were merely distinguished by a lettering in red or
gold, rather smaller, in fact, than the ordinary text, but rendered
distinct by the means referred to. The handwriting, too, is clear and
legible, whether capital, uncial, or minuscule.
In absolute contrast to all this the Iona Gospels have the first page
completely covered with ornament. On the next the letters are of an
enormous size, followed by a few words, not merely in _uncials_, but in
characters varying from half an inch to two inches in height. The page
opposite to each Gospel is similarly filled with decoration, separated
into four compartments by an ornamented Greek cross. This may, of
course, be simply a geometrical device in no way connected with Greece,
but, taken in connection with other features, we see in it an indication
of contact with Byzantine work and the side of illumination which deals
rather with the tabular enrichment of the page than the development of
the initial. Further, the writing, though large, is not easily legible,
for it is involved, enclaved, and conjointed in a manner sufficiently
puzzling to those who see it for the first time.
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