Library pays £9m to save historic gospel

A seventh-century book that lay buried in a saint’s coffin for hundreds of years has been saved for the nation after a multimillion-pound fundraising effort.

The British Library raised £9m to buy the St Cuthbert Gospel, which is the earliest surviving intact European book. Chief executive Dame Lynne Brindley said: “This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure the Gospel for the nation and we were both grateful and touched that so many people felt moved to support our campaign.”

The book is now on show at the library near King’s Cross station in London and comes to Durham next year, where it was found when St Cuthbert’s coffin was opened in the cathedral in 1104 after being buried on Lindisfarne in about AD698.