In 1661 the Book of Kells was transferred from Kells to the Trinity College Library in Dublin, where it has been safeguarded ever since. The colors and dyes which were used in the painting of the illuminations were brought to Ireland from as far away as Asia. The text often contains brightly colored birds, animals, faces and figures humorously entwined with the letters. All but four of the pages are richly illuminated with a flamboyant exuberance unique in manuscript art. The Book of Kells contains the four gospels inscribed in Latin in an intricate style known as insular majuscule script. This box was especially designed for the reproduction of the Book of Kells but the silverwork and design are very similar to some found with other manuscripts. The black box with silver trim is typical of a type of medieval storage box used to protect manuscripts. The book, as it has survived, has 680 pages. The book was hand-written and painted on pages of vellum, which is calf-skin that has been tanned to paper thinness. D., and scholars estimate that it took seventy-five years to complete. It derives its name from the Irish village of Kells, located northwest of Dublin, where the book was kept in the monastery for several hundred years. The Book of Kells is believe to have been created at a monastery off the coast of Scotland on an the island Iona. It is one of the most famous and valuable illuminated manuscripts to have survived to modern times. The Book of Kells, of which our copy is a replica, was written more than 1,200 years ago by monks.
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