IRELAND'S TREASURE

Evening Star, Issue 22526, 19 December 1936, Page 11

IRELAND'S TREASURE

THE BOOH OF KELLS [New York ‘Literary Digest.’[ John Carroft- Broderick, whose Gaelic name reads Sean Cearbhall U’a Bruadair, is over 60, energetic, American, and hopeful of completing an enormous, painstaking task. He has appointed himself a committee of ono to make Ireland’s treasure, tho ‘ Book of Kells,’ known to tho world. Tho illuminated manuscript, which is one of the Free State’s most valuable relics of antiquity, records the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the oldest recorded genealogy of Christ, and records of land grant's by an Irish king to the Abbey of Kells. Dr Broderick, who for the last few years has devoted himself to a study of Irish art and literature, has just startled a lecture tour that will take him, through this country and Canada. His talks will acquaint audiences with the legend of the ‘ Book of Kells ’ and the beauty of the illuminated manuscript. He will display his transcrip-, tions, which are exact copies of the original, and probably the only twentieth century attempt at illuminated manuscripts. From the funds from the lectures he will have 500 copies of his transcription published, which he will give to libraries in key cities throughout America. All sorts of discouragements, including an ancient curse, have not deterred the rugged scholar from his determination,, A year ago last June, Dr Broderick sent out a letter addressed to “ book lovers of the Western World,” telling them the history of the manuscript, and his intention to make it deathless as well as more widely appreciated. He selected students of literature, librarians, and scholars to tell of his plan, but they were far from cordial in their first response. Most of them wanted to know how much it would cost before they became enthusiastic. RECREATING THE MANUSCRIPT. Then he wrote to Trinity College in Dublin, where the ‘ Book of Kells has been the chief treasure of the University Library since 1661, when James I. willed it to tho college along with other treasures relating to tho Church of England. Dr Broderick explained his plans to the university heads, asked permission to work on the book at length, using an ultra-violet ray reading glass which would ensure faithfulness in his recreation of tho masterpiece. He pointed out that tho reading glass would enable him to read parts of _ the manuscript that had been obliterated by age and handling, making his copy in a way more complete than tho original. He wrote his request in May, 1935. The following November he received his answer “ No,” with an additional paragraph refusing to allow him to use,his reading glass. This, to hie inherited Irish enthusiasm, was encouraging. The amplified refusal seemed less final than a simple “No.” So he packed his luggage, embarked for Ireland, and arrived in Dublin in June.

Without wasting a minute, he went directly to see the head librarian, Dr William Smiley, with whom he had corresponded, and his assistant, a quiet, timid five-footer, John Hanna. Dr Broderick unrplled sample pages of his book that 'ho had made as best he could v from photographs. Then he ■told them of his plan to make the 1 Book of Kells ’ well known and appre- , dated. -

,His .heart sank , when, after viewing his-work, Dr Smiley bowed coldly aqd walked out, with Hanna trailing him like a diminutive shadow. -He-says he stood there feeling the complete fool:. But as he.’rolled up his drawings, his hands ■ trembling so with nervousness ■and ..disappointment that he could not tie the folders, he felt a hand steadying his. He looked up, and there was little Hanna: . Without a word he led Broderick down a long corridor, while Broderick'thought: “ Oh, Lord, they’re going to throw me out.” At the end of the passage there was a case, opened, and in it was the Book of Kells. Little Hanna removed tho book, propped it up on a table, and asked the doctor where it would be convenient for him to work.

Through interruptions caused by tourists Dr Broderick worked away at his patience-trying task. Pages that were in good condition ho had photographed, to copy_ at a later date when he had more leisure. The others he recreated with the original before him. On many of the pages, which are most profusely illustrated, he had to make his own estimates of what the colours were originally, because they had been scraped off. CURE-ALL AND CURSE. The thick paint and gold leaf that had originally been used by the monks had gone to cure numberless ailing during the middle ages. It was the medieval belief that the beautiful work that went into siich manuscripts, the delicate scrolls and intricate tracings, had been drawn by angels guiding the hand of the illuminator. The more beautiful the page the holier it was supposed to be. Consequently doctors scraped the pages of holy documents, gathered the dust collected, made a stew of it diluted with the brew of herbs, and distributed it to plague-stricken areas. Unbelievably it worked as a cure-all, which pre-sent-day doctors attribute to the fact that the arsenic in the paint acted aif a germ-killer, the faith of the recipient doing the rest. Not all the. superstitions about' the manuscript are dead. When, word travelled that an American was recreating the book Dr Broderick had many . well-wishing visitors, who came from all parts of Ireland to warn him of the danger of his undertaking. “Don’t you know about the curse?” they asked. He replied each time that he did not, and was informed that the ghosts of the original transcribers would permit no one to live long enough to copy their work. So far no one has lived long enough, but Dr Broderick’s work now stands at the three-quarter-finished mark. In spite of numerous contacts with England and the Continent—the monks who did the work were often transferred from one monastery to another— Irish illumination is worlds apart from all others, consequently very difficult to date. But the 300-odd pages of thick, aged vellum are looked on as the repository of all that remains of ancient Irish art. Transcribed, all scholars agree, some time during the eighth century, the book indicates that Ireland’s cultural background was far ahead of Europe’s at the time, and almost as advanced as that of Asia, which led the world in art while Western civilisation was developing its background along ■with Christianity. Dr Broderick’s ability to assume the task of recreating an art that has been dead ever since the invention of crude printing he credits to architectural training. His first avid interest in the past was stimulated when working with Dr A. L. Benedict in 1900, preparing ethnological- exhibits for the PanAmerican Exposition in Buffalo*

They located and excavated the “ Bryant Mound ” in western New York State, where they discovered human skeletons that dated back more than a thousand years. Dr Broderick built many of the buildings at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and in 1926 he constructed the first steel frame house. The patents on this—which have this year been further developed—ho sold to the United States Steel Company. It is the royalties from this that he is using to acquaint the world with the Book of Kells.