The Saint John's Bible

Saint John's Bible

When Donald Jackson first approached Saint John's Abbey and University about his life-long dream, no one could have foreseen what would follow. The long-time scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Crown Office would spend the next seven years collaborating with artist-calligraphers, illuminators, scholars and the monks of Saint John's Abbey to create the first handwritten Bible since the invention of the printing press. Using eggs, feathers, calfskins, and hand-ground inks along with gold, silver and platinum, The Saint John's Bible employs ancient techniques to create a contemporary masterpiece intended to put us in communication with the Infinite.

Saint John's Abbey, a Benedictine monastic community in central Minnesota, and Saint John's University, a liberal arts college founded by the Abbey in 1857, envisioned a Bible that would ignite the spiritual imagination of people for centuries to come. It would be contemporary, interreligious, multicultural and prophetic. Created in Donald Jackson's scriptorium in Wales, The Saint John's Bible will reside at Saint John's University, which enjoys an international reputation for its work with medieval and early modern manuscripts.