British Library, Egerton 609 is a Breton

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

 Gospel Book

Gospel Book

The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...

 from the 9th century. The manuscript contains the Latin text of the four Gospels, along with prefatory material and canon tables. The manuscript contains an interesting mix of traditions. The script is similar to the form of Carolingian minuscule

Carolingian minuscule

Carolingian or Caroline minuscule is a script developed as a writing standard in Europe so that the Roman alphabet could be easily recognized by the literate class from one region to another. It was used in Charlemagne's empire between approximately 800 and 1200...

 developed at Tours

Tours

Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...

, which was one the classicising centers of the Carolingian Renaissance

Carolingian Renaissance

In the history of ideas the Carolingian Renaissance stands out as a period of intellectual and cultural revival in Europe occurring from the late eighth century, in the generation of Alcuin, to the 9th century, and the generation of Heiric of Auxerre, with the peak of the activities coordinated...

. And although the form of the large decorative letters which form the beginning of each Gospel are similar to the letters found in Carolingian manuscripts, the decoration of those letters is closer to that found in insular manuscripts such as the Book of Kells

Book of Kells

The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...

 and the Lindisfarne Gospels

Lindisfarne Gospels

The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...

, although the decoration here is simpler and more geometric in form than that found in the Insular manuscripts. The beginning of each Gospel is preceded by full miniature of the apropiate evangelist's symbol. The vellum

Vellum

Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...

 folios are 32.5 by 23 centimeters. This manuscript forms part of the Egerton Collection

Egerton Collection

The Egerton Collection is a collection of 67 manuscripts bequeathed to the British Museum in 1829 along with £12,000 by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater. To this was added £3000 in 1838 by Egerton's cousin, Charles Long, Baron Farnborough.The Collection is now in the British Library....

 in the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

.