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Following the offical launch in the Scottish Parliament on 20 February by Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, the digitised missal was shown for the first time in Renfrewshire at a launch in Paisley Central Library on 28 February.
The world can now see the unique Arbuthnott Missal in all its glory after the 500 year old, illuminated, medieval book of service was converted into a virtual book and launched on the world wide web.
The world can now see the unique Arbuthnott Missal in all its glory after the 500 year old, illuminated, medieval book of service was converted into a virtual book and launched on the world wide web.
The digitised version will be available to all of Renfrewshire's schoolchildren and teachers through GLOW - the national schools intranet for Scotland - currently under development. This will provide access to this unique resource straight from their desktop.
The Missal has only been seen by a handful of people in the past century because of the damage it could suffer through being handled and being exposed to artificial light. Now anyone can find it at the British Library website.
In 2007 the Arbuthnott Missal beat entries from 82 libraries across the UK to win a top award in the British Library’s Hidden Treasures competition. The competition identifies rare and valuable items in library collections that should be brought to a wider audience by being turned into a downloadable digital format.
The competition was organised by the British Museum with the Society of Chief Librarians, the Scottish Library and Information Council and Microsoft.
The five winning entries, including the Arbuthnott Missal, have had 30 pages of their content digitised and placed on the British Library’s website using Microsoft’s Turning the Page software.
Councillor Eileen McCartin, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s community and family care policy board, said, “Renfrewshire is home to a wealth of cultural treasures and it’s wonderful to get this recognition for our library service. Libraries were first founded to share knowledge and make it more accessible and this is just what the Hidden Treasures project is all about.”
The Arbuthnott manuscripts belong to Renfrewshire Council. They were produced for the Arbuthnott family in 1491 and stayed in family hands until 1897 when they were bought by Mr Archibald Coats and presented to Paisley Library.
The manuscripts consist of the Arbuthnott missal, prayer book and psalter. The missal is the only complete Catholic service book of its kind that survived the Reformation in Scotland. Apart from its unique significance in Scottish religion, the missal is a rare and important example of Scottish medieval art and letters.
The large volume has 264 lavishly decorated pages with 23 three-quarter page border illuminations and illustrations. It also has finely painted miniatures and initials spaced throughout the text along with a painting of St Ternan, the patron saint of the church of Arbuthnott. The image is based on William Chevez, archbishop of St Andrews and can claim to be one of the earliest Scottish portraits.
Find out more about the manuscripts and the British Library Hidden Treasures competition.
Press release: Friday 29 February 2008
