St Cuthbert's Gospel

Recently the British Library paid £9 million to the Society of Jesus for the earliest bound book in history: St Cuthbert's Gospel. The volume is a barely decorated copy of the Gospel of John, scribed on vellum and bound in leather to be placed in the coffin of the Northumbrian saint when his remains were moved in 698, some years after Cuthbert's death. The British library plan to display the book both in London and Durham alternately.

The British faction of the Society of Jesus (or Jesuits) will use the money in their educational programmes and building work.