Egmond Gospels

The Egmond Gospels (Dutch: Evangeliarium van Egmond) is a 9th-century Gospel Book written in Latin and accompanied by illustrations. It is named after the Egmond Abbey, to which it was given by Dirk II, and where it remained for six centuries. It is most famous for being the earliest surviving manuscript showing scenes with Dutch people and buildings, and represents one of the oldest surviving Christian art treasures from the Netherlands. The manuscript has been owned by the National Library of the Netherlands since 1830.

The manuscript consists of 218 vellum folios measuring 232 by 207 mm. Its Latin text is written in a single column of Carolingian minuscule of 20 lines measuring 156 by 126 mm. Its original binding was made of oak boards covered in gold and set with gemstones, which is described in the "Rijmkroniek van Holland" (Rhyming Chronicle of Holland) that was written around 1300. In another description from 1805, Hendrik van Wijn describes a biding of wooden boards covered in brown leather, unmarked except for the date 1574. This is likely the year when the valuable binding was removed. The binding was replaced again in 1830 when it was acquired by the National Library of the Netherlands, and once more in 1949 with a calfskin parchment after it appeared that the previous hard-glued spine caused damage. Its current binding is made of white goat's skin and dates to a restoration in 1995.

The manuscript was written in the third quarter of the 9th century in northwestern France, likely in Reims. It is not known who commissioned it.

Around 900, eight folios were added to the manuscript, two at the beginning of each gospel. On the verso side of the first folio is the evangelist's symbol, and on the recto side on the second is his portrait. The second folio's verso side displays the incipit. The text on the following page was adjusted to reproduce the first letters of the text in large, decorative letters. It is still possible to see places where the original text was taken out, for example folio 19 recto, at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew in the Liber Generationis. A space above the first line 'XPI FILII DAVID FILII ABRAHAM' is clearly visible, where the text has been removed and brought to the preceding pages. The page likely originally began: ‘INC EVANG SCDM MATTHEUM / LIBER GENERATIONIS / IHU XPI FILII DAVID FILII ABRAHAM'. The removed text was rewritten in decorative letters on the added folios 17v, 18r, and 19v. At this time the manuscript's current canon tables were also added. These seven folios precede the Gospel of Matthew and may have replaced the original canon tables, or have been the first ones themselves.

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