riting under this restraint, we find little
bearing the stamp of originality, not because he had nothing original to
say, but because he had not space to write it in; I think it necessary to
give this explanation, as some critics upon the learning of that remote
age select these small and ill-digested writings as fair specimens of the
literary capacity of the time, without considering why they were written
or compiled at all. But as a scribe how shall we sufficiently praise that
great man when we take into consideration the fine Bible which he
executed for Charlemagne, and which is now fortunately preserved in the
British Museum. It is a superb copy of St. Jerome's Latin version, freed
from the inaccuracies of the scribes; he commenced it about the year 778,
and did not complete it till the year 800, a circumstance which indicates
the great care he bestowed upon it. When finished he sent it to Rome by
his friend and disciple, Nathaniel, who presented it to Charlemagne on
the day of his coronation: it was preserved by that illustrious monarch
to the last day of his life. Alcuin makes frequent mention of this work
being in progress, and speaks of the labor he was bestowing upon it.[276]
We, who blame the monks for the scarcity of the Bible among them, fail to
take into consideration the immense labor attending the transcriptions of
so great a volume; plodding and patience were necessary to complete it.
The history of this biblical gem is fraught with interest, and well worth
relating. It is supposed to have been given to the monastery of Prum in
Lorraine by Lothaire, the grandson of Charlemagne, who became a monk of
that monastery. In the year 1576 this religious house was dissolved, but
the monks preserved the manuscript, and carried it into Switzerland to
the abbey of Grandis Vallis, near Basle, where it reposed till the year
1793, when, on the occupation of the episcopal territory of Basle by the
French, all the property of the abbey was confiscated and sold, and the
MS. under consideration came into the possession of M. Bennot, from whom,
in 1822, it was purchased by M. Speyr Passavant, who brought it into
general notice, and offered it for sale to the French Government at the
price of 60,000 francs; this they declined, and its proprietor struck of
nearly 20,000 francs from the amount; still the sum was deemed
exorbitant, and with all their bibliomanical enthusiasm, the conservers
of the Royal Library allowed the treasur