The Cotton Genesis is a fourth or fifth century Greek illuminated manuscript copy of the Book of Genesis, originally a luxury manuscript with many miniatures and one of the oldest illustrated biblical codices to survive to the modern period. Most of the manuscript was destroyed in the Cotton library fire of 1731, leaving only eighteen charred, shrunken scraps of vellum, though many of its miniatures had also been copied in the seventeenth century and are now held at the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris.
Facts
MediumIlluminated manuscript on parchment (vellum) 1 LocationBritish Library, London (Cotton MS Otho B VI) 1 Current UseSeverely fire damaged, studied through ultraviolet and multispectral imaging 1 Classification
GenreManuscript Illumination 1 Sources
1. Cotton Genesis, Wikipedia
Description section, manuscript leaves sentence
The manuscript contains the text of the Book of Genesis on 35 parchment leaves (size about 27 x 22 cm).
Introduction, lead sentence
The Cotton Genesis (London, British Library, Cotton MS Otho B VI) is a 4th or 5th century Greek Illuminated manuscript copy of the Book of Genesis.
Description section, damage and imaging sentence
The manuscript is badly burned and nearly impossible to read with the naked eye, but the text and illustrations are visible when photographed in ultraviolet.
Genre reference
The Cotton Genesis is a fourth or fifth century Greek illuminated manuscript copy of the Book of Genesis, originally a luxury manuscript with many miniatures and one of the oldest illustrated biblical codices to survive to the modern period.
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