posted September 25, 2007 04:30 PM         

And Czechs were eager to see it, officials said.

The priceless piece, considered the biggest medieval book, was taken from the Prague Castle by Swedish troops at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. It is in Prague on loan from Sweden's Royal Library in Stockholm. It was put on display last week under high security at the Czech National Library.

Its return to Prague for the exhibition, which runs through Jan. 6, was made possible after years of negotiations between Czech and Swedish diplomats, National Library spokeswoman Katerina Novakova said.

"We expected big interest from the public," Novakova said. "Now, we are 100 percent full."

Only 60 people an hour can enter an air-conditioned room in the library's medieval complex for a 10-minutes look at the manuscript, which is inside a specially designed, unbreakable case, she said.

According to myth, a Benedictine monk promised to write the book overnight to atone for his sins. When he realized the task was impossible, he asked the devil for help. The page with the illustration of the devil is the one visitors see.

The manuscript was likely written by one monk from the Benedictine monastery in Podlazice located some 65 miles east of Prague sometime at the beginning of the 13th century, said Zdenek Uhlir, a specialist on medieval manuscripts at the National Library.

It contains "a sum of the Benedictine order's knowledge" of the time, including the Old and New Testament, "The War of the Jews" by the first-century historian Josephus Flavius, a list of saints, or a guideline how to determine the date of Easter, Uhlir said.

"I would estimate it took him between 10 and 12 years to write," he said about the piece, which weighs 165 pounds. Originally, it had 640 pages, of which 624 survived in relatively good condition, he said.

The book was transported to the Czech Republic in a military plane. Authorities would not give any details about security measures adopted at the library. It has previously been displayed in New York and Berlin.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Source Article --> http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=bizarre&id=5670155

posted September 25, 2007 04:47 PM         

quote:

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The Codex includes the entire Latin Bible in a pre-Vulgate version, Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, Cosmas of Prague's Chronicle of Bohemia, various tractates (from history, etymology and physiology), a calendar with necrologium, a list of brothers in Podlažice monastery, magic formulae and other local records. The entire document is written in Latin.

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posted September 25, 2007 09:12 PM         

I'de want to peek through the pages to actually SEE what's inside.
I'm such a curious sort, LOL!

posted October 13, 2007 12:59 AM         

No, sadly... I don't read latin either.
Let me recommend this post:
Language -This Is A Global Issue

posted October 13, 2007 01:52 AM           

Somehow I felt that if there really were such a being as "the devil" he would be a whole lot scarier looking than that illustration. He looks more like a little elf who needs both a manicure and a pedicure.

Sorry but that just struck me as funny.

posted May 08, 2008 10:12 PM         

QUICK, Thorshammer sneak it through!