Islam - Qur'an, Cairo?, 766 Islamic Era (1364 - 5 Christian Era). © The Bodleian Library

Exhibition Notice - The Creation as told in the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’an: Three manuscripts for World Book Day 2008 at the Bodleian Library - one day only - March 6 2008.

To mark World Book Day 2008 on 6 March, the Bodleian Library in Oxford is holding a one-day only display featuring the Creation as recorded in three spectacular and historic manuscripts of the sacred books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – the Torah, the Bible and the Qur’an.

Each year the Library celebrates World Book Day by exhibiting one of its great treasures in the Divinity School, Old Bodleian Library. This year they have elected for a triple display of the three religious texts, each looking at the story of creation.

The display will show how for centuries, religion and the written word have been closely entwined with manuscripts playing a vital role in preserving and transmitting sacred knowledge.

The importance and respect accorded to the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is shown in the way they were reverently copied and by the brilliance of their illumination and calligraphy, in the quality of parchment or paper on which they were written, and in their bindings. These texts were designed to be studied and read aloud to an audience of the faithful.

Judaism - Kennicott Bible, La Coruna, 1476. © The Bodleian Library

Judaism is represented by The Kennicott Bible. Copied in northwest Spain in 1476, it is one of the Library’s treasures. It was also a chance acquisition, named after Benjamin Kennicott, Biblical scholar and Radcliffe Librarian, who in 1771, when it was brought into the Library by a young man, recognized its importance and purchased it for 50 guineas.

The Christian faith is exemplified by the first volume of a three-volume moralized Latin Bible produced in France in the second quarter of the 13th century. It was given to the Library by Sir Christopher Heydon in 1604; the other two volumes of the set are now in Paris and London.

A valuable Qur'an represents Islam, and is one of a large number of manuscripts purchased in Venice in 1817 by the Bodleian Library from the collection of the Jesuit Matteo Luigi Canonici. It was copied, probably in Cairo, in the year 766 of the Islamic era, which corresponds to 1364-5 AD.

Christianity - Moralized Bible, France (Paris?), second quarter of the 13th century. © The Bodleian Library

“Mounting a special display for a public audience to mark World Book Day has become a tradition at the Bodleian Library,” said Bodleian Keeper of Oriental Collections, Lesley Forbes. “In 2008 we invite you to look at the story of the Creation as recorded in three of the Library’s particular treasures.”

Half-hour lunchtime talks will take place on the day beginning at 1.15pm in the Convocation House (entrance through the Divinity School). Guest speakers will be Dr Norman Solomon, Professor Alister McGrath, and Professor Yahya Michot.

World Book Day aims to support books and reading. Libraries, schools and bookshops will be holding a variety of book-related events. More details can be found at www.worldbookday.com .