A book from Egypt, dating back to the dawn of Christianity and considered one of the oldest existing books in the world, is being put up for auction in London. The "Crosby Schoyen" manuscript, written in Coptic on papyrus, dates approximately from 250 to 350 AD and was written in one of the oldest Christian monasteries. According to Christie’s, it is expected to sell for between $2.6 and $3.8 million.
Eugenio Donadoni, a senior specialist in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts at Christie’s, stated: "Indeed, during this transitional period, papyrus began to take the shape of manuscripts, leading to the books we know today. What we have is the oldest known text of the Scriptures." This book, which comprises 104 pages on 52 leaves, was copied by a single scribe over 40 years in a monastery in Upper Egypt and has been preserved behind glass. The manuscript includes the first letter of Peter and the Book of Jonah.
Donadoni attributed the preservation of the manuscript to Egypt's dry climate, adding that only a few books from the third and fourth centuries have survived to this day. He further explained, "All the Christian manuscripts we have from the twentieth century and the end of the nineteenth century are centered in Egypt due to those very fine climatic conditions."
The manuscript was discovered in Egypt in the 1950s and was acquired by the University of Mississippi, where it was kept until 1981. It was then obtained by Norwegian manuscript collector Martin Schoyen in 1988, who is now selling it at public auction along with other highlights from his collection, one of the largest private manuscript collections in the world. The manuscript will be displayed at Christie’s New York from April 2 to April 9 and will be auctioned in London on June 11.
