A book considered one of the oldest in existence, written in Egypt at the dawn of Christianity, will be up for auction in London in June. The Crosby-Schoyen Codex, produced in one of the first Christian monasteries, was written in Coptic on papyrus between 250-350 AD. Christie’s estimates the book’s value to be between $2.6 million to $3.8 million.
The codex contains the earliest known texts of two books of the Bible, the first epistle of Peter and the Book of Jonah. It is made up of 104 pages (52 leaves) written by one scribe over a period of 40 years at a monastery in upper Egypt. The book is preserved behind plexiglass.
Eugenio Donadoni, Christie’s Senior Specialist, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, explained that the codex was produced during a transitional period when papyrus scrolls started turning into codex form – books as we know them today. The book’s preservation is attributed to Egypt’s dry climate, making it one of the few surviving manuscripts from the 3rd and 4th centuries.
Dr. Martin Schoyen, a Norwegian manuscript collector, acquired the codex in 1988 as part of his Shoyen Collection, one of the largest private manuscript collections globally. The codex was discovered in Egypt in the 1950s and remained at the University of Mississippi until 1981.
The codex is on display at Christie’s New York from April 2 through April 9 and will be auctioned in London on June 11.