The Book of Mulling, also called the Book of Moling (Dublin, Trinity College Library MS 60 (A. I. 15)), is an Irish pocket Gospel Book created in the late 8th or early 9th century. The text includes the four Gospels, a religious service that contains the "Apostles' Creed," and in the final note, a drawing of St. Moling's monastery enclosed by two circles.

The name comes from an old idea that the scribe was St. Moling, a Leinster saint who died in 697 and founded Tech-Moling (St. Mullins, County Carlow). His name appears in the final note at the end of St. John's Gospel: [N]omen scriptoris Mulling dicitur. However, the manuscript is younger, and the writing shows that three scribes worked on it: one wrote the prefaces, another wrote the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and a third wrote St. John's Gospel. It is still possible that the manuscript was copied from an original written by St. Moling.

The script is written in Irish minuscule. This is one of the last surviving examples of the high style used in decorated manuscripts. The decoration includes illuminated initials and three surviving portraits of the Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, and John. Its jeweled shrine, called a cumdach, is also kept at Trinity College. The pocket Gospel Book is a unique Insular format, and the Book of Mulling is a key example of this style.

The Portrait of John

The Evangelist John is shown facing directly toward the viewer. He holds a book or tablet, with his hand resting over it and his heart. This may represent his role as the writer of one of the Gospels. He has blond hair and blue eyes, and his clothing is colored in deep blue and red. His robes flow around him, creating twisted, almost shape-like patterns that match those near the edges of the image. A border surrounds the portrait. In this case, John’s halo, which shows his holy status, extends beyond the border. The border is simple above and below John, but on the left and right sides, detailed designs are placed within the border.

Twisted lines fill the squares in each corner. Two panels on the left and right sides show animals that are stretched and twisted so they are hard to recognize. These patterns are similar to the style used in metalwork from this time. The colors are faded, but the richness of the image is clear from the use of gold and the careful details, making this one of the best examples of illuminated manuscript art from this period.

Binding and conservation

Before 1977, the Book of Mulling had a cover made by the British Museum in the late 1800s. This cover was similar to the style used for the Codex Usserianus Primus, with individual pages made of vellum attached to paper panels. These panels were sewn into a leather cover. In 1977, a restorer named Anthony Cains recreated the book’s cover using a traditional method similar to the current cover of the Book of Kells. This new cover used vegetable-fiber cords sewn into oak boards and was covered with white alum-tawed skin in a quarter style. In 2016, when conservators examined the book to prepare it for imaging, they found that Cains’ 1977 cover was in good condition and needed only minor repairs.

Early Irish Manuscript Project

The Early Irish Manuscripts Project is a project by the Library of Trinity College Dublin to preserve, study, and create digital copies of important early medieval Gospel manuscripts in their collection. These include the Book of Mulling, Book of Dimma, Garland of Howth, and Codex Usserianus Primus. This project has supported new research and made the manuscripts more accessible to people online. The goal of the project is to help researchers study these manuscripts. Special techniques that do not harm the manuscripts were used in the research.