One of the oldest books on the planet is up on the market

One of the oldest books in existence that was written ‘at the dawn of Christianity’ could be yours to own – if you have £3 million to spare. 

Crosby-Schøyen Codex – an ancient biblical manuscript from Egypt – is being sold off by London auction house Christie’s tomorrow.

Dating back 1,700 years ago, it features five early Christian texts written in Coptic, a language descended from ancient Egyptian.

Among them are the earliest known texts of two books of the Bible – Book of Jonah and the First Epistle of Peter. 

Even though the precious manuscript is no longer in one piece, Christie’s expects it to sell for as much as £3 million ($3.8 million). 

Christie’s has called it ‘the earliest known book in private hands’ (not held by a museum) and ‘one of the earliest books in existence’. 

It’s a ‘codex’, essentially an ancient book consisting of sheets of papyrus, the chief writing material in ancient Egypt made from the pith of the papyrus plant. 

It’s an early example of the transition from scroll to the book as we know it today. 

However, the 104 pages (52 individual sheets or ‘leaves’) are no longer stitched together and are each contained behind protective plexiglass. 

‘It’s right at that period, that transitional period, when papyrus scroll starts turning into codex form,’ said Eugenio Donadoni, Christie’s senior specialist in medieval and renaissance manuscripts.

‘There is evidence that codices existed earlier, but none has survived. 

‘That makes this a unique object in the history of Christianity and of information technology.’ 

Crosby-Schøyen Codex contains five different texts originally composed by five completely different authors.

But all five were copied out by the same ‘scribe’ – a person who made written copies of documents – in the 3rd century AD.

Likely an Egyptian monk, he would have used a ‘fresh-cut reed’ dipped in ink to write on the papyrus sheets. 

Dr Meredith Warren, senior lecturer in biblical and religious studies at the University of Sheffield, called the work a ‘key example of the birth of Christian culture and literature.’ 

‘What makes the codex so remarkable, apart from its age and completeness, are its contents,’ she said in a piece for The Conversation. 

It contains the earliest surviving complete texts of two biblical books – Book of Jonah and the First Epistle of Peter.

‘Jonah was an important figure for early Christians because he was famously swallowed by a huge fish while reluctantly heeding God’s call to deliver his prophetic warning to the Ninevites, depicted as a very wicked city,’ Dr Warren said. 

‘The three days Jonah spent in the belly of the fish was read allegorically by early Christians to foreshadow the time between Christ’s death and resurrection.’ 

Crosby-Schøyen Codex was found in Egypt in 1952 among some other manuscripts buried, inexplicably, in a jar in the sand. 

Donadoni attributed its preservation to Egypt’s dry climate, adding that only a handful of books from the 3rd and 4th centuries have survived to the present day.

‘All the major finds of Christian manuscripts that we had in the 20th century and at the end of the 19th century are all concentrated in Egypt for those very precise climactic conditions,’ he said.

It was acquired by the University of Mississippi in 1955 before being purchased by Norwegian businessman and collector Martin Schøyen in 1988. 

Schøyen is now selling the item, along with other highlights of his Shoyen Collection, one of the largest private manuscript collections in the world.

The in-person auction will take place at 2pm tomorrow (June 11) at Christie’s King Street in London, with an estimated sale price of £2 million to £3 million.