AN acclaimed copy of one of the world's greatest books will be given pride of place at a library next week.

The copy of the Lindisfarne Gospels will be on show in Chester-le-Street library, County Durham, from Monday until June 4.

The colour copy will enable visitors to see the beauty of the book's intricate decoration close-up.

It will be the centrepiece of an exhibition in the library during its stay.

Michelle Brown, curator of the Gospels and ancient manuscripts at the British Library, will give a free talk on the Gospels at Chester-le-Street library at 6pm on May 28. For tickets, call 0191-388 2015.

Ms Brown, who is also an author, will be available for book-signings after the event.

The touring exhibition is a collaboration between the British Library, Durham County Council and the North-East Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

The Gospels were written in Latin on 259 leaves of vellum created with more than 150 cattle hides.

They were believed to have been produced in about 718 by Eadfrith, the Bishop of Lindisfarne, and are on display in the British Library, in London.

Copies of the Gospels are touring the country and one has spent a month on Durham County Council's new bookbus, which visits remote communities.

The British Library presented copies to Durham Cathedral and the Lindisfarne Heritage Centre last year, where they are on permanent display.

Fundraising is under way to buy a copy for St Mary and St Cuthbert's Church, in Chester-le-Street, where the Gospels were housed for more than a century before they were taken to Durham.