Christianity’s oldest non secular e book, in keeping with public sale home Christie’s, is happening sale in June.

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex, written in Coptic script on papyrus in Egypt, dates to between 250-350AD.

Additionally it is considered one of many oldest books in existence and will promote for as much as $3.8m (£3m).

The liturgical e book was produced in one of many first Christian monasteries and accommodates the entire texts of two Bible books.

The textual content is of “monumental significance as a witness to the earliest unfold of Christianity across the Mediterranean,” mentioned Eugenio Donadoni, senior specialist for books and manuscripts at Christies.

“The earliest monks in Higher Egypt within the earliest Christian monastery have been utilizing this very e book to rejoice the earliest Easter celebrations, just a few hundred years after Christ and solely 100 or so years after the final Gospel was written.”

The e book is a part of the Bodmer Papyri, a group of a number of texts which have been found within the Fifties, and embody Christian writings, Biblical extracts and pagan literature.

The manuscript itself accommodates texts together with the primary full epistle of Peter, the Ebook of Jonah, and an Easter homily.

The 104 pages, or 52 leaves have been written by one scribe on the daybreak of Christianity, over a interval of 40 years. The e book is without doubt one of the oldest texts on the planet, the public sale home says.

Its exceptional preservation has been attributed to Egypt’s arid local weather, Mr Donadoni mentioned.

The codex was purchased by the College of Mississippi the place it remained till 1981, and was acquired a number of occasions earlier than being bought by Norwegian manuscript collector Dr Martin Schøyen in 1988.

Dr Schøyen is auctioning the manuscript alongside different items from his assortment, which is without doubt one of the largest manuscript archives on the planet.

The codex is on show at Christie’s New York and can stay there till 9 April.

It will likely be auctioned on 11 June in London, with an estimated sale worth of between $2.6m and $3.8m (£2m to £3m).