Codex Gigas

Allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys, the Codex Gigas is the world's largest and most mysterious medieval manuscript. According to legend, the cursed text sprang from a doomed monk's pact with the devil.

There is no other manuscript like it. It contains a combination of texts that exist nowhere else. It is a most peculiar, strange, haunting, fascinating, large, bizarre, inexplicable object. And behind it all there's a diabolical driving force. A single, sinister figure. Satan. Dare you scan its pages?

The legendary Codex Gigas manuscript.

Close up of a Necrology page.

Manuscript open to the New Testament in Bible. The Codex is the only book that places the Old and New Testaments alongside violent, holy incantations.

The Codex boasts a full-page portrait of the Devil. No other Bible on Earth features such a sizable image of evil incarnate. No one knows who created it, or why it's there.

Manuscript open to the New Testament in Bible.

Close up of a Necrology page.

BEHIND THE CODEX GIGAS

Filled with satanic images and demonic spells, the cursed text, according to legend, sprang from a doomed monk’s pact with the devil. What else do we know about this mysterious Devil's Bible?

• The Devil’s Bible is so huge that it requires at least two people to carry it.


• Once considered the eighth wonder of the world, the Codex Gigas stretches three feet long and weighs a hundred and sixty-five pounds.


• It is the only book that places the Old and New Testaments alongside violent, holy incantations.


• The Codex Gigas contains one full page – right opposite the devil portrait – of a towering Heavenly City. Although no people can be seen in the Heavenly City, it is a symbol of hope and salvation, a contrast to the portrait of the devil on the opposing page.


• The Codex Gigas includes mystical medical formulas for anything from treating ailments such as fevers and epilepsy to resolving practical problems such as finding a thief.


• The book's transfer to Prague in 2008 took a year of planning. It was insured for $15.1 million during the transfer.


• The Devil’s Bible has 600 pages, which is 310 parchment leaves, all made from donkey skins.