The oldest element of the book is what is now the back cover, which was probably produced in the later 8th century in modern Austria, but in the context of missionary settlements from Britain or Ireland, as the style is that of the Insular art of the British Isles.

The upper cover is late Carolingian work of about 880, and the text of the gospel book itself was written and decorated at the Abbey of Saint Gall around the same time, or slightly later.

[1] When J.P. Morgan, already in his early sixties, bought the book in 1901, it was his first major purchase of a medieval manuscript, setting the direction that much of his subsequent collecting was to follow.

It is the only largely intact example of a very early Insular metal bookcover to survive, although we know from documentary records that famous works like the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels had them.

A few Irish cumdachs or metal book-shrines or reliquaries for books have survived, which show broadly comparable styles, and use crosses as the central feature of their designs.

The spaces between the members of the cross are filled with chip-carved interlace including snake-like beasts and a central stud set with a gem.

What distinguishes the cover from the few other surviving pieces of Insular metalwork is the extensive use of enamel, which it is thought may have been learned from north Italy.

[6] The upper cover (not illustrated here, see note for image) is very lavishly studded with large gems, and uses low repoussé relief.

[14] Recent scholars tend to group the Lindau Gospels and the Arnulf Ciborium in closer relation to each other than the Codex Aureus to either.

[2] The manuscript is first certainly documented in 1691 when it was described by a visitor to an aristocratic convent on the island of Lindau on the Bavarian side of the Bodensee, which was founded long after the book was created.

[21] Treasure covers are relatively easy to transfer, as they are only attached to the wooden boards of the binding by small nails.

[22] The purchase was encouraged by Morgan's nephew, who wrote from London that "the British Museum would like to buy it but have not the money necessary", and that an offer of £8,000 by another had been refused, and £10,000 was being asked for.