The Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world; it is the most important part of St. Gall’s Abbey district UNESCO world heritage site. The library’s valuable holdings illustrate the development of European culture and document the cultural achievements of the Monastery of St. Gall from the 7th century until the dissolution of the Abbey in the year 1805. The core of the library is its manuscript collection with its preeminent corpus of Carolingian-Ottonian manuscripts (8th to 11th century), a significant collection of incunabula and an accumulated store of printed works from the 16th century to the present day. The Abbey Library of St. Gall was a co-founder of the project e-codices. With its famous Baroque hall, where temporary exhibitions are hosted, the Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the most visited museums in Switzerland.
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 277
Parchment · 244 pp. · 20 x 15.5-16 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Composite manuscript
Manuscript compilation with copies of Halitgar of Cambrai's "Bussbuch" (Book of Penances), a pseudo-Roman penitential book, assorted smaller texts and a copy of the moral tract frequently attributed to the church father Cyprian, De duodecim abusivis saeculi. This well-crafted copy was produced in the St. Gall scriptorium and was donated to the monastery by Abbot Grimald from his private book collection. (smu)
Parchment · 514 pp. · 25.6 x 19 cm · St. Gall · 850/880
Amalarius of Metz, De ecclesiasticis officiis libri IV
This is an unadorned copy, significant in terms of textual history, of the De ecclesiasticis officiis libri IV (also referred to as Liber officialis) by liturgist and Archbishop Amalarius of Metz († around 850); it was written at the monastery ofSt. Gall around 820, probably under Deputy-Abbot and Abbot Hartmut (872-883). Between book 3 and book 4, inserted on pages 349 to 361, the manuscript contains five letters by Amalarius of Metz to various addressees. (smu)
Parchment · 395 pp. · 28.5-29 x 20.5-21 cm · St. Gall · second half of the 9th century
Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli
Copy of the first part of the work Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli, a compilation of works by the church fathers (mainly those of Augustine) by the scholar Deacon Florus of Lyon († about 860), produced in the second half of the 9th century in the monastery of St. Gall, with numerous glosses written by the monk Ekkehart IV. (about 980 - 1060) in the 11th century. This volume includes commentaries on the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. (smu)
Parchment · 434 pp. · 30.4 x 21.7 cm · St. Gall · 872-883
Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli
Copy of the Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli, combined from works by the early Church fathers (especially Augustine) by the scholar Deacon Florus of Lyon († about 860), produced under Abbot Hartmut (872-883) in the monastery of St. Gall, with numerous glosses by the St. St. Gall monk Ekkehart IV. (about 980 -1060). This volume includes the commentaries on the two Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians, on the two Epistles to Timothy, and on the Letter to the Hebrews. (smu)
Parchment · 562 pp. · 34-34.5 x 26.5 cm · St. Gall · 872-883
Copy of the Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli
Copy of the Collectanea ex Augustino in epistolas Pauli, combined from works by the early Church fathers (especially Augustine) by the scholar Deacon Florus of Lyon († about 860), produced under Abbot Hartmut (872-883) in the monastery of St. Gall, with numerous glosses by the St. St. Gall monk Ekkehart IV. (about 980 -1060). This manuscript, still in its original Carolingian period binding, preserves the commentaries on both Epistles of Paul to the Corinthians. (smu)
Parchment · 206 pp. · 35.5 x 27-27.5 cm · St. Gall · middle of the 9th century
A copy of books XIII through XX of the Commentaries of Hrabanus Maurus on the Old Testament book of Jeremiah
A copy of books XIII through XX of the Commentaries of Hrabanus Maurus († 856) on the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (Expositio super Jeremiam prophetam libri viginti), produced in the middle of the 9th century on the monastery of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 684 pp. · 25.5 x 19 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Commentary of Hrabanus Maurus on the Pentateuch
A copy of the commentary of Hrabanus Maurus on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; also called the five books of Moses), produced in the 9th century in the abbey of St. Gall, with a scribe's verses at the end: "Accipe nunc demum scripturam..." (smu)
Parchment · 472 pp. · 22 x 16.5-17 cm · St. Gall · first quarter of the 10th century
Commentary of Hrabanus Maurus on Kings I and II
A copy of the commentary of Hrabanus Maurus on the Old Testament books Third- and Fourth Kings, written in the Cloister of St. Gall in the first quarter of the 10th century. (smu)
Parchment · 270 pp. · 24.5 x 15-15.5 cm · Cloister of St. Emmeram in Regensburg · around 850
Hrabanus Maurus, De institutione clericorum
A copy of the work De institutione clericorum (On the institution of the clergy) by Hrabanus Maurus, most likely produced in 850 in the Cloister of St. Emmeram in Regensburg and probably obtained by Abbot Grimald (841-872), who was also Ludwig the German's royal chaplain. The manuscript also contains a letter from Charlemagne to Alcuin from 798 as well as Canon 145 of the Synod of Aachen in 816. (smu)
Parchment · 60 (58) pp. · 19-19.5 x 13-13.5 cm · 12th century
Anselm of Canterbury, Cur deus homo
This manuscript contains Anselm of Canterbury’s main work, Cur deus homo, including the Praefatio (p. 3), table of contents (pp. 3–5) and Commendatio operis ad Urbanum papam II (pp. 5–6). (sno)
Parchment and paper · 98 pp. · 31 x 23.5 cm · 14th century
Iacobus de Lausanna, Compendium moralitatum; Aldobrandinus de Tuscanella, Symbolum; excerpts from Iohannes Baconthorp OCarm, Questiones de prologo quarti sententiarum
Composed partly in parchment (pp. 1-74) and partly in paper (pp. 75-98), this fourteenth-century manuscript brings together three different texts. The Compendium moralitatum (1320-1322) of the Dominican James of Lausanne is built as a dictionary running from A[bicit mundus …] (p. 1a) to Y[pocrita] (p. 36b). There then follows the Symbolum magistri domini Bonae Venturae, as the rubric calls it (p. 37), which is in fact a text attributed to the Dominican Aldobrandinus de Tuscanella, copied by a different hand than that of the preceding text (pp. 37a-72a). The section in paper contains excerpts from the Questiones de prologo quarti sententiarum (pp. 75a-98a) by the English Carmelite John Baconthorp (c. 1290-1348) [https://drcs.zahnd.be/oid/100499]. The cords and the sewing stations on the inside of the spine of the book (after p. 98) show that another part of the manuscript was originally bound in, and has since been removed. Fragments of canon law texts from the fourteenth-century serve as pastedowns. (rou)
Parchment · 210 pp. · 11.6 x 15.2 cm · St. Gall (?) · part 1: 11th century / part 2: 11th or 12th century
Glossaria diversa
The manuscript consists of two codices bound together (part 1: pp. 1-198; part 2: pp. 199-210), written by several hands. At least the first, older part was probably produced in St. Gall. It contains various various glossaries (Latin-Latin as well as Latin-Old High German) of the Bible, of hagiographic texts (Abdias, Historica Apostolica; Sulpicius Severus, Vita S. Martini), grammatical works (Priscian, Institutio de arte grammatica; Donat, Ars grammatica), and writings by Christian authors (Prudentius; Sedulius; Sedulius Scottus, De greca), furthermore glossaries of herbs, a medical paper, and an incomplete astronomical treatise. (sno)
Parchment · 188 pp. · 19.5 x 18-18.2 cm · St. Gall (?) · 9th-10th century
Biblical Glossary
Latin biblical glossary (Latin terms explained in Latin), written in a Carolingian minuscule script in about 900, probably in the Abbey of St. Gall. There are numerous quill tests at the beginning and the end of the glossary. (smu)
Parchment · II + 121 pp. · 21.7-22 x 15.5-16 cm · St Gall · 9th/10th century
Bible Glosses; Jerome, Ad Marcellam de hebraicis nominibus
Manuscript of collected texts, includes two Bible glossaries, a Psalter glossary, and a directory explaining Hebrew and Greek names, produced in about 900 at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 236 (216) pp. · 20-20.2 x 15.1 cm · Mainz · around 850 / second half of the 9th century
Canonical documents from the diocese of Mainz; Jerome, Biblical Commentary; Isidore of Seville, Synonyma
A three-part composite manuscript containing texts from the 9th century: (1) Canons from the collection of the diocese of Mainz under Hrabanus Maurus, (2) a Biblical glossary, (3) a copy of the Synonyma by Isidore of Seville. Part 1 was apparently produced in Mainz (in about 850), the other two parts at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 280 pp. · 24 x 16 cm · 11th/12th century
Glossae latinae; anonymous commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
This volume consists of two more or less equally old codices. On pp. 3-94, the first codex collects glosses on Genesis and on Leviticus, drawing on patristic sources such as the works of Gregory the Great and Augustine, as well as on the Leviticus commentary by Hesychius of Jerusalem. On pp. 95-279, the second codex contains an anonymous commentary on Matthew. Several initials are multicolored, e.g., p. 278, p. 279. In the 14th century, a table of contents was added on the last page, p. 280, which had originally been left blank. (nie)
Parchment · 336 pp. · 22.6 x 16 cm · St. Gall · second half of the 9th century
Glossaria diversa
Compilation of various types of glossaries: Biblical glossaries, glossaries of texts by Church Fathers (such as the Letter of Jerome to Marcella or Pope Gregory the Great’s homilies on the Gospels). A Latin word from the respective text is followed by a Latin explanation or by a vernacular (Alemannic) translation. The manuscript also contains glossaries of technical terms (such as of the canons, of birds, fish, medicine, kinship terms). These glossaries, which were compiled by several monks from the monastery of St. Gall in the second half of the 9th century, are among the oldest records of the German language. The majority of the parchment pages in the first half of the manuscript are damaged at the top edge. (sno)
Parchment · 254 pp. · 24.5 x 16.5 cm · beginning of the 13th century
Anselmus Laudunensis (?), Commentaries on the Psalms and Cantica
The manuscript contains Anselm of Laon’s († 1117) commentary on the Psalms (the author’s identity is according to Stegmüller, Repertorium Biblicum, Nr. 1357; elsewhere the text is ascribed to a certain Haimo). On pp. 245–253, the manuscript continues with a commentary on the little doxology as well as on the Old Testament cantica for Lauds, which were authored either also by Anselm or by his student Gilbert of Poitiers († 1155) (Stegmüller, RB 1357, 1 or 2530). A few pages contain longer marginal glosses. Decoration is limited to two- to three-line red lombards and sparse rubrication. On p. 254 can be found the library stamp from the time of Abbot Diethelm Blarer (1553–1564). (sno)
Parchment · 316 pp. · 22 x 14.5 cm · 1st half of the 14th century
Homiliary; Herbert of Clairvaux, Liber miraculorum (excerpts)
The codex, written in a single hand (p. 236: two hexameters naming the scribe Cuonradus), contains primarily sermons for the entire ecclesiastic year (pp. 1–236: sermones de tempore, pp. 239–285: sermones de sanctis). From p. 287 onwards are added a few chapters from the Liber miraculorum of Herbert of Clairvaux († ca. 1198). Decoration is limited to at most three-line red Lombard initials. (sno)