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. 566
Parchment · 342 pp. · 24.5 x 18-18.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th/10th centuries
Lives of early Roman and early German saints
Hagiographic manuscript compriseing the lives of early Roman and early German saints, produced in the monastery of St. Gall around 900. The volume contains, among other items, lives of saints Lucius, Desiderius, Kilian, Vigilius, and Gertrud as well as a compilation in calendar format of the lives of the saints who were well-known in the monastery of St. Gall in the 9th century. (smu)
Parchment · 199 pp. · 25 x 16/17 cm · St. Gall · last quarter of the 8th century / last quarter of the 9th century
Vitae sanctorum
Vitae of ancient Roman saints, among them – preserved here only – the Life of Pope Gregory the Great, composed by a monk from the English monastery of Whitby. (smu)
Parchment · 182 pp. · 24 x 17/18 cm · St. Gall · around 880-890
Acta sancti Silvestri . Legend of the finding of the cross
A careful copy of the Vita of St Sylvester (Pope, 314-335) and the legend of the finding of the Cross by Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, written in the monastery of St. Gall around 900. (smu)
Parchment · 259 pp. · 23 x 18 cm · 9th/10th centuries
Vitae of early Christian popes and martyrs. Excerpts. Seneca, Apocolocyntosis. Varia
Contains, among other items, the only extant version of the Life of Saint Ambrose, composed by an unknown monk from Milan around 870, and the principal manuscript of Seneca's (1 BC - 65 AD) Apocolocyntosis, a satirical pamphlet on the Roman emperor Claudius (41 - 54 AD). (smu)
Parchment · 198 pp. · 25/25.5 x 20/20.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Æthici Cosmographia. Pœnitentiale; et alia.
A composite manuscript, produced for the most part during the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. In addition to some shorter texts with computistic-chronological, homiletic and liturgical content, the manuscript contains as its main elements a copy of the Book of Pennance (Poenitentiale) by Bishop Halitgar of Cambrai († 830), excerpts from the rule of Fructuosus of Braga (7th century), and the tract De duodecim abusivis saeculi, a work by an unknown Irish author, long attributed to Cyprian of Carthage. (smu)
Parchment · 293 pp. · 19-19.5 x 14.5-15 cm · St. Gall (in part) · 9th century / 11th/12th century
Lives of early Christian and early Frankish saints
Manuscript compilation from the second half of the 9th century, predominated by lives of the early Christian and early Frankish saints. The codex contains, among other items, the life history of St. Augustine written by Possidius as well as a catalog of the writings of Augustine, a copy of the life history of St. Remaclus with dedicatory letter and prologue (from the 11th century), and the lives of Saints Sualo (an Anglo-Saxon who lived at Einsiedeln), Pelagius, and Purchard. (smu)
Parchment · A, B + 140 + Y, Z pp. · 19 x 14.5 cm · St. Gall · 10th century
Vita S. Galli, S. Othmari
This rather plain (in comparison to Codices 560, 562 und 564) copy of the lives of St. Gall's patron saints Gallus and Otmar by Reichenau Abbot and scholar Walahfrid Strabo, was made in the 10th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 467 pp. · 19 x 14 cm · St. Gall · 9th/10th centuries
Vita metrica Sancti Martini by Paulinus of Périgueux; Vita metrica sancti Martini by Venantius Fortunatus; Visio Wettini by Haito and Walahfrid Strabe; Revelatio Baronti monachi, etc.
Manuscript compilation with partly hagiographic content, written in the monastery of St. Gall in about 900. Contains, among other items, the Vita metrica Sancti Martini by Paulinus of Périgueux, the Vita metrica sancti Martini by Venantius Fortunatus, a copy of the Visio Wettini by Haito and Walahfrid Strabe, the Revelatio Baronti monachi and the Life of the Martyr Leodgar in metric (poem) form. (smu)
Parchment · 254 pp. · 33.5-34.5 x 24.5-27.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Johannes Cassianus, Collationes patrum I-X
Part I of The conferences (Collationes patrum I-X) composed by John Cassian († about 435). This copy was made in St. Gall in the first half of the 9th century. (smu)
Parchment · 172 pp. · 33.5-34.5 x 24.5-27.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Johannes Cassianus, Collationes patrum XVII-XXIV
Part III of The conferences (Collationes patrum XVII-XXIV), composed by John Cassian († about 435). This copy was made in St. Gall in the first half of the 9th century. (smu)
Parchment · 158 pp. · 33.5-34.5 x 24.5-27.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Johannes Cassianus, Collationes Patrum XI-XVII
Part II of The conferences (Collationes patrum XI-XVII), composed by John Cassian († about 435). This copy was made in St. Gall in the first half of the 9th century. (smu)
Parchment · 754 pp. · 34.5 x 26 cm · St. Gall · 9th/10th centuries
Passionarium novum: Lives of early Christian, early German and Carolingian Saints
The St. Gall Passionarium novum: a large-format manuscript containing the lives of early Christian, early German and Carolingian saints, written in the cloister at St. Gall during the 9th and 10th centuries. This volume includes the oldest known, and indeed the best surviving copies of the life histories of saints Meinrad, Odilia, Hilarius, Trudpert, Verena, Leodgar and Pirmin. (smu)
Parchment · 325 pp. · 29.5 x 21.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Vitae sanctorum. Dicta Martini ep. ad Polemium ep. Homiliae s. Caesarii.
A manuscript compilation written in the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. The manuscript contains, among other items, the Lives of monastic father Antonius (by Athanasius), Paulus, Hilraion and Malchus (all by the church father Jerome), 12 homilies (Predigten) of Caesarius of Arles, additionals tracts by Caesarius and by Pseudo-Caesarius as well as the dicta of Martin of Braga addressed to Polemius entitled De correctione rusticorum3. The manuscript contains a very large number of quill tests, including two alphabetical verses (“Adnexique globum…” and “Ferunt ophyr…”) and a scribal saying: Scribere discce puer… (smu)
Parchment · 194 pp. · 27 x 19 cm · Southwestern region of German · end of the 12th/beginning of the 13th century
Benedict of Peterborough, Miracula sancti Thomae Cantuariensis
This codex contains the miracles of Saint Thomas of Canterbury, which the Benedictine monk Benedict of Peterborough began to collect after Thomas’ murder on December 29, 1170. The manuscript, which has beautiful initials with scroll ornamentation on p. 12, was written by two hands in the Southwestern region of Germany towards the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century. The collection of miracles is divided into four books, of which the last nine chapters (IV.95-96, V.1-4, VI.1-3 of this edition) and the following letter from the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset, are not numbered. The manuscript is listed in the Monastery of St. Gall catalog from the year 1461. (len)
Parchment · II + 312 ff. · 24 x 16.5 cm · provenance unknown · 14th century
Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda aurea (Legendae sanctorum / Historia Lombardica) with the Latin appendix called Provincia
This manuscript has a binding with large and striking metal bosses; following a 15th century list of saints (f. Iv−IIv), it contains first the Latin Legenda Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine († 1298; f. 4r−262v) and then the so-called Provincia appendix, also in Latin (f. 263r−301r), which also contains short descriptions of the lives of the St. Gall patron saints Saint Gall and Saint Othmar. Later additions include blessings and reflections (f. 302v−304v). A note by an unknown scribe on f. 302v begins with the verses: Qui me scribebat, R nomen habebat. Finito libro sit laus et gloria Christo… This manuscript was written by several (three?) hands; the book decoration consists of Lombard initials that extend over three lines. The decoration ends on f. 210v; however, space has been reserved for additional initials. (smu)
Parchment · 699 pp. · 21.5 × 15.5 cm · Lake Constance area (?) · 14th century
Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda aurea (Legenda sanctorum / Historia Lombardica)
This manuscript, probably produced in the 14th century in the area around Lake Constance, contains a copy of the main part of the Legenda Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine (pp. 5−691), as well as small parts of the so-called Provincia appendix (p. 691−701). On the last three pages a sermon for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) has been added. The area of Lake Constance is suggested by remains of a document glued to the front and back inside covers (probably parts of the writing “Konstanz”) and also by an ownership note on p. 704 dated to the late 15th or the early 16th century from a community of sisters near Stammheim (Vnnser frouwen ze niderstamhem ist das …). This could refer to the community of Beguines of Haslen in the municipality of Adlikon in the Zürcher Weinland (wine country of Zurich), which was dissolved during the Reformation. This volume has been the property of the library of the monastery St. Gall at least since the middle of the 18th century. (smu)
Parchment · 226 pp. · 18–18.5 x 12.5–13 cm · 14th century
Mechthild von Hackeborn, Liber specialis gratiae
This codex contains the first five books of the Liber specialis gratiae by Mechthild von Hackeborn; books 6 and 7 are missing. On p. 3 there is also a fragment of the Epistola de Ihesu Christo by Ps.-Lentulus Romanus de Judea. The notes on p. 224, which name Johannes Tauler and Konrad (in the codex: Johannes) of Prussia as previous owners, suggest an origin in a Dominican environment. In the 15th century, this manuscript belonged to Ulrich Varnbüler (brother of Angela Varnbüler, who was prioress of the Dominican Convent St. Katharina in St. Gall from 1476-1509; mayor/imperial vogt of St. Gall 1481-1490). (sno)
Parchment and paper · 78 pp. · 18 x 13.5 (I); 20.5 x 14.5 (II) cm · 14th and 15th centuries
William Rothwell, Quaestiones de septem sacramentis; Life of St. Bridget
This little booklet brings together in an eighteenth-century half-leather binding two fascicules produced in different centuries and which certainly were not originally connected. The first fascicule (pp. 5–52) contains a single text, the Dominican William Rothwell’s treatise on the sacraments. The text, copied in a fourteenth-century hand, is arranged in two columns and is rubricated throughout. Due to water damage, the parchment is heavily rippled. The second fascicule (pp. 53–76) contains the life of St. Bridget of Sweden. The text, laid out in a single column, is written in a fifteenth-century hand, and only the first page is rubricated. The second paper flyleaf at the beginning (p. 3) contains a breviary fragment. (mat)
Paper · 328 pp. · 21 x 14 cm · Saint Leonard Franciscan Convent, St. Gall (?) · after 1456
Elsässische Legenda Aurea (selections from the summer section)
The bulk of this manuscript is constituted by lives of the Apostles taken from the Elsässische Legenda Aurea, an important Upper German rendition of James of Voragine’s Legendary (pp. 1–259, largely identical to the abridged legendary in Cod. Sang. 594). There then follows the mystical treatise Christus und die sieben Laden (pp. 260–277). The last two quires (pp. 281–328) contain a collection of spiritual, mostly mystical excerpts (Meister Eckhart, Jan van Ruusbroec) and, on the final pages, an indulgence prayer intended to be recited before an image of St. Gregory (indulgence promise dated 1456, pp. 326–328). Several pages before this prayer, there is an explicitly-connected accompanying prayer (pp. 319–320). Scarpatetti believes the scribe was Sister Endlin of the Franciscan convent St. Leonard in St. Gall. Later, the manuscript came into the possession of Johannes Kaufmann (ownership marks, p. 1, p. 277, and on the upper piece of the book block), and, even later, it belonged to a lay brother of the monastery of St. Gall (p. 328). Simple red initials provide the only decoration. The binding is red-colored pigskin of the fifteenth century, with clasps and with six of ten original bosses still in place. Some fragments used as quire guards can be seen (e.g., p. 52/53). (mat)