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. 217
Parchment · 342 pp. · 26 x 16 cm · St. Gall · late 8th century and early 9th century
Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis; St. Gall Botanicus; St. Gall Bestiary
Manuscript compilation from the late 8th and early 9th centuries, opening with the oldest extant St. Gall copy of the Regula Pastoralis of Gregory the Great from the last third of the 8th century, followed by a medical-pharmaceutical compendium. The latter, parts of it badly bound, consists of the folded reference manual of a wandering physician from northern Italy, the so-called St. Gall Botanicus, and the St. Gall Bestiary. (smu)
Parchment · 196 pp. · 19.4-19.5 x 26.3-26.6 cm · Cloister of St. Gall (?) · end of the 9th century
Gregorius Magnus, Regula pastoralis
Incomplete copy of the widely distributed Book of Pastoral Care Regula pastoralis by Pope Gregory the Great (590–604), written by several hands in Carolingian minuscule toward the end of the 9th century, probably in the Monastery of St. Gall. Various pages were already missing around 1553/64. The manuscript contains numerous Old High German glosses and several Latin glosses, which were added in St. Gall. At the very front, on a page with pen trials, a skillful hand from the late 10th century wrote the hymnFelix mater Constantia in honor of Pelagius, patron saint of the city of Constance. (smu)
Parchment · 234 pp. · 22 x 15.8 cm · St. Gall · around 850
Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis
Copy of Pope Gregory the Great’s Regula pastoralis, carefully written by a practiced hand at the monastery ofSt. Gall around the middle of the 9th century. The manuscript contains a great number of glosses in Latin and Old High German made by quill and stylus. (smu)
Parchment · 360 pp. · 14.2-14.3 x 19.8 cm · 10th century
Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis
Copy of Pope Gregory the Great’s Regula pastoralis, written by a variety of hands in the 10th century at an unknown scriptorium, probably not in St. Gall. In the first half of the 20th century, several 5th century fragments were removed from the binding of this manuscript. (smu)
Parchment · 397 pp. · 20.5 x 12.5 cm · Müstair? Burgundy? Switzerland? · 750/800
Collection of patristic manuscripts: among others Gregory the Great, Homiliae in evangelia
Manuscript compilation from the second half of the 8th century, written and decorated with several extraordinary initials, possibly at a “Swiss center under Burgundian or Irish influence” (Bruckner) or instead “in western Alemannia or in eastern Burgundy” (Bischoff), perhaps also in Müstair. The manuscript contains large parts of - but not in full - Pope Gregory the Great’s († 604) homilies on the Gospels (Homiliae in evangelia), as well as excerpts from authentic and inauthentic works by Augustine († 430) and Caesarius of Arles († 542). (smu)
Parchment · 148 pp. · 17-18 x 13-13.5 cm · probably Eastern France · second third of the 9th century
Isidore of Seville, Liber officiorum
De ecclesiasticis officiis by Isidore of Seville (p. 2-134), at the end of the volume a Benedictio Crucis (p. 135), a commentary on the baptismal rite Primitus paganus (p. 137-139), then Capitula e canonibus excerpta (p. 139–142), and finally a rhythmic prayer to St. Gall (p. 146/147), added in the 13th century at the Monastery of St. Gall. A simple manuscript for regular use in a handy size, in St. Gall at least since the High Middle Ages. (dor)
Parchment · 138 pp. · 19.5 x 14 cm · St. Gall · 12th century
Ordo iudicii in mensura; Lectiones de Sancta Trinitate; Isidore's Synonyma; Pseudo-Sisbert of Toledo's Penitential works
Produced in the 12th century in St. Gall, this manuscript contains some liturgical and religious texts, a list of abbots of St. Gall, the Synonyma by Isidore of Seville (ca. 556-636) and three penitential works, namely the Exhortatio poenitendi, Lamentum poenitentiae and Oratio pro correptione uitae, nowadays considered as spurious works of Sisbert, bishop of Toledo at the end of 7th c. (can)
Parchment · 222 pp. · 16-16.5 x 23 cm · St. Gall (?) · first third of the 9th century
Isidorus, Liber differentiarum II; Augustinus, Enchiridion ad Laurentium de fide spe et caritate
This is a copy, probably produced in St. Gall in the first third of the 9th century, of writings by Isidore of Seville (Book 2 of the Liber differentiarum) and by the Church Father Augustine (Enchiridion ad Laurentium de fide spe et caritate; parts of some chapters are missing). The manuscript remains in its original binding. (sno)
Parchment · 478 pp. · 25 x 15.3-16 cm · St. Gall · between 760 and 797
Manuscript compilation: wide variety of different texts about synonymy, Exegetics, computation, healing arts, hagiography
Manuscript compilation from the monastery of St. Gall, written out in early Alemanian Minuscule script between 760 and 797 with a wide variety of different texts about synonymy (Isidore of Seville, Differentiae), Exegetics (Eucherius of Lyon, Formulae spiritalis intelligentiae), computation, healing arts, hagiography (for example the oldest version of the life stories of the patron saints of Zürich, Felix and Regula), etc. (smu)
Papyrus · 44 pp. · 18 x 14 cm · southern France · after 650
Isidori Synonyma II, Humilia ad monachos, Sermo Eucherii
The sole papyrus manuscript held by the Abbey Library of St. Gall. The 23 pages, written after 650 in southern France, contain the closing of the second chapter of the Synonyma of Isidore of Seville as well as two exhortations aimed at monks. After being preserved over a very long period in a wooden case, these 23 pages were mounted between two glass plates in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin in 1899/1900. (smu)
Parchment · 276 pp. · 24 x 14-14.5 cm · Northern Italy (Monza o Verona?) · 8th-9th century
Isidorus, Libri Sententiarum (abbrev.), De Officiis (excerpta); etc.
This manuscript contains a collection of Patristic texts with selections from works by Isidore of Seville (d. 636; Sententiae and De officiis), Gregory the Great (d. 604; Homiliae in evangelia) and Augustine (Sermones, most of them not actually written by Augustine, but ascribed to him), a list of regions and cities where remains of the apostles may be found, and selections from an anonymous commentary on the four gospels (only the commentaries on the gospels of Matthew and John are included), produced in about 800 or shortly before, not in the Abbey of St. Gall, but in northern Italy, probably in Monza or Verona. (smu)
Parchment · 441 pp. · 26 x 16.5 cm · St. Gall (?) · 8th - 9th century
Isidorus, Sententiae
This copy of the Sententiae by the church father Isidore of Seville is important to textual history; it was produced in about 800, probably in the Abbey of St. Gall, and expanded in the course of the 9th century. The Sententiae are regarded as one of the most important works by Isidore of Seville. (smu)
Parchment · 571 pp. · 27 x 16-16.5 cm · St. Denis near Paris (monastery) (?) · around 800
Manuscript compilation: texts and excerpts from the works of Isidore of Seville, Augustine, Caesarius of Arles, Defensor (Liber scintillarum), Jerome, Gregory the Great, Eucherius (Formulae spiritalis intelligentiae) etc.
A manuscript compilation produced outside of St. Gall in about 800, written and illuminated unusually colorfully with numerous small initials, possibly at the Cloister of St. Denis near Paris. It consists of a large number of texts and excerpts, especially from the works of Isidore of Seville (Liber Sententiarum, Liber Differentiarum, Etymologiae), but also including texts by Augustine, Caesarius of Arles, Defensor (Liber scintillarum), Jerome, Gregory the Great, Eucherius (Formulae spiritalis intelligentiae) and many other authors. Near the end is an incomplete copy of the life story of St. Dionysius. (smu)
Parchment · 378 pp. · 27 x 21.5 cm · St. Gall · around 880-890
Isidorus, Etymologiae, Books I-X
A careful copy of books I to X of the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville († 636), written shortly before the year 900 in the monastery of St. Gall. This manuscript forms a unity with Cod. Sang. 232. (smu)
Parchment · 331 pp. · 27 x 21.5 cm · St. Gall · around 880-890
Isidorus, Etymologiae, Books XI-XX
A careful copy of books XI to XX of the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville († 636) written shortly before the year 900 in the monastery of St. Gall. On a flyleaf from the early 12th century: "St. Galler Glauben und Beichte I" with a short confession, a plea for indulgence, an indulgence formula for the use of a priest and the Creed in Old High German. (smu)
Parchment · 220 pp. · 25.5-25.9 x 17.6-18 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Isidorus, Etymologiæ, liber VI- VIII, XII-XV.
A copy of books VI through VIII and XII through XV of the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville (d. 636), copied from a northern Italian model at the Abbey of St. Gall in or shortly after 800. (smu)
Paper · II + 268 + II pp. · 20 x 14.5 cm · 14th century
Guilelmus Britonis, Vocabularius biblicus
This paper manuscript contains Guilelmus Britonis’ Vocabularius biblicus, a text composed between 1250 and 1270. It contains around 2,500 entries for words from the Bible (inc., p. 1a: Difficiles studeo partes quas biblia gestas…). The words are arranged strictly according to alphabetical order. Exception for the A written in red ink (p. 1), the initials of the lemmata are not executed, although their indications in the manner of running titles should have helped readers to find their way around. The text is widely diffused, being preserved in at least 130 copies (Summa Britonis sive Guillelmi Britonis Expositiones Vocabulorum Biblie, ed. L. Daly & B. Daly, Padova 1975). The current volume, dating from the fourteenth century, entered the possession of the priest Heinrich Lütenrieter in 1402, as the upper inside cover: Anno etc. m. cccc° 2°. Ego Hainricus Lütenrieter presbyter emi hunc librum lib. Gallen. [?] a domino Nicolao Mündli. The seal of the library of Abbot Diethelm Blarer (p. 267b) attests that this manuscript belonged to the Abbey of St. Gall by 1553-1564 at the latest. (rou)
Parchment · 281 pp. · 28.5-29 x 22 cm · St. Gall · second half of the 9th century
Isidorus, Etymologiarum liber XI- XX.
St. Gall copy of books XI through XX of the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville from the second half of the 9th century. Contains (on page 89) a famous and beautifully drawn early medieval world map (terrae orbis, T-O, or Noachid map) that serves as an illustration for the description of the continents . (smu)
Parchment · 328 pp. · 29.5 x 20.5-21.5 cm · after 800
Isidore's Etymology in 20 books
A copy of the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville from the time after 800. Most probably not written in the monastery of St. Gall. In the front, on a page with pen trials, a faded and much studied early medieval map of the world. The encyclopedia written by Isidore of Seville in the early 7th century is one of the most read and most quoted books of the Middle Ages. (smu)
Parchment · 494 pp. · 29.5 x 21.5 cm · St. Gall · 760-780
Collected works: Etymological dictionary / excerpts from Genesis / Dicta Winitharii / Sent. I, 8 and 10 / De natura rerum / Excerpts from Etymolog. IX, 2 / De eccles. dogmatibus / Excerpts from Kings and prophets
Manuscript collection by Winithar with illustrations (the oldest from St. Gall) of Isidore of Seville's De natura rerum. (smu)
Parchment · 258 pp. · 29.8-30 x 20.2-20.4 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Isidorus in Pentateuchum. Lib. Judicum, Ruth, Regum I-IV.
A copy of the Commentaries of Isidore of Seville on various books of the Old Testament (Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum), produced during the second half of the 9th century in the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 308 pp. · 30.7-31 x 20.5-20.8 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Isidorus. Proœmia in V. et N. T., de vita et obitu sanctorum.
A copy of a collection of texts by Isidore of Seville (d. 636), including De natura rerum, produced in the women's cloister of Chelles on the Marne east of Paris in, or shortly after 800. The copy of the work De natura rerum in this manuscript includes a very simple world map (Mappa mundi) as well as a so-called “Knopfkarte” (a chart composed of multiple connected circles). (smu)
Parchment · 180 pp. · 27.2-27.5 x 19.2 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Paterius, liber testimoniorum. Epistolæ S. Hieronymi et Damasi. Augustini Homiliæ in Ev. S. Iohannis.
A patristic manuscript of unknown provenance from the first half of the 9th century. It contains the Liber Testimoniorum by Paterius, letters exchanged between Jerome and Damasus, selections from the homilies of Augustine on the Gospel of John, the Athanasian Creed with exegesis, and an exegesis of the Our Father. (smu)
Parchment · 272 pp. · 24.5-25 x 18.5-19 cm · St. Gall · 8th-11th centuries
Composite manuscript
School manuscript from the monastery of St. Gall. A collection of works: diverse (often glossed) early medieval educational texts from the 8th to the 11th century (Aldhelm of Malmesbury, Aenigmata, Sedulius, Carmen paschale) and – preserved only here – the Stephanus hymn by Notker Balbulus and a musical treatise in Old High German by Notker the German. (smu)
Parchment · 254 pp. · 28.5 x 21 cm · St. Gall · first half of the 9th century
Collectio canonum hibernensis
Allemanian copy of the Collectio Canonum Hibernesis from the first half of the 9th century. The work includes Irish canonical law texts, which have been brought together in this collection of canon laws with others from African, Gallic, and Greek synodical and conciliar records as well as with papal decrees from the period around 700. At the end is a scribal dictum by Eadberct. (smu)
Parchment · 518 pp. · 30.4 x 21.9 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 11th century
Ambrosius Autpertus, Expositio in Apocalypsin (Lib. I–V)
This is a careful copy, significant in terms of textual history, of books I to V of the Expositio in Apocalypsin by Ambrosius Autpertus († 784), presbyter and abbot, originally from southern Gaul, but active in the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The copy, transcribed from a lost 9th century Reichenau manuscript, was made at the monastery of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 518 pp. · 27.5 x 20.5 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 11th century
Ambrosius Autpertus, Expositio in Apocalypsin (Lib. VI–X)
This is a copy, significant in terms of textual history, of books VI to X of the Expositio in Apocalypsin by Ambrosius Autpertus († 784), presbyter and abbot, originally from southern Gaul, but active in the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The copy, transcribed by a variety of hands from a lost 9th century Reichenau manuscript, was made at the monastery of St. Gall. It contains multiple glosses by the hand of the monk Ekkehard IV. (smu)
Parchment · 228 pp. · 29 x 19.5 cm · St. Gall · 12th century
Rupertus Tuitiensis, Liber de divinis officiis
Commentary on the liturgy of the Mass and of the church year by Rupert of Deutz (Rupertus Tuitiensis, around 1070-1129). This copy is written by a single hand in a neat 12th century script; the binding is from the middle of the 15th century with a bookmark made of string attached to the headband. On p. 226 and on the cover, the text by Rupert of Deutz is falsely attributed to the Venerable Bede. (dor)
Parchment · 302 pp. · 29.5-30 x 23.5-24 cm · St. Gall · around 860
Ecclesiastical History of the English-Speaking People
A copy of the most important source for the history of the English people, the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, produced in about 860 in the abbey of St. Gall, still it its original Carolingian binding. A short biographical sketch about Bede and a list of his works are appended. (smu)
Parchment · 226 pp. · 28.8-29.3 x 20.8-21.8 cm · Laon in northern France · middle of the 9th century (pp. 3–82) / 9th century (?) (pp. 83-98) / 9th or 11th century (pp. 99-148) / 9th century or 11th-12th centuries (pp. 149-212)
Bede, De natura rerum, De temporibus, and De temporum ratione Pseudo-Bede, Compotum sic Bedae presbiteri librorum quattuor Boethius, De arithmetica libri duo
Natural history (scientific) manuscript compilation, written by various scribes, mostly around the year 850, in the area of Laon in northern France. The codex contains, among other items, Boetheus's De arithmetica, a computational treatise incorrectly attributed to the English scholar the Venerable Bede († 735), and De temporum ratione as well as selections from De natura rerum and De temporibus, all true works of the Venerable Bede. (smu)
Parchment · 92 pp. · 26.3 x 17.5-18 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Beda de orthographia; Caper de orthographia; Agroetius de orthographia; et alia orthographica.
A copy of several tracts on orthography, written in about 800 at the Abbey of St. Gall. This manuscript contains, among other items, a copy of the tract De orthographia by Alcuin of York, based on the work of the same name by the Venerable Bede, as well as orthographical tracts by the Gallic bishop Agroetius (5th century) and the Roman grammarian Flavius Caper (2nd century). (smu)
Parchment · 186 pp. · 36.5 x 26 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Assorted works of natural history by the Venerable Bede
Copies of assorted works of natural history by the Venerable Bede (De natura rerum; De temporum ratione; the closing portion of De temporibus), produced as early as the 9th century in the Cloister of St. Gall. In addition, this codex contains, among other items, computistic and calendar texts and tables, and at the end, schematic diagrams of the organization of the scientific disciplines as well as quill tests. (smu)
Parchment · 206 pp. · 32.2-32.5 x 20.6-21.2 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Beda in VII epistolas canonicas
This copy of the commentary of the Venerable Bede (d. 735) on the seven Canonical Letters is significant to textual history; it was produced during the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 333 pp. · 26.4-26.6 x 17.5-18 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Beda in Tobiam, in Esram et Nehemiam
A copy of the commentaries of the Venerable Bede (d. 735) on the Old Testament books of Tobias, Ezra and Nehmiah, produced in the first half of the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 256 pp. · 29 x 23 cm · St. Gall · around 860
Jerome, Commentary on the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Includes the most authentic version of the Old English "Death Song" by the Venerable Bede
A redaction by the Anglo-Saxon Joseph Scottus, written in about 860. Appended is the oldest known surviving copy of the letter of Cuthbert, student of the Venerable Bede, to his friend Cuthwin, relating the story of the death of Bede in the year 735. This account incorporates the Old English Death Song by Bede, Fore there neidfaerae ..., in the oldest known version in Bede's own Northumbrian dialect. The manuscript still retains its original Carolingian binding. (smu)
Parchment · 424 pp. · 24 x 17.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Bedæ: Hexaemeron libri II. Isidorus contra Iudæos libri II ad sororem Florentiam; Libellus S. Hieronymi de mansionibus filiorum Israel; Maccabæorum libri II.
A manuscript compilation of the shorter version of the Book of Genesis by the Venerable Bede (d. 735), together with the work Contra Iudaeos by Isidore of Seville, the letter De mansionibus filiorum Israhel (Epistula 78) by the church father Jerome, and a copy of the first and second Old Testament books of Maccabees, produced in the 9th century, probably in the Abbey of St. Gall. A noteworthy initial capital appears on page 232. (smu)
Parchment · 227 pp. · 30.5-31 x 20.5 cm · St. Gall · first half of the 9th century
Beda in Marcum evangelistam
This copy of the commentary of the Venerable Bede (d. 735) on the Gospel of Mark is significant to textual history; it was produced during the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · II + 303 pp. · 27 x 17-17.5 cm · St. Gall (?) · 8th-9th century
Beda in Actus Apostolorum, in Apocalypsin
This copy of the commentary on the Apocalypse and the Acts of the Apostles by the Venerable Bede (d. 735) is significant to textual history. It was produced in the Abbey of St. Gall in about 800. (smu)
Parchment · 392 pp. · 23.8-23.9 x 17.1-17.6 cm · St. Gall · second half of the 9th century
Bede, Commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse
This manuscript contains copies of the commentaries on the Acts of the Apostles and the Apocalypse by the church father the Venerable Bede (d. 735), with pen tests, a note identifying the scribes (Wichram und Hartpert), and numerous glosses (most in the hand of the monk Ekkehart IV.). This copy was produced in the second half of the 9th century in the Abbey of St. Gall and includes a scribe's verse by the monk Wichram at the end of the manuscript. (smu)
Parchment · 276 pp. · 23.3-23.4 x 15.4-15.7 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Beda in epistolas canonicas. Hieronymi epistolæ. Excerpta.
The oldest surviving manuscript of an anonymous commentary on the Psalms, Eglogae tractatorum in psalterium, of Irish provenance, written in a Carolingian influenced Allemannic minuscule script in about 820 in the Abbey of St. Gall. This codex also contains a copy of the commentary by the Venerable Bede (d. 735) on the Canonical Letters and copies of two letters by the church father Jerome (347-420). (smu)
Parchment · II + 220 + II pp. · 18 x 14.5 cm · St. Gall · first half of the 9th century
Bede, De miraculis S. Cuthberti; Aldhelm, De laudibus virginum, De octo principalibus vitiis; Theodulf von Orleans, Letters to Modoin and Aigulf; Modoin, Letter to Theodulf of Orleans
A collection of assorted poetical works from the 8th and the early 9th centuries produced in the first half of the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. This volume contains the Carmen de miraculis Sancti Cuthberti by the Venerable Bede ( d. 735), the works De laude virginum und De octo principalibus vitiis by Aldhelm of Malmesbury (d. 709), and letters in verse form exchanged between Bishop Theodulf of Orleans (d. 821) and Bishop Modoin of Autun (d. ca. 840/43). (smu)
Parchment · 238 pp. · 18.5-18.7 x 12.9-13 cm · St. Gall · last third of the 9th century
Prognostica Juliani
This copy of the Prognosticum futuri saeculi by Julian of Toledo is significant to textual history, as it is one of the first comprehensive and systematically constructed eschatologies in Christian literature. It was produced in the Abbey of St. Gall during the last third of the 9th century. Includes glosses, among them some by the hand of Ehhekart IV., and at the end of the manuscript a short note about the works of the St. Gall monk Ekkehart IV. (d. 1060; by Ildenfons von Arx entitled Crisis Ekkehardi IV.) (smu)
Parchment · 124 pp. · 21 x 19.5 cm · St. Gall · after 850
Manuscript compilation: includes the only exemplar in the world of a letter from the monk Ermenrich of Ellwangen to Abbot Grimald of St. Gall
Manuscript compilation from the monastery of St. Gall, produced after 850. In addition to copies of writings by the Venerable Bede and Pseudo-Hippocrates, Letter to Antioch, this codex includes a more significant item: the only exemplar in the world of a letter from the monk Ermenrich of Ellwangen to Abbot Grimald of St. Gall, in which Ermenrich demonstrates his scholarliness and requests that Grimald entrust to him the composition of a biography in verse of the abbey's founder, Saint Gallus. Includes many particulars about daily life in the monastery of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 374 pp. · 23.7-23.8 x 15.9-16.2 cm · St. Gall · second half of the 9th century
Beda Venerabilis: De tabernaculo, De templo, Quaestiones in libros regum
A copy of the exegetical works De tabernaculo and De templo as well as Quaestiones in libros regum by the Venerable Bede (d. 735), produced in the Abbey of St. Gall during the second half of the 9th century. (smu)