This manuscript from the island monastery of Iona (Hy) in Scotland contains the oldest and best surviving version of the biography of the Irish saint Columba, composed between 608 and 704. In this work, Adamnan, the ninth abbot of Iona, tells the life story of monastery founder Columba (Columcille in Old Irish), who lived from 519/522 to 597. This manuscript can be dated to the time between the writing of the original text and the death of Iona's Abbot (or Bishop) Dorbbene in the year 713. It is the oldest codex containing a single biography in Latin, and is among the few datable manuscripts written in the Insular script during the 7th and 8th centuries. (spe)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

This large-format manuscript from the 14th century contains the oldest version of an illustrated copy of the so-called Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk, a German prose translation of the Gospels, together with the Lives of the Apostles and various Apocrypha from the New Testament. Over 400 pen and ink wash drawings, irregularly interspersed throughout the manuscript, accompany and illustrate the text. (spe)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

This handy paper manuscript contains the Franciscan Marquard of Lindau’s Eucharist treatise. On f. 137r, the copyist, from the second quarter of the fifteenth century, identifies himself as Nicolaus Sinister. The name could be the Latinized version of the contemporary Nikolaus Linck, who served as a priest in Owingen and Urnau on the northern shore of Lake Constance. On the originally blank leaves of the first and last gatherings a later hand has added mystical texts, including a sermon that has only survived in this manuscript and was formerly ascribed to Meister Eckhard (ff. 1v-6v), a spiritual song by Heinrich Laufenberg from the Friends of God (ff. 6v-7v), and the rhyme-legend “Das zwölfjährige Mönchlein” (ff. 139r-148r). The cursive bookhand is adorned with two- to three-line red lombards at the beginnings of chapters. Eichenberger dates the later hand A to the third quarter of the fifteenth century; she recognizes similarities between the later hand B and the manuscript Colmar, Bibliothèque de la ville, Ms. 305, which came from the workshop of Diebold Lauber and can be dated to 1459. (bos)

Online Since: 12/14/2022

This large-format paper manuscript containg the German rendition of the Franciscan Nicholas of Lyra’s commentary on the Psalter (Postilla super Psalterium) was given to the Stadbibliothek in 1646 by Sebastian Grübel (note of donation, f. 2r). Contrary to what has long been assumed, Heinrich von Mügeln was not responsible for the translation, but rather an anonymous person known to the scientific community as the “Österreichischer Bibelübersetzer” [“Austrian Bible-translator”], who is also deemed the author of the “Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk” (cf. Stadtbibliothek Schaffhausen, Gen. 8). The manuscript, written in northeastern High Alemannic, was copied in a book cursive by at least two hands, probably in southwestern Germany in the third quarter of the fifteenth century. Ornamentation is limited to red lombards, some of which are pen-flourished (f. 178v) and a five-line green leaf and flower initial (fol. 2r). (bos)

Online Since: 12/14/2022

This manuscript of 182 leaves can be dated to the last quarter of the 15th century and can be placed in the area between Ulm and Memmingen (linguistically Swabian). The binding, made of wooden boards covered in leather and featuring a clasp, was made by a bookbinder who was active in Memmingen. The three treatises in the manuscript are from the field of pharmacology/medical science: the “Büchlein der Ordnung der Pestilenz” (2r-47v) by Heinrich Steinhöwel, the Ulmer Wundarznei (50r-144r) and “Von den gebrannten Wässern” by Michael Puff (147r-179v). The text is augmented with drawings of instruments (96v, 97r, 98v, 99r, 148v). Magnus Bengger (who names himself on 179v) should be considered the scribe; he also copied manuscript Schaffhausen Gen. 9, which likewise contains medical works. He uses a cursiva libraria. In several places, drolleries in the shape of faces spread from individual letters, always in the first line (e.g., 45v, 50r). The chapter titles, the (decorated) initials at the beginning of a chapter, dots at half-height, as well as individual, usually Latin words in the text generally are rubricated. Sentence-initial lexemes, however, are marked by Lombard initials in red. In keeping with the character of a medical housebook, to which one can add one’s own recipes, there are additions by four other hands (mostly between or after the treatises, such as 48r, 145r, 180r). (wen)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Part of a complete bible in four volumes, three of which have survived (Min. 2, Min. 3, Min. 4), listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). Contents: Samuel, Kings, Chronicles. Written in two columns, by one hand, with numerous corrections on erasures. The initial I on the incipit page (f. 7v) corresponding to 24 lines, the F on the ornamental page (f. 10v) corresponding to 22 lines, and the initials with scroll ornamentation at the beginning of the individual books and prologues are executed in pen with red ink; their inner grounds are pale blues and greens, which differ from the rich colors in Min. 3 and Min. 4. Signs of wear and discoloration on f. 1r and f. 261v suggest that the manuscript remained unbound until it received its current binding in the 15th century. The wooden boards are covered with brown Cuir de Cordoue embossed with animal and plant motifs; the same motifs also decorate the perforated base plate of the two central brass bosses. (spe)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

Part of a complete bible in four volumes, three of which have survived (Min. 2, Min. 3, Min. 4), listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). Contents: poetic books (Proverbs to Sirach), Tobias, Judith, Esther, Ezra, Maccabees. Written in two columns, by one hand, with contemporaneous corrections. Later marginalia and glosses by various hands attest to intensive use of the manuscript into the 14th century. The P on the ornamental page (f. 7v) corresponding to 15 lines and the initials with scroll ornamentation at the beginning of the individual books and prologues are executed in pen with red ink. As in Min. 4, their inner grounds are in rich blues and greens, which differ from the pale colors in Min. 2. 12th century Romanesque leather binding with decorative lines and two clasps. (spe)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

Part of a four-volume Latin Bible in parchment, produced in the scriptorium of Allerheiligen monastery in Schaffhausen shortly after 1080. The codex has numerous initials with scroll ornaments, a page decorated with colours and gold featuring an initial V (the vision of Isaiah), and a historiated inital with scroll ornaments (the calling of Jeremiah), in which the influence of manuscripts from Reichenau can be recognized. Along with Min. 18, Min. 4 is one of the most important codices from the prime of Allerheiligen, when the monastery, founded in 1049, supported, under Abbot Siegfried (d. 1096), the reforms of Hirsau and, for this purpose established a library. (spe)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

A complete Latin Bible in fine, extremely white parchment, copied and illuminated in the region of Lake Constance in the first half of the fourteenth century. Two- to eight-line framed, mostly figurated initials in colors and gold introduce the prologue and the Biblical books. At the beginning there are two illuminated pages, each with six medallions (colored pen-drawings) in which are depicted episodes from the history of Creation up to the expulsion from Eden, Noah’s ark and the sacrifice of Isaac. The manuscript is attested in Schaffhausen from the fifteenth century. Min. 6 is one of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Ministerial Library, and present a unity of parchment, script and book decoration. (spe)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

Gospel book in parchment, produced in the tenth century, probably in Halberstadt. The tables of canons are rendered under red arched columns, and a pen drawing depicts each evangelist on an entire page, along with his symbols. Min. 8 is one of the oldest manuscripts of the Ministerial Library; the codex is attested in the library of the monastery of Allerheiligen since 1357. (spe)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

A copy on parchment of Part 1 of the Commentaries on the Minor Prophets by Jerome. An otherwise unknown artist contributed to this manuscript, created after 1100 in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. The initial “I” in gold and opaque paints on the Incipt page (1v) is his work: a bear, two birds of prey, and a dog frolic among grape-covered vines; a lion tears into a rabbit, a rooster and a fox feast on the grapes, and a hunter spears a boar. The beginning of the text (4r) has been decorated by the same artist with an initial “V”, in the gold tendrils of which four animals (dragon, dog, bird of prey, deer) are artfully entwined. (spe)

Online Since: 12/19/2011

This manuscript, a copy of 59 letters by Jerome created in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen (All Saints) in Schaffhausen, is mentioned in the supplements to the booklist of the monastery in Schaffhausen (Min. 17, f. 306v). Evidence for dating the manuscript around 1100 comes from the Romanesque binding and the style of the initials with scroll ornamentation. A note of ownership by the monastery from the year 1365 and a note that the manuscript was borrowed by Frater Jacobus Winkelshan in that same year testify to the use of the codex in the late Middle Ages. (spe)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

This copy of Augustine’s Enarrationes in psalmos 1–50, written in two columns, is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); together with Min. 16, it completes the older Min. 17. Beautiful parchment, the same layout with large margins as in Min. 16, several hands. The initials with scroll ornamentation are rather small and often are not completed. The ornate decorative capital on the incipit page (f. 1v) confirms that it was created later. Judging by its shape, the leather binding is Romanesque and was equipped with five bosses and clasps in the 14th/15th century. The handwritten note of ownership on the front pastedown and the title label on the back cover probably are from the same period. (spe)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This copy of Augustine’s Enarrationes in psalmos 51-100, written in two columns, is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); together with Min. 15, it completes the older Min. 17. Beautiful parchment, the same layout with large margins as in Min. 15, several hands. The I on the incipit page (f. 1r) and the Q on the page with the decorative initial (f. 3v) are executed in gold and opaque paint and are protected by sewed-on fabric. The 12th century binding was redone and historiated in the 19th century. (spe)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This copy of Augustine’s Enarrationes in psalmos 101-150 is written in two columns; several hands contributed to this manuscript. Although it is the third of three volumes, Min. 17 is older than Min. 15 and Min. 16, which complete it. The I on the incipit page (f. 1r), the E on the page with the decorative initial (f. 2v), and the initial E with scroll ornamentation on f. 1v are drawn in red and have light blue and light green inner grounds. There are red pen and ink drawings of initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 12-15 lines at the beginnings of the psalms. The binding probably is from the 19th century. Discolorations and reinforcements on f. 1r and f. 307v suggest that the manuscript remained unbound for a while, which may explain the loss of a quire after f. 199. The great significance of Min. 17 arises from its listing in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (f. 306v), which mentions books that were acquired or were copied in the abbey’s scriptorium during the time of Abbot Siegfried (deceased 1094) and in the first years after his death. (spe)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

A parchment copy of Augustine's treatise on the Gospel of John, which was produced shortly after 1080 in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. The manuscript contains numerous initials with scroll ornaments, a decorated page in colors and gold with an initial I in the margin and a historiated C (Last Supper) in gold, in which the influence of the manuscripts of Reichenau can be observed. Along with Min. 4, Min. 18 is one of the most important codices from the prime of Allerheiligen, when the monastery, founded in 1049, supported, under Abbot Siegfried (d. 1096), the reforms of Hirsau and, for this purpose established a library. (spe)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

This copy of Augustine’s De civitate Dei, written in two columns and executed by several hands, has numerous corrections, variants and Nota monograms in the margins; it is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The volume opens with an incipit page and an ornate decorative page with the initial E in a red pen and ink drawing on a light green background. Red initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 10-12 lines mark the beginning of individual books. A quire was lost between f. 137/138 and between f. 193/194, before this codex, like many others, received a new binding in the 15th century with metal bosses, two clasps and the title written on the front cover; as with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40, Min. 53, Min. 55 and Min. 104, fragments from a 14th century necrology of Allerheiligen Abbey were used as back flyleaf and pastedown (f. 292, 293). (spe)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This is a meticulous copy of Augustine’s De trinitate, written in a single-column; it has an opening page and a page with a decorative initial, as well as several initials with scroll ornamentation of varying heights at the beginning of each book. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; as with Min. 24‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ and Min. 40‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as pastedowns and flyleaves. (spe)

Online Since: 06/23/2016

This copy of a collection of authentic and spurious sermons by Augustine, written in a single-column and undecorated except for an initial with scroll ornamentation, is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; fragments of a 14th century necrology were used as pastedowns. (spe)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript is a copy of a collection of authentic and spurious sermons by Augustine containing Collectio quinquaginta homiliarum as well as a sermon by Haymo of Halberstadt; it is written in a single-column and undecorated except for an initial with scroll ornamentation. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and a clasp as well as a title label on Ir. In the 20th century a narrow fragment of an Irish manuscript, used as a reinforcing strip, was discovered and removed. (spe)

Online Since: 06/25/2015