Solothurn, Zentralbibliothek
The Central Library of Solothurn is a cantonal, municipal and regional library. Its collection of printed books, including about 1,000 incunabula, is among the most extensive library holdings in Switzerland. With about 100 medieval manuscripts and a much larger number of early modern materials, the Central Library of Solothurn has diverse but comparatively less extensive holdings of manuscripts. These volumes had previously been locally owned by private persons or religious institutions (among others the Monastery of St. Ursus, the Franciscan Monastery, the Jesuit College in Solothurn, the family libraries of von Roll, vom Staal, Wagner, Besenval, Glutz). The historical collection has supra-regional significance and is an essential part of the cultural and historical heritage of the canton and of the city of Solothurn; it is one of the most significant collections in Switzerland and in the Southwestern part of the German-speaking region.
Between 1438 and 1443 the proceedings of the Council of Basel with some interruptions, were recorded at first hand by Council Notary Jakob Hüglin (ca. 1400-1484). Hüglin, a canon lawyer, was provost of the collegiate church of St. Ursus in Solothurn from 1455 until his death in 1484. Thus these original notes on the proceedings, together with other conciliar documents, eventually made their way into the Solothurn City Library.
Online Since: 02/17/2010
Compiled in 1593 by Felix Schmid from Stein am Rhein, this composite manuscript contains, among other items, the richly illustrated alchemistic treatise Splendor solis, various works by Paracelsus and Leonhard Thurneisser zum Thurn, and other alchemistic writings. Noteworthy is the binding by Hans Ludwig Brem from Lindau am Bodensee.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
The Cantatorium presents selections from the Gradual; it contains music for solo-voice elements of the Mass that are meant to be sung by the cantor. This manuscript from the late 15th century originated in the Abbey of St. Urs at Solothurn and was occasionally used in the parish of Biberist. Particularly noteworthy in this volume are German versions of two hymns.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The Solothurn history Bible (“Historienbibel”) was created in 1460 in the workshop of Diebold Lauber in Hagenau (Alsace). This prestigious piece of work may have been comissioned by Solothurn City Clerk Hans vom Stall (1419-1499). In 1763 the book was acquired by the Solothurn City Library as a part of the von Staal family library.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
An early textual witness of Peter Lombard’s († 1160) Sententiae, created perhaps even while the important Scholastic was still alive. Probably written in an Alsatian scriptorium, the manuscript was at Schönenwerd chapter of canons in the 15th century and was rebound by the bookbinder Woldaricus.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible from the Dominican Monastery of Bern, which were used around 1495 by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter as pastedowns for various incunables that are currently held in Bern and Solothurn. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volume reached Solothurn; it was first held in the library of the St. Ursus Monastery, after its secularization in the cantonal library, one of the predecessors of the current Solothurn Central Library. Reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 5 (Biblia latina).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Fewer than ten textual witnesses of Theodulf of Orléans’ († 821) version of the Vulgata have survived. Numerous fragments of such a 9th century Theodulf Bible from the collegiate church of St. Ursus in Solothurn, where it was cut up and used as binding material, have been preserved in the state archives of Solothurn and the central library of Solothurn. Virtual reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 3 (Biblia Theodulfi Fragmenta).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This Franciscan Gradual was produced between 1320 and 1330 in a scriptorium in the Upper Rhine area. It was originally the property of the Franciscan monastery in Solothurn, where it remained in use until the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The illuminator Claudio Rofferio († ca. 1567) was an Augustinian canon. Originally from the Aosta Valley, he was active in various regions; from 1539 until about 1544 he created a series of illuminated manuscripts for the Cistercian Abbey of Altenberg near Cologne. From about 1550 until after 1560, he worked for various monasteries and religious institutions in Switzerland, such as Beromünster, Muri, Schönenwerd and St. Urban. For Schönenwerd chapter of canons he wrote and illuminated this representative Gradual, dated to the years 1556 and 1559.
Online Since: 06/25/2015