Manuscript of collected works including texts by Wasmodus de Homberg, Lampertus Episcopus Argentinensis, Johannes Mulberg and Felix Hemmerlin regarding the Beguine conflict and a tract by Benedictus de Asinago on poverty.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
The Eidgenössische Chronik by Werner Schodoler (1490-1541) is in chronological order the last of the illustrated Swiss Chronicles of the late Middle Ages. It was written by private initiative between 1510 and 1535 and took as its model primarily the Official Bernese Chronicle - Amtliche Berner Chronik - by Diebold Schilling and the Chronicle - Kronica - by Petermann Etterlin. This volume, the third and last of the Chronicle, presents the events of the Burgundian Wars and the Swabian War; it ends with the Italian military campaigns, among others the Battle of Marignano on September 13th and 14th 1515, in which presumably the author himself took part. The volume is illustrated with 196 uncolored pen sketches by an anonymous artist. Today the three volumes are held in different libraries: the first volume is in the Leopold-Sophien-Bibliothek in Überlingen, the second in the City Archives in Bremgarten, and the third in the Cantonal Library of Aargau.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
The Italian Dominican Jacobus de Varagine, known as the author of the Legenda aurea, wrote not only lives of the saints, but also extensive cycles of sermons. This collection from the first half of the 14th century contains about 340 sermons for all Sundays and holidays of the church year. In 1553 it came to the library of Muri Abbey.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This 12th century manuscript with commentaries on the four Gospels is probably from Alsace. This is suggested by the history of the founding of the Benedictine monastery of St. Faith in Sélestat, added on the last pages. In 1530, the manuscript was owned by Johannes Schornegg, parish priest in Muri.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This composite manuscript consists of an incunable from Freiburg i. Br. from 1494 and two parts in manuscript, which were copied in 1498 and 1499 by Brother Johannes Bengel, Conventual at Alpirsbach Abbey in the Black Forest. The three texts on scholastic logic are by Peter of Spain and by Petrus Tartaretus, a contemporaneous Parisian philosopher whose mnemonic device, a logical figure called pons asinorum has also been copied.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
First volume (winter part) of the two-volume antiphonary with the chants of the Liturgy of the Hours; it was used alternately with MsMurFm9. This large-format manuscript from the 15th century is largely unadorned. On the basis of the responsories of the Advent season, it can be assigned to the Cistercian Order.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Second volume (summer part) of the two-volume antiphonary that was used alternately with MsMurFm6. This large-format manuscript from the 15th century is largely unadorned. On the basis of the feasts of saints (Bernard of Clairvaux, Edmund of Abingdon, Robert of Molesme), it can be assigned to the Cistercian Order.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This breviary from the second half of the 14th century contains the texts for the Divine Office for the entire liturgical year. According to the wording of the prayers and the rubrics in German, it was meant for a convent of Benedictine nuns; several antiphons suggest the area around Engelberg Abbey and Muri Abbey.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This extensive breviary, with rubrics in German, was produced around 1300 for a convent of Dominican nuns. Over the next two centuries, various hands added new rhymed offices to the end, most of them to Dominican saints. In the 17th century, the breviary was the property of Wurmsbach Abbey, a convent of Cistercian nuns on Lake Zurich.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This monastic breviary was written in the second half of the 14th century for a Benedictine monastery; judging by the antiphons, it was perhaps written for Muri Abbey. At the end, a later hand added paper leaves to the parchment manuscript and entered the Offices of the Virgin and of Martin. In the 16th century, this breviary was the property of the Benedictines of Muri.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
Composite manuscript from the second half of the 14th century. The main part contains the Historia scholastica by Petrus Comestor (1r-235v), augmented with various texts about the genealogy of Christ. The manuscript contains numerous graphic representations and illuminated initials which indicate provenance from Basel. The many holes in the parchment are artfully patched with embroidery. The manuscript originated in the Cistercian Monastery Maris Stella, Wettingen.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
Likely the oldest surviving exemplars of the Compendium theologicae veritatis by Hugo Argentinensis (Hugo Ripelin of Strasburg) and the Quaestiones super quatuor libros sententiarum by William Rothwell. Probably from the bequest of Rudolf Schwerz, Zurich choirmaster and pastor of Altdorf.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
This Cistercian pontifical for the abbot dates from the last third of the 15th century; it contains various benedictions and liturgical formulations for the consecration of monks and nuns, and for the appointment of an abbess. The formulations for ordinations in convents of Cistercian nuns are written partly in German.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
A collection of copies of papal and regal privilege grants to Wettingen Abbey, set down by Johannes von Strassburg between 1248 and 1253. In addition, the volume contains copies of significant documents, including those regarding allocations and other legal matters as well as assorted registers of goods with duties.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
On 126 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from February 1519 to February 1520. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided region.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 390 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from July 1521 to August 1527. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided area.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 280 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from August 1527 to January 1530. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided area.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 328 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from January 1530 to May 1534. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided area.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 238 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from May 1534 to May 1537. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided area.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 220 paper pages, this volume contains the income and expenditures of the territory of Appenzell from May 1537 to May 1540. These accounts are among the most important sources for researching the history of the yet undivided area.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
On 86 leaves of parchment, the Silver Book of the Land contains the statutes of the entire region of Appenzell. It is an assemblage of older legal texts; at a later time more recent statutes were added to it. Following the division of the region of Appenzell that took place in 1597, the book became the property of the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and remained valid into the 19th century. Rich decorations consisting of miniatures and initials indicate the great importance attributed to this volume.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This commentary on the Psalms is an autograph by Ambrosius Alantsee, who, after having studied and then taught at the University of Basel, entered the Carthusian monastery of Basel in 1480 and, among others, held positions there as scribe, prior and author of primarily liturgical literature. This manuscript was written a few years before his death, which occurred in 1505 while on a visitation journey to Erfurt.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This codex, with a binding partially in leather, contains mostly chapter sermons and collationes written by Heinrich Arnoldi; usually they begin with a quote from the Bible and are only a few pages long. The composite manuscript for in-house use was produced at the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was written mostly by Martin Ströulin and in part by Heinrich Arnoldi himself. In addition to the handwritten part, it also contains two short prints.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The writings of Prior Heinrich Arnoldi (1407-1487) in the first part of the manuscript (the collection De humilitate and the treatise De modo perveniendi) for the most part are the same as those contained in Cod. A X 69. The second part contains the Tractatus de reformatione virium animae by the Dutch theologian Gerardus de Zutphania (1367-1398). This manuscript was written in 1472 by Johannes Gipsmüller (1439-1484) at the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. There must have been a colored woodcut before fol. 1; color residue and a mirror-inverted imprint of the caption are still visible.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This small-format paper manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel is mostly by the hand of the librarian Georg Carpentarius, who for the sake of daily spiritual exercises compiled prayers for various occasions, hymns, meditations and other theological texts. Among the identifiable authors are great ones such as Anselm of Canterbury and Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as lesser known names such as Basilius Phrisius. Two colored prints are glued in the covers: St. George with the dragon (front pastedown) and the Mass of St. Gregory (back pastedown).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The Matriculation Register of the Basel Rectorate, recorded in manuscript form from 1460 to 2000, contains semester and annual information notices added by each successive rector as well as lists of enrolled students, thus providing an important resource for the history of the University of Basel. In addition, Vol. 1 contains records in illustrations and text of the opening of the university. The rich book decoration in the first three volumes is particularly notable. The work of 3 centuries, it is easily datable due to the chronogical order in which it was added and thus provides a welcome demonstration of the art of miniature painting in Basel.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
The first part of this volume contains registers of the deanships from 1461 to 1529 with the respective accounts of the faculty's funds as well as the lists of docents; the second part of the volume almost exclusively contains entries regarding doctorates granted from 1533 to 1921. Among the writers are, among others, Sebastian Brant, Basilius Amerbach, Remigius Faesch and Niklaus Bernoulli.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
The statutes of the faculty of medicine go back to the period of the founding of the University of Basel (1460). They contain general regulations regarding discipline, attendance and punctuality; regulate baccalaureate and doctoral examinations; give directions regarding the duration of studies and the admission of foreign students; and reflect the strict hierarchy of the faculty. The model for these statutes probably was the 1398 statutes of the Viennese medical faculty.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This Greek manuscript, dating primarily from the tenth century, contains the letters of Paul along with chains of commentaries. It shares similarities with the manuscripts of the so-called “scriptorium of Ephrem” of Constantinople. In that same city, in the fifteenth century, John of Ragusa, legate of the Council of Basel, bought the codex, which he then bequeathed after his death to the Dominicans of Basel. Erasmus used it for his text of the Pauline Epistles as part of his first edition of the Greek New Testament (1516). Erasmus' printer, Johannes Froben, left annotations on the pages.
Online Since: 09/26/2024
This Greek Tetravangelium from the twelfth century was acquired in the fifteenth century, perhaps in Basel, by the Dominican theologian John of Ragusa, who bequeathed it on his death to the Basel Dominicans. Later, Erasmus borrowed it from the Dominicans to use it for his first edition of the Greek New Testament (1516). During his editorial work, the humanist made in the margins numerous additions and corrections to the text. He then entrusted the codex to the Basel printer Johannes Froben, who left many annotations on the pages.
Online Since: 09/26/2024
In this twelfth-century Greek manuscript of the New Testament, divided in two parts (without the Apocalypse), the Epistles and Acts were surprisingly placed before the Gospels. Magnificently illuminated, this codex has initials that represent the epistolographers of the New Testament; one miniature depicts John the Evangelist and Christ's descent into Hell (f. 265v). In the fifteenth-century, John of Ragusa, a delegate from the Council of Basel, bought the codex in Constantinople; he then bequeathed it on his death to the Dominicans of Basel. The codex passed into the hands of Johannes Reuchlin, as well as those of Erasmus for his first edition of the Greek New Testament (1516).
Online Since: 09/26/2024
The Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan is the name of an anonymous anthology of arguments against the Christological interpretation of biblical verses, supplemented by critique of the Gospels and Christian doctrines and morals. Composed in Franco-Germany circa 1300, most confutations are based on polemical themes and criticisms of Christian faith which were disseminated in Jewish circles in medieval Ashkenaz and northern France. There are few extant editions and manuscripts of this work, one of which is the Basel Nizzaḥon. This manuscript which bears some similarities with the other copies, should nevertheless be considered as an indirect, yet important witness to Jewish apologetic from medieval Franco-Germany.
Online Since: 03/19/2020
Around 1520, Georg Carpentarius, the librarian of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel at the time, compiled a shelf list for the library. This catalog consists of two volumes, one each for the two library rooms of the Bibliotheca antiqua (AR I 2) and the Bibliotheca nova (AR I 3). The catalog for the Bibliotheca antiqua is preceded by the so-called “Informatorium bibliothecarii”, a guide for the librarian which instructs him in his tasks, among them the cataloguing and the care of the books as well as of the inventory. Bound into the front is a list of books that were donated to the Ittingen Charterhouse by the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in 1526.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
Around 1520, Georg Carpentarius, the librarian of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel at the time, compiled a shelf list for the library. This catalog consists of two volumes, one each for the two library rooms of the Bibliotheca antiqua (AR I 2) and the Bibliotheca nova (AR I 3). The catalog for the Bibliotheca nova was designed for expansion and contains blank pages after each letter of the alphabet, where more shelfmarks could be added.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
Manuscript D III 34 consists of two parts: Part I (ff. 1-29) contains the medical manual for horses by Jordanus Ruffus: Part II (ff. 30-255) contains the Mulomedicina Chironis and an incomplete tract by one Oliverius, Stablemaster at the court of Ferdinand I of Naples. This is the only manuscript than Cod. Monacensis latinus 243 that includes a manuscript copy of the Mulomedicina Chironis; the Oliverius tract appears to be unedited.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This manuscript from the first half of the 15th century contains the German Chronicle by Jakob Twinger von Königshofen (chap. 1-3, 5) and the Anonymous Bernese Chronicle (truncated due to loss of pages). Both texts are preceded by a comprehensive table of contents. The manuscript later was the property of the Amerbach family.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This 14th century manuscript, possibly produced by means of the Pecia System, contains the Super ethica and De causis et processu universitatis by Albertus Magnus. The Pecia System is a method for the quick handwritten reproduction of an original: instead of copying the text as a whole, it is divided into several sections so that several scribes could simultaneously work on creating a copy. This volume belonged to the Dominican Johannes Tagstern and thus became part of the chained library of the Dominican Convent of Basel.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This magnificent complete edition of the works of Virgil (Bucolics, Georgics, Aeneid) was given to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Martin in Tours by the Levite Berno (note and book curse on f. 1v). Virgil's text is interspersed with numerous commentaries (scholia) from late antiquity by Servius and Donatus, which have been transmitted in this form almost exclusively in manuscripts from the Bongarsiana collection. However, Cod. 165 does not present the true Scholia Bernensia as in Cod. 167 und Cod. 172, but rather a collection by various scholiasts which was compiled in Tours — hence the name Scholia Turonensia.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This medieval Hebrew lexicographical and scientific miscellany dates back to 1290 and encloses three highly important texts, used as the base for published editions and studies. These are: the Maḥberet Menahem by Menahem ben Jacob Ibn Saruq (died c. 970); an anonymous Hebrew prose translation of the very popular Old French version of the lapidary by Marbode of Rennes (12th c.) and lastly, an anonymous abridged version of the talmudic and midrashic lexicon entitled Sefer ha-Arukh by Natan ben Yehiel Anav of Rome (1035-1110), called the Berner Kleiner Arukh. The particularity of this copy is the presence of Old West Yiddish and Old French glosses. Furthermore, among the numerous later notes, there are more significant additions which abound in the blank pages and margins of the manuscript, the most unusual of which is a charm in Middle High German in Hebrew characters, relative to Hulda, a German goddess comparable to Venus, taken from the Tannhäuserlied. Moreover, this manuscript belonged to several famous Jewish and Christians owners, whose scriptural witness testifies to the manuscript's remarkable stature as a treasured source of knowledge from the time it was compiled at the end of the 13th century, to its possession by Christian Hebraists in Switzerland during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Extraordinary compilation of various texts by Isidore on secular (Etymologiae, De natura rerum) and ecclesiastic topics (Prooemia biblica, De ortu et obitu patrum; Allegoriae), as well as pieces on the Latin language (Differentia, Synonyma, Glossaria). This composite manuscript contains three full-page family trees as well as astronomical and geometric figures. Originally written in the scriptorium of Bishop Theodulf of Orléans, probably in Saint-Mesmin-de-Micy, this volume was soon held in Strasbourg, as attested by various Formulae iuris as well as a glossary of herbs and an incantation. From the holdings of Jacques Bongars, the volume came to Bern in 1632; here the original early 8th century flyleaves (Bern Burgerbibliothek, Cod. A 91.8) were removed around 1870.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The Sefer ha-Yashar is one of two Bible commentaries by the great R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089/92-1164/67). Written in Lucca, Italy ca. 1142-45, this work attained great recognition and popularity during the Middle Ages and has been preserved in numerous manuscripts and printed books. This 15th century Italian copy is of particular interest since it belonged, at some point during the 16th century, to Theodore de Bèze (1519-1605), the famous Genevan Calvinist theologian and Professor, who then gave it to one of his disciples and colleagues, Antoine Chevalier (1507-1572), the first Professor of Hebrew language at the Académie de Genève.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
A catalog of the Greek manuscripts in the library of Jean Hurant de Boistaillé (†1572), which he collected between 1561 and 1564, while serving in Venice as the ambassador of the King of France. For the purpose of assembling and cataloging this collection, Jean Hurault employed the services of Zacharias Scordylios (second half of the 16th century), a Greek theologian, priest, book printer and publisher, who lived in Venice. Although this catalog has been published several times, reference back to the original is necessary in the case of certain entries.
Online Since: 08/12/2010
A manuscript containing the Byzantine chronicle in modern Greek, generally known as the Anonymum Byzantinum chronicon, still unedited. At the end of the 19th century Karl Praechter (1858-1933), an instructor and later, from 1889 to 1907, a professor at the University of Berne, used this manuscript to retrieve the Chronicle from its previously shadowy existence.
Online Since: 08/12/2010
A manuscript consistiting of three production units. The first two were copied in Paris, probably around the end of the 15th century, by the famous professor of Greek, Georgius Hermonymus of Sparta (†1511-1516). They contain prayers and liturgical pieces, particularly from the Abbey of Saint Denis in France, including an as yet apparently unpublished translation of a Mass formula for Saints Dionysius, Rusticus and Elutherius into Greek. The last part, an addition to the others, is the work of a single hand, very similar in appearance to that of Hermonymous, perhaps that of one of his pupils.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
This missal following the practice of the Diocese of Constance was written for the church in Hochdorf (Lucerne) in 1474-1475 by Johannes Dörflinger, prebendary of Beromünster. The manuscript was commissioned for the new chaplainry of Sts. Peter and Paul, probably by its founder, the parish priest and dean Johannes Teller. It contains delicate filigreed initials at the beginning of the various liturgical sections and a full-page miniature of the Crucifixion (f. 106v), which introduces the Te igitur. Several pages originally left blank hold copies of the most important documents concerning the establishment of the prebend of Sts. Peter and Paul in Hochdorf (f. 78r-82v).
Online Since: 09/23/2014
The Epistolary is the oldest manuscript in the library at Beromunster; according to local tradition it was presented by a member of the patron family of Lenzburg, Count Ulrich († before 1050). The front cover, added later, is an ivory panel dating from the second half of, perhaps the end of, the 13th century.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This Latin manuscript on astronomical topics includes works by Germanicus, Pliny the Elder and Hyginus. The codex features numerous pen and ink drawings, including a planisphere (rotatable star chart) consisting of five golden concentric circles containing constellations portrayed as people or animals. These drawings, dating from the 15th century, have been attributed to Antonio di Mario of the Neapolitan region.
Online Since: 07/31/2007
This codex from southern Germany is composed of two parts bound together in one German binding in 1569. The first part of the manuscript contains about a hundred leaves from the 12th and 13th centuries. It begins with a calendar featuring numerous constellations and full page illustrations. Following are prayers and liturgical songs. The second part consists of thirty leaves containing a series of Latin prayers in carefully wrought late 14th century Gothic script.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
The Edelstein contained in this manuscript consists of 100 fables, composed around 1330 by the Bernese Dominican Ulrich Boner; the fables were taken from various Latin sources and were translated by Boner into Swiss Dialect. The script and the typical characteristics of the layout with spaces for never-executed illustrations indicate a work from the late phase (approximately about 1455-1460) of Diebold Lauber's workshop in Hagenau in Alsace, a work that had been prepared to be completed at the request of a buyer.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This manuscript contains the transcription of a series of documents that relate directly or indirectly to the bailiwick of Neuamt in the Canton of Zurich. The manuscript consists of three parts – one of parchment (ff. 1-27) and two of paper (ff. 28-39 and 40-47) – which were bound together probably in 1548, as indicated by the date printed on the front cover. The texts collected here are from the period between 1538 and 1604 (additions), with the exception of one document from 1461 (ff. 36-38v).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
The larger part of this manuscript contains works by Marquart von Stadtkyll – Chirurgie (5r-50r) and Von den Zeichen des Todes (50v-58v) – or works attributed to him (59r-109r, various recipes for plasters, ointments, powders, baths, etc.). The rest of the manuscript (1v-4v, 109r-139r) contains transcriptions of 150 medical recipes by various scribes from between the 15th and the 16th century. The type of script and the dialect used indicate an origin in Southwestern Germany. In the 19th century, this manuscript was the property of the family of Hegwein von Herrnsheim (Lower Franconia); family members left their names and various dates in the manuscript. In 1969, it was purchased by Martin Bodmer at the William H. Schab Gallery in New York.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The Schwabenspiegel (mirror of the Swabians) contains a collection of national and feudal laws; during the late Middle Ages it was used in Southern Germany, but it was also widely used in Bohemia and in present-day Switzerland up to the German-French language border. The manuscript was edited in the second half of the 13th century and thus belongs to the oldest of altogether more than 350 textual witnesses.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
The 13 large illustrations in this French manuscript, written in the 15th century, were produced by one of the most important book decorators of the late middle ages : Jean Fouquet (BnF, ms. fr. 247). They are richly decorated with gold and cover two thirds of a page; a large number of initials adorned with flowers round out the illustrator's iconographic program. The first page, which is missing, also certainly held a decorative illustration (Adam and Eve?). At the beginning of a prolog is a small miniature portraying the author writing the book. The Antiquitates iudaicae recounts the history of the Jewish nation from Genesis to the year 66 according to the modern western calendar.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
A luxurious copy of the Life of Aesop, part historical and part legendary, that was compiled around 1300 by Maximos Planudes. These pages once constituted the first part of a manuscript of Aesop's Fables , which today is held primarily in New York. It was written in Florence between 1482 and 1485 by Démétrios Damilas, one of the main scribes at the court of the Medici, for Lorenzo the Magnificent's young son Piero II de' Medici, who was 10-12 years old at the time. On the splendid frontispiece one can recognize the portraits of Planudes and Piero II.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This volume contains a number of tracts by anonymous authors as well as extracts from works of textual criticism treating individual books of the Old and New Testaments. Specifically worth naming are: Guilelmus Brito (died ca. 1275), Johannes de Colonia (13th century) and Guilelmus de Mara Lamara (1230-ca. 1290). The content is of Franciscan authorship, suggesting that the manuscript was produced in a Minorite cloister.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
A 12th century manuscript (1170-1190), probably copied in Switzerland (Einsiedeln?) or in Austria. It contains the introduction In prima parte agitur (fol. 1r-7ra) and the Decretum by Gratian [Σ-group, cf. C. Wei, A Discussion and List of Manuscripts Belonging to the Σ-group (S-group)] (fol. 7ra-217va); an additio (from fol. 167vb to C.29: Adrianus papa Eberhardo Salzeburgensi archiepiscopo. 'Dignum est et a rationis... [JL 10445: 1154-59]); various excerpts of glosses (scraped on fol. 21a) and excerpta of the Summa by Rufinus (cf. R. Weigand, Die Glossen zum Dekret Gratians. Studien zu den frühen Glossen und Glossenkompositionen, Roma 1991, pp. 737-740); fragments of the Glossa Ordinaria by Bartholomaeus Brixiensis (France, middle of the 13th century) were copied onto the erasures on fol. 6va-9va.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This collection contains various council documents (pp. 1-41) and the Collectio vetus gallica (pp. 41-166), the oldest systematic collection of canons from Gaul at the time of the Franks. The first part contains Old High German glosses from the 10th century. In the 17th century, the codex was in the area of Constance, as can be inferred from the ex libris of Bischop Johann Jakob Mirgel (1598-1644) on the front inside cover of the binding; shortly thereafter it reached Einsiedeln, as attested by the 17th century ex libris (p. 1).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The devotional book of Abbot Ulrich Rosch of St. Gall contains various prayers, timetables and calendars, is decorated with elaborate initials and was written in the year 1472.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This paper manuscript, copied in Bellinzona in the middle of the 15th century, contains a series of decrees issued by the Visconti government for the municipal authorities between 1352 and 1443. At the end of the text, there are blank pages onto which were copied letters of exemption for the people of theVal Mesolcina (a valley in the Swiss Canton of Grisons), which were issued in the years 1498-1499. The manuscript belonged to the Varone family; in 1537 it was bought and restored by the Bellinzona notary Giovanni Giacomo Rusca. In the 17th century, Carlo Bernardino Zacconi donated the manuscript to the library of the Jesuits of Bellinzona, which was later taken over by the Benedictines, and around 1787 the manuscript came to the Abbey Library of Einsiedeln.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
Contains works of Isidore of Seville: Libri originum (I-III e V-XX), De natura rerum, and letters exchanged between Isidore and Braulio of Zaragoza. The manuscript was assembled from an assortment of fragments that had been removed in the 19th century from law volumes held by the library of the chancery of St. Gerold in Vorarlberg. This volume was assembled at the request of Abbot Frowin of Engelberg (1143-1178), as indicated by dedicatory verses on f. 1r.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
This antiphonary was written by order of Abbot Johannes I of Schwanden for the liturgy of the Hours of the monastic community of Einsiedeln. Together with Cod. 611-613, this manuscript attests to the introduction of Guido of Arezzo's (Guido Monaco's) system of musical notes with square notation.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
It is highly likely that this codex is the original transcription of the neumed manuscript in the hand of Guido von Arezzo commissioned by Abbot Johannes I of Schwanden shortly before 1314. The calligraphic copies found in the other "Schwanden codices" were then produced following this source. Evidence of heavy use indicates that these manuscripts remained in use into the 17th century, that is, until the liturgical reform of the Council of Trent. The forms used are from the Alemannic choral dialect, which is still sung in Einsiedeln today.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
This first part of the three-volume Engelberg Bible (together with Cod. 4 and Cod. 5) contains the Pentatuch and the books of the Prophets. The captioned pen sketch with verse of dedication on fol. 1v portrays Abbot Frowin (1143-1178) presenting the codex to Mary, the patroness of the Cloister. This large-format volume was, according to the colophon on 281v, written by Richene, the only scribe from Frowin's time that we know by name. The careful preparation of the parchment with decorative needlework and the staid style of script and initials in limited colors are characteristic of the recognizable works of Frowin's library.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
The Frauenfeld history Bible (“Historienbibel”) was completed in about 1450 in the atelier of Diebold Lauber at Hagenau (Alsace) and revised somewhat later. It contains 80 illustrations, each showing the work of three separate hands. It was probably in the possession of the Cloister of Augustinian Canons at Kreuzlingen beginning in the 16th century.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This single-column manuscript, created in the second half of the 15th century, was very carefully written by a scribe in a humanistic minuscule. The work contains two texts by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Cribratio Alcorani (ff. 1r-70r) and Contra Bohemos (ff. 70v-90r). With Cribratio Alcorani he attempted a precise philological and historical investigation of the Koran, and in Contra Bohemos he dealt with Hussitism. The title page (f. 1r) is decorated with bianchi girari (white vine scrolls). Two medallions with coats of arms are integrated in the border. The coats of arms show a white lion on a blue background and are crowned with the papal insignia. The coat of arms can be attributed to Pope Paul II. (Pietro Barbo, 1464-1471), which shows that the manuscript was made by order of the pope or at least during his papacy. Initials at the beginning of each chapter are golden with a background in blue and green. Individual initials are emphasized more strongly and one is decorated with white vine scroll, corresponding to the title page. The binding of the manuscript, richly decorated with plant ornaments, medallions and depictions of saints, dates from the 16th century. The central medallion on the front shows Mary with the infant Jesus.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This single-column manuscript was written in a meticulous 14th century hand. The volume contains Omelie (homilies, ff. 1r-103r), Dialogi (dialogues, ff. 103v-170r) and the Liber pastoralis (ff. 172r-219v) by Pope Gregory I (542-604). The headings are written in red, and the manuscript contains red decorated initials on f. 103v and 172r. Furthermore, the main text of the manuscript is supplemented with various annotations by a somewhat later hand. The manuscript can be dated by means of various entries on f. 103r The main hand wrote Expliciunt omelie sancti Gregorij pape. Anno Nonagesimo. Two other hands noted domini 130° above the main text and 1390 next to it. On f. 219v the main hand also wrote Explicit Pastorale beati Gregorij pape Etc. Anno Millesimo ccc°. Nonagesimo primo. Finitus est liber iste in die s. Benedicti. The same page has a first ownership note Iste liber est domus throni sancte trinitatis in pletriach, which refers to the Carthusian monastery Pletriach in Slovenia. This volume came to the Thurgau Cantonal Library via the Ittingen Charterhouse (18th century ownership note on f. 1r). The white plate binding with two clasps dates from 1553 (dating can be found in the motif of Esaia). Just like manuscript Y 39, this binding also has plant ornaments and images of saints.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This composite manuscript was produced between 1460 and 1470 in the region of Lake Constance. Perhaps it was held for some time by the Ittingen Charterhouse near Frauenfeld. It contains late medieval sacred and profane texts, which were published for the first time in part based on this manuscript, such as Die fünf Herzeleid Mariä, the Frauenfelder Passionsgedicht and a prose recension of Wolfram's Willehalm, as well as an excerpt from the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit by Henry Suso.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
From the colophon (Finitus est liber Iste feria secunda Post festum Concepcionis virginis Marie. Anno domini 1498. Per fratrem iohannem Coci Conuentualem huius monastery. Iiij ydus decembris Laus deo, f. 186r), it can be inferred that this Psalter was written by Johannes Koch (mentioned in the Fischinger necrology and documented between 1498 and 1514, parish priest in Bichelsee (TG) from 1483 on) and that it was finished in 1498. It is striking that the writing on ff. 98r-110r was traced with black ink by a later hand. The paper pages with a hymn (ff. 187r-188v) were probably added later. The pages of musical notes have 5 red lines with German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation"). The manuscript also has a simple red title (f. 1r): Incipit psalterium in nomine domini, immediately followed by a listing of the workdays. Headings are also kept in red. The front and back covers show the imprint of the former pastedowns. The contemporary yellow leather binding with Renaissance press patterns from the 15th and 16th century has two clasps as well as corner fittings. In addition, the front cover bears an 18th century paper label that unmistakably refers to the Benedictine Fischingen Abbey with the shelfmark C:XV. S:13. Notat: 10.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the Proprium de tempore. The parchment codex was written between 1511 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg. The binding, from about 1517, is from the workshop of the Franciscans in Fribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the Proprium de tempore. The parchment codex was written between 1511 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg. The binding, from about 1528-1559, is from the workshop of the Franciscans in Fribourg.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the Proprium de tempore as well as the Commune sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1509/1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the Proprium de tempore as well as the Commune sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1509/1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg. The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the de Sanctis, the Officium B.M.V. and the Commune Sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg by 2 hands (A and B). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg and an assistant.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the winter portion of the de Sanctis, the Officium B.M.V. and the Commune Sanctorum. The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg by 2 hands (A and B). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg and an assistant.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This antiphonary with musical notation, whose text corresponds to the Lausanne Ordinary, contains the summer portion of the de Sanctis and the Officium B.M.V.The parchment codex was written between 1510 and 1517 in the workshop of Master Ruprecht (Fabri) in Fribourg completely by hand B (cf. Saint Nicholas Chaper Archive, ms. 5). The book decorations are by Jakob Frank of the Augustinian monastery ofFribourg.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
A psalter-hymnal produced for use by Dominicans. The saints recorded in the calendar indicate the codex's point of origin as a Dominican convent in Southern Germany or Bohemia. The decorative style of the illuminated initials and filigrees, above all, indicate Bohemian origin and an origination date in the first half of the 15th century (new information provided by Martin Roland, Vienna).
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This small but extensive (198 ff.) prayer book is written in a variant of North German (Middle Low German). In accordance with the female form in many of the prayers, it was intended for a woman. With the exception of one full-page miniature depicting Christ as the gardener before Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), all illuminations have been removed. An ex-libris on the front pastedown informs us that this small manuscript was a gift to the Fribourg Library in 1891 from Franz Xaver Karker, canon of Wroclaw Cathedral.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This document contains the cartulary and the tribute register of the Cluniac priory of Rüeggisberg in the canton of Bern, which was the first Cluniac priory in the German-speaking area and probably the oldest monastery in the Bernese area. The manuscript consists of two different parts, which were probably joined together in Bern at the beginning of the 16th century, or in 1484, when the priory was abolished and its assets were incorporated into the newly founded St. Vincent monastery of Bern. The first part (ff. 1-200 and 261-267) contains transcriptions made between 1425-1428 of various documents and bulls, and of the priory's register of tributes, which in turn had been copied from even older cartularies. The second part (ff. 201-260) contains documents copied from the collegiate monastery of St. Vincent in Bern.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript, copied in an unknown location during the first half of the fourteenth century, provides a beautiful example of a Cistercian antiphony with notes (only the Proprium de tempore is preserved here): an elegant script with widely spaced lines facilitates readability, the musical notes, in square notation, are organized according to a four-line system, and the text is richly decorated with fleuronné initials and droleries. Fragments from a twelfth-century Bible are bound into the beginning of the manuscript and are valuable witnesses for paleographical study of the earliest manuscripts produced by the Cistercians of Hauterive.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This paper manuscript contains the Fribourg chronicle of the Burgundian Wars in German, inspired by the Kleiner Burgunderkrieg by Diebold Schilling (1477), but from the perspective of Fribourg. This chronicle, which for a long time had been forgotten, is attributed to Peter von Molsheim from Bern, who is to have written it at the behest of the Council of Fribourg. The initials and illustrations were not executed.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
Antiphonary for Franciscan use, dating from the late 13th or early 14th century (after 1260), but representing the earliest Franciscan edition. Contains the chants (text and music) for the entire year for the liturgical Office, including the feast for Anthony of Padua in its proper position and an added Office for Corpus Christi in a different hand (f. 157r-159v).
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Antiphonary from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, dated 1488 according to the colophon f. 214v. Drolleries are drawn in the margins and by the initials. The manuscript contains a miniature (f. 14v, birth of Christ) and beautiful initials (flowers, fruit, zucchini), attributed to the Master of the breviary of Jost von Silenen.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Gradual from the Franciscan Monastery of Fribourg, still in use in the 16th/17th century according to the ownership note on the inside cover. Binding from the 16th century. Written in a Gothic minuscule around 1300. The beginning of important feasts is indicated with larger initials, sometimes with miniatures (e.g. F. 128v Ascension, f. 132v the Miracle of Pentecost).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
In this work, written at the end of the 14th century in Valencia, the author describes the universe of angels, inspired by Dionysius the Areopagite's De triplici gerarchia. The text, which was in wide use during the second half of the 15th century, was translated into French and published as a first printed edition in Geneva in the year 1478. The Ms. fr. 5 was illuminated by the Master of the Geneva Boccaccio and contains the coat of arms of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of King René of Anjou.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories. The first volume contains the first three books, i.e., the history of Greece, of Troy and of the Trojans who escaped the destruction of their town. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This parchment manuscript contains the mystic text of the Kabbala in cursive script, illustrated with numerous highly colorful drawings with allegorical, cosmological, and liturgical themes.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
In the 1240s, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen wrote a Latin treatise on falconry (De arte venandi cum avibus), in order to introduce his son Manfred to bird hunting. This treatise, consisting of 6 books, was the subject of a second edition by Manfred, who albeit revised only the first two books. At the beginning of the 14th century, the treatise was translated into French based on a manuscript which today is held in the Vatican and which contains Manfred's additions to the first two books. The French version is preserved in 4 manuscripts, among them the one from Geneva, decorated by the Bruges Master of 1482 ("Maître brugeois de 1482") and his associates.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Philippe Prevost, Lord of Plessis-Sohier-lez-Tours, advisor and Grand Master of King Henry IV, is the author and scribe of this text on the art of war, which is introduced by a dedication to King Henry IV (1591) and a letter to the same monarch. The text is also accompanied by several sonnets and a short treatise on fortifications. In addition, the autograph manuscript contains a short printed text by Philippe Prevost, Himne de la guerre et de la paix, which was published in Tours in 1590. A series of drawings, probably from engravings, and several battle plans illustrate the text of Le Mars. This text was never published, although it seems to have been prepared for this purpose, as attested by numerous erasures, additions and annotations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This remarkable manuscript, created in the 9th century in the Rhineland, contains the text of the four Gospels in their Latin version, written in Carolingian minuscule. The manuscript is decorated with, among others, two initials embellished with interlace and with canonical tables presented in arcades in vivid colors.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript from the 15th or 16th century unites texts by various authors: Isidore of Seville, Jerome, Eusebius of Caesarea as translated by Rufinus of Aquileia, Paulus Orosius and St. Bernard, presented in one codicologically unified volume.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
The incipit of the temporal (f. 1r: Incipit missale secundum usum maioris ecclesie gebennensis) indicates that this missal was meant for the use of St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. This very neat volume, containing no calendar, no Sanctorale and no Commune Sanctorum – with the exception of one erased column of text (f. 145v) – was probably produced in Geneva in the 15th century. According to Huot, this is the oldest liturgical manuscript to have entered the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève at the end of the 17th century.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Urbain Bonivard, prior of Saint-Victor in Geneva from 1458 to 1483, produced this missal in 1460. The missal follows the liturgical practices of Cluny; the miniatures are the work of Janin Luysel and Guillaume Coquin. During the Reformation the manuscript disappeared from Geneva and only came to light again in 1912 when the city of Geneva bought it at an auction in Munich.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This 15th century Book of Hours following the custom of Paris also contains a complete biblical Psalter. The miniatures are attributed to the final period of the workshop of the Duke of Bedford (around 1435-1460). Each month in the calendar is preceded by a Latin verse in hexameter listing the two unlucky days of the month (January 1 and 25, February 4 and 26, March 1 and 28, April 10 and 20, May 3 and 25, June 10 and 16, July 13 and 22, August 1 and 30, September 3 and 21, October 3 and 22, November 5 and 28, December 7 and 22). This manuscript was part of the "collection Petau," founded by two counselors of the parliament of Paris, Paul Petau († 1614) and his son Alexandre Petau († 1672); in 1720 the volume was bought by Ami Lullin (1695-1756) from Geneva, who, after his death, bequeathed it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This book of hours in the Parisian fashion is richly illuminated and was made for the diocese of Nantes in the third quarter of the 15th century. It was owned by the Petau family during the 17th century. In 1720 it was purchased by Ami Lullin of Geneva and donated to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This manuscript from the second half of the 15th century is a book of hours for use in the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours. Six large miniatures remain, of which two pertain to the life of Christ, two are dedicated to the Annunciation, one to St. Joseph, and the last to St. Barbara. The calendar indicates the thirteen unlucky days (dies eger) of the year. With its old crimson velvet binding, its painted decorations and careful script, this manuscript had enriched the collection of the Petau family before it came to Geneva.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This manuscript contains the Latin translation of the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, prepared in 1287 by Guido de Columnis. The text is divided into 35 books, of which only 9 are introduced by miniatures, most of them whole-page miniatures (f. 1r, 5v, 16v, 46r, 72v, 83v, 89v, 107v, 124v). Set in Renaissance-style frames, the paintings illustrate various important moments in the destruction of Troy. This manuscript was part of the collection of Paul and Alexandre Petau before it became the property of Ami Lullin, pastor and theologist in Geneva, who donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1756.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
“Lives of philosophers” constitute a subcategory of the ancient literary genre of “lives of illustrious men” that was considered anew beginning in the 12th century. The Latin text of this manuscript, the Liber de vita et moribus philosophorum veterum, attributed to Gautier Burley (actually an anonymous Italian author from the early 14th century), consists of a collection of moral maxims from various philosophers, whose names are indexed at the end of the work (f. 93r-94r). This copy, dated 1452, may be from the Abbey of Saint-Denis and later was the property of Paul and Alexandre Petau, before becoming part of the holdings of the Bibliothèque de Genève as part of the bequest of Ami Lullin.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This manuscript contains three medical texts translated from Arabic and Greek into Latin. It begins with a small medical encyclopedia in ten books, the Kitâb al-Mansuri by Rhazes (ff. 4-126), in the translation attributed to Gerard of Cremona (d. 1187); this is immediately followed by a treatise on fever (ff. 126-144v) inspired by Johannitius (Latin name of the doctor and translator Hunain ben Ishāq al-Ibādī from Baghdad, 808-873). The collection concludes with the text Twelve books of medicine by the Byzantine physician Alexander of Tralles, divided here into three books and followed by the Treatise on fever (ff. 146-289v). The extensively annotated manuscript is adorned with decorated initials from which very beautiful red and blue "Italian extensions" emerge.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This manuscript dates from the beginning of the 16th century and contains two poems by Raoul Bollart, the first of which celebrates the siege of King Ludwig XII of France against the Venetians in 1509. The second poem treats the subject of moral values and relates the supplications made to a rich person by the poor. All miniatures found in this manuscript, illustrating various scenes in the poems, were made in Rouen. The way in which they follow the morality text is similar to the style of modern comics. During the 17th century this manuscript was owned by the Petau family. In 1720 Ami Lullin of Geneva purchased the codex and donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
At the request of his friend Othman Lillo Ferducci of Ancona, Gian Mario Filelfo composed the Amyris in the years 1471-1476. This long Latin poem was intended to thank Sultan Mehmet II for having freed Ferducci's brother-in-law, who had been taken prisoner by the Turcs during the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Gian Mario Filelfo had the manuscript decorated in Florence with "bianchi girari” ornamentation, had it bound in Urbino with a very beautiful Italian Renaissance binding, and then gave it to the Duke of Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro, at whose court he was staying in 1477 and 1478.
Online Since: 12/18/2014