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This composite manuscript from the second half of the 13th century is written in early Gothic minuscule; it consists of five parts. Among other items, it contains the Beniamin minor by Richard of Saint Victor, various writings by Hugh of Saint Victor, the De sermone domini in monte secundum Matthaeum by Augustine and the De cognitione humanae conditionis by Bernard of Clairvaux. The last page contains notes about recipes and healing blessings.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This small, thick paper and parchment manuscript from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel must have been intensely used, as suggested by soiling and signs of heavy usage. The original red leather binding is covered with another layer of leather that sticks out beyond the covers at the bottom and can be folded over the lower edge as protection. The manuscript contains prayers, hymns and other devotional texts by numerous different authors — primarily saints and popes — such as Mechthild of Magdeburg or Bernard of Clairvaux. Also represented are Carthusian authors such as Heinrich Arnoldi. Several colored woodcut and metalcut prints have been glued onto leaf 4v and 316v.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The Matriculation Register of the Basel Rectorate, recorded in manuscript form from 1460 to 2000, contains annual information notices added by each successive rector as well as lists of enrolled students. 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
This composite manuscript of theological content originally belonged to the patrician family Gossembrot of Augsburg (late 15th century); via Johannes Oporin († 1568), Eusebius Merz († 1616) and Remigius Faesch († 1667), it finally became part of the university library of Basel in 1823. Except for a single remaining woodcut, various miniatures and woodcuts pasted into the manuscript have been torn out.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This Österreichische Chronik der 95 Herrschaften was copied around 1479 by Clemens Specker in Königsfelden Monastery. It is followed by a song about the War of Aargau, texts about King Frederick III, Konrad Pfettisheim's story of Peter von Hagenbach, a song about Charles the Bold, the Swiss Annals by Clemens Specker, as well as pasted woodcuts of the Nine Worthies. It is richly decorated with miniatures and coats of arms. A copy of Cod. A 45 from 1597 can be found in BBB Mss.h.h.VI.74. After the dissolution of the monastery, the codex passed into private hands in Bern in 1528, and in the 17th/18th century, it became part of the Stadtbibliothek of Bern.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Chronicle of the Bishopric of Constance by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, member of the Carthusian monastery at Ittingen from 1614). Heinrich Murer bases his chronicle upon earlier works, including the Chronicon of Hermannus Contractus (1013-1054), which was continued by his pupil Berthold von Reichenau into the year 1080, the Chronik der Alten Eidgenossenschaft (Chronicle of the Old Confederacy) by Johannes Stumpf (1500-1577/78), published in 1547/48; the Chronologia monasteriorum Germaniae praecipuorum by Caspar Bruschius (1518-1557): the Chronik von dem Erzstifte Mainz und dessen Suffraganbistümern (Chronicle of the Archdiocesan Abbey of Mainz and its Suffragan Bishoprics) by Wilhelm Werner, Graf von Zimmern (1485-1575); the historical works of Christoph Hartmann (1568-1637) of Frauenfeld, who was librarian of the Einsiedeln abbey in his later years and who wrote the Annales Heremi Deiparae Matris in Helvetia together with Franz Guillimann. Murer's chronicle extends from the origins of what would later be the Diocese of Constance in Windisch in the year 411 under Bishop Paternus to the year 1629 under Bishop Johannes VII.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
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
This manuscript contains texts for the Liturgy of the Hours. It was probably created at Muri Abbey and was meant for the Hermetschwil nuns' convent. Fol. 125v shows one of the few remaining prints of the “Teigdruck” (paste print) technique: Barbara with a palm branch and a tower.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
A 9th century volume containing the Gospels, originally from Saint-Ursanne.
Online Since: 03/24/2006
This chronicle of the Reformation, an autograph illustrated with numerous woodcuts, comprises seven “books”: the first book is about Christ and the Pope, and Kessler describes the old church. In the second book he describes the emergence of Luther and the new faith. Books III through VII give a detailed report about the beginning and the course of the Reformation in St. Gall and in the adjacent area ruled by the Prince-Abbots, in the Swiss Confederation and in the German Empire. Regarding volume and detail, the events in St. Gall and in Eastern Switzerland take up the largest share. Mentioned and praised over and over again are the merits of Vadian, whose work Kessler named “Sabbata” because it was written “an den Sabbaten, das sind an den Fyrtagen und Fyrabendstunden” (on the Sabbath, which are the holidays and the hours at the end of the day, after work).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Heinrich Schlüsselfelder's work, Blumen der Tugend, a collection of brief instructive tales, is derived from an Italian model. The author, originally from Nürnberg, translated them into German in 1468 in Italy. The paper is of Italian manufacture; the Lombard initials, the binding stamp and what remains of the fasteners are all of Italian design. For illustrations Schlüsselfelder used early Italian copperplate engravings portraying the cardinal virtues and a unicorn; slightly later he, or a reader, illustrated the text with color-washed pen sketches in the margins.
Online Since: 11/04/2010
Ardüser's notes begin in the year 1572 and end in 1614. His chronicle is considered an important source of political and social life in the "Alt Fry Rätien" of the time. Not until the 1870s was Hans Ardüser's chronicle discovered and published by cantonal high school principal J. Bott from Grisons. A large part of the chronicle consists of reports about political events at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. In his work Ardüser also mentions crimes and the execution of witches; among other things he reports about extraordinary weather events and consequent crop failures. From his autobiographical nots, which are recorded in the "Rätische Chronik" (Raetian chronicle) as well, it becomes clear that Ardüser was a gifted reader. We can conclude that he obtained his knowledge about all of these topics from written sources such as parish registers, circulating news bulletins, official publications and personal contacts to officials, returning mercenary soldiers or traveling merchants.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Contrary to Scherrer, this missal does not come from the fourteenth century, but rather from the first half of the fifteenth century. In addition to a full-page image of a canon on p. 179, the decoration includes pen-flourished initials (p. 77b, 413a, 434a etc.) as well as outlined, but not completed, zoomorphic and historiated initials. Thus, for example, on p. 12a for Christmas there appears an initial in the form of a dragon enclosing a Nativity scene and, on p. 92a, for the Dedicatio huius monasterii, an initial with a man in a tree. Notable are the numerous sequences that the missal contains. According to the possessor's note on p. 1, Sanctorum Iohannis Baptiste et Evangeliste, the manuscript was held by the Abbey of St. John in Thurtal since at least the eighteenth century.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
The manuscript was copied in 1775 by Fr. Romano (Romanus) Fromenwiller for the Prince-Abott Beda Angehrn of Saint Gall most probably at the Abbey of Saint Gall. It is a shortened copy of the two parts from the book Theasaurus linguæ Armenicæ (Արամեան լեզուին գանձ), published by Joachim Schröder in 1711 in Amsterdam. The main content of the manuscript is the Ecclesiæ armenicæ confessio (Part 3 of the Theasaurus linguæ Armenicæ), which is followed by an alphabetical table, accompanied by a transliteration of the Armenian letters into Latin characters, copied from Part 2 of the Theasaurus linguæ Armenicæ.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Album with depictions of members of the Zellweger family of textile merchants from Trogen, with biographical texts on the male representatives of the family. From the early modern era until the middle of the 19th century, the Zellwegers shaped the economy and politics of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Victor Eugen Zellweger, the author of these texts, saw to the reproduction of family-owned paintings, drawings and prints, making use of the most modern techniques of photography. For the calligraphic design and illustration of the 3-volume work, he engaged the illustrator Salomon Schlatter from St. Gall.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Three volumes of scientific treatises by Johann Georg Schläpfer on historical, biological, geological, medical and philosophical topics as well as several drawings and watercolors of landscapes, plants, animals and anatomical specimens, made by Johann Ulrich Fitzi.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Salom Italia (about 1619, Mantua – 1655, Amsterdam) divided the text into 30 columns (on four sheets) and placed them in the openings of massive rustica portals. In the niches between these portals, representations of King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther alternate. On the pedestals there are 29 pictures telling the story of the Book of Esther. Salom Italia's design of the Esther roles, of which a total of eleven works have survived, was of great influence. This megillah is one of three Esther scrolls decorated with pen drawings, which may have served as a model for the copper-engraved borders designed by the same artist.
Online Since: 12/10/2020