This martirologio-inventario (an annal followed by an inventory of property) of the Church of S. Stefano in Torre in the Blenio Valley inTicino, was written in 1639 at the request of the vicini (the original members of the municipal corporate body) of Torre and Grumo, in order to replace the 1569 copy, which was not up to date. It contains a description of the old church of S. Stefano before its reconstruction during the baroque period; the list of furnishings, of liturgical vestments, and of gold items in the church treasury; the list of annuali, i.e., of the annual celebrations for the death days of deceased members of the Church; and the church revenues. At the beginning of the manuscript there is a partially gilded drawing of the church patron St. Stephen. (ber)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

Obituary of the Parish of S. Siro of Mairengo (Ticino), written by the priest Ambrogio Rossi of Chironico, who copied an older obituary that was probably damaged or had no more space. The Ambrosian type calendar lists the stipends for annual masses or for anniversaries, the solemnities, the indulgences and notes regarding the pledges to the parish and to the entire valley. On December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the commemoration of the Battle of Giornico (Battaglia dei Sassi Grossi, 1479) is recorded. (ber)

Online Since: 06/23/2016

This martirologio-inventario (an annal followed by an inventory of property) of the Church of S. Stefano in Torre in the Blenio Valley in Ticino, was written in 1568 at the request of the vicini (the original members of the municipal corporate body) of Torre and Grumo, in order to replace the older version. It contains the list of annuali, i.e., of the annual celebrations for the death days of deceased members of the Church, the inventory of movable and immovable property, of the monacharia and of the luminaria, that is, the requisites for illuminating the church. At the beginning of the manuscript there is a watercolor drawing of the church patron St. Stephen. (ber)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

This martirologio-inventario (annal) was written in 1554 at the request of the vicini (the original members of the municipal corporate body) of Castro and Marolta in the Blenio Valley (Ticino) in order to replace an older one that was destroyed in a fire. It contains the list of obligations toward the parish and toward the community for bequests and anniversaries of deaths. The first page is decorated with an illuminated initial and has in its bottom margin a painting of the coat of arms of the canton of Uri. At the time, the Blenio Valley was governed ruled by the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden. (ber)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This codex from the end of the 15th century contains several appealing initials and select shorter works by Bernard of Clairvaux. Among them are also several works attributed to Bernard. The scribe ist the Cistercian Johannes Fabri, professed member of the monastery of Heilbronn. According to an old entry (17th century?), the book belonged to Beinwil Abbey, which was relocated to Mariastein in 1648. (sck)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

The decorative program of this Esther scroll (on 4 sheets with 16 columns of text) was taken from the printed frame design of the Braginsky Megillah S25. The benedictions at the beginning of the scroll are surrounded by figures and episodes of the Esther story: at the top Ahasuerus and Esther on the throne flanked by courtiers; below on the right the conspirators and on the left Haman on the gallows; at the bottom on the right Mordecai in the gate of the palace and on the left Esther and Mordecai writing letters with the orders for the Purim feast. The hexagonal case of chased silver was made in 1806 and belonged to Rabbi Ephraim Fischel of Rozdol in Eastern Galicia. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This manuscript from the library of the Bishop of Sion Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482) and his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains five of the six comedies by Terence, although the last one, Hecyra, abruptly ends in the middle of the text. This codex is part of a group of manuscripts (S 51, S 56, S 105) that Georg Supersaxo himself made or had made during his studies in Basel (beginning in 1472). In this group, Terence's comedies are contained in the present manuscript as well as in codex S 105. These two manuscripts are very similar to one another regarding text and formatting. However, in contrast to codex S 105, which is written carefully and regularly and which is decorated with more elaborate initials, codex S 101 definitely is a manuscript for regular use. The initials and the rubrication soon discontinue. The binding is from the same workshop as that of codex S 51. Both have identical stamping, and the fragments, which were used to reinforce the inside cover, are from the same manuscript. They contain excerpts from the Physica by Aristotle in the translation by James of Venice. (dre)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

At once a travel memoir and a geography book, the Voyages by John Mandeville, probably written around 1355-1357, were a great success in the Middle Ages. There are three versions of the French text; manuscript S 99 is related to the “continental” version. As in other manuscripts based on this version, the Voyages (ff. 1r-122v, with an explicit on f. 123v and an addendum on ff. 124r-125r) are followed by the Preservacion de Epidimie (ff. 122v-123v). The actual identity of the two authors is unresolved and may even have been confounded. In copy S 99 from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529), the upper margins are covered with ornaments of ascending bars, some of which turn into into zoomorphic or anthropomorphic motifs. The Supersaxo library owns another version of the Voyages, namely S 94, in the German translation by Michel Velser. Like two other manuscripts from this same library, S 97bis (composite manuscript with the romance of Pontus and Sidonia) and S 100 (statutes of Savoy), S 99 was copied by Claude Grobanet, who was mentioned in a 1474 document in Martigny, where he served Antoine Grossi Du Châtelard, Lord of Isérables († 1495). In the beginning of the 16th century, the family of Antoine Du Châtelard apparently came into financial difficulties; their property - and probably the three manuscripts as well - passed into the hands of Georges Supersaxo. The incomplete parchment document, which makes up the rear flyleaf, mentions, among others, Martigny, 147[3] and a seigneur d'Ys[érables (?)]. (esc)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains two works in Latin. The first (ff. 1r-126r) is a treatise on the Inquisition, written in Girona in 1359 by the Catalan Dominican Nicolau Eymeric, Grand Inquisitor of Aragon (before 1320-1399). The version in S 97 contains the chapter De suspicione (beginning on f. 104v), which is sometimes considered a separate work; the table of contents was written on parchment (f. 1). In the second part of the manuscript (ff. 132r-214r), there is a version of the Gesta Romanorum in 31 chapters, a famous collection of fables and moralizing tales that was probably written in Germany or England before 1342. The first part of manuscript S 97 was copied in 1460, the second part in 1465. The copyist was the priest Cristoferus in Domo Lapidea (Im/Zum Steinhaus, Steinhauser) of Lalden, rector of the altar of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian at the Church of S. Mauritius in Naters. This same scribe is also responsible for two more manuscripts in the Supersaxo library, S 96 and S 98, which contain theological and moral works. In addition, in 1460, the same year as S 97, this scribe transcribed the De jurisdictione inquisitorum a second time; this version can be found in the first part of a composite manuscript in the library of the Capuchin monastery of Sion, in RCap 73 (former shelfmark W 34). (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

At once a travel memoir and a geography book, the Voyages by John Mandeville, probably written around 1355-1357, were a great success in the Middle Ages. Numerous handwritten copies make it possible to distinguish three different versions of the French text, which gave rise to translations into Latin and into the vernacular languages. The oldest German translation, going back to about 1393-1399, is by Michel Velser, a member of the von Völs family (Völs, South Tyrol). This copy, S 94 from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529), contains numerous ornamental initials, some zoomorphic or anthropomorphic. The endpapers are parchment. Based on the language, the manuscript should be from Northern Switzerland. An ownership note on f. 120v mentions an uncle “G”, which may suggest Georges Supersaxo himself. In the binding, there was a fragment of a papal document that can without doubt be dated to the middle of the 13th century, from a Pope Innocent and addressed to the Abbot of Kempten. Ms. S 94 can be compared to another manuscript from the Supersaxo library, namely with S 99, which contains a French version of the Voyages. (esc)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This megillah is embellished with hand-painted, repeated architectural designs. The text is set between alternating straight and spiral marble columns. The Jews of Italy associated twisted columns with those of the Temple of Solomon, which they believed were brought to Rome by Titus and eventually placed in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican. In terms of style, this scroll resembles the illuminated ketubot produced in Ferrara and Mantua. Accompanying this scroll is a separate sheet of parchment that, in addition to the benedictions, contains a liturgical hymn, korei megillah, recited by the Jews of Italy. Rabbis disagreed as to whether a scroll may include any extraneous text that is not part of the book of Esther. However, in some communities this led to the practice of creating an unattached sheet featuring the three benedictions traditionally recited prior to the reading of the megillah. (red)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This spiritual handbook contains assorted German texts: a translation of the Gospel of Nicodemus and a communion devotion together with Dominican funeral rites and mystic texts about Christ's Passion. The manuscript originated in the third quarter of the 15th century in the area of the Upper Rhine and was originally the property of the Dominican convent in Bern (Inselkloster St. Michael). After the Reformation, at the end of the 16th century, the manuscript was acquired by the Solothurn City Library (Bibliotheca civitatis). (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

This German book of meditations and prayers for Dominican nuns was produced at the Inselkloster St. Michael in Bern. It contains, inter alia, numerous excerpts from the writings of Gertrud of Helfta and Mechthild of Hackeborn. Most of it was written in 1507 by Sister Luzia von Moos. Beginning in the 17th century the manuscript is known to have been in the possession of the Solothurn family Gugger; at the beginning of the 19th century it was obtained by the Solothurn City Library. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529), contains a compendium of the statutes of Savoy, a legal code issued in 1430 by Amadeus VIII, the first Duke of Savoy and the future antipope Felix V. The compendium was printed for the first time in 1477 in Turin by Johannes Fabri (Hain 14050, GW M43623). Until 1475, this region of the canton of Valais below the river Morge of Conthey was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy. This manuscript, S 100, can be compared with two other manuscripts from the Supersaxo library, namely with S 97bis (composite manuscript with the romance of Pontus and Sidonia) and S 99 (John Mandeville, Voyages). All three manuscripts were copied by Claude Grobanet, who was mentioned in a 1474 document in Martigny, where he served Antoine Grossi Du Châtelard, Lord of Isérables († 1495). In the beginning of the 16th century, the family of Antoine Du Châtelard apparently came into financial difficulties; their property - and probably the three manuscripts as well - then passed into the hands of Georges Supersaxo. (esc)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This volume, S 56, from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) in five parts brings together various Latin texts, classical texts as well as works by Italian humanists; the first two parts are printed (with initials in red and green), the latter three are handwritten. The first part, printed around 1472 by Michael Wenssler and Friedrich Biel in Basel (GW 3676), contains the Epistolae by the humanist and professor of rhetoric Gasparino Barzizza from Bergamo (ca. 1360-1431). This is followed by The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, also from the workshop of Michael Wenssler in Basel from about 1473-1474 (GW 4514). Next is the first handwritten text (incomplete, with marginal and interlinear glosses), Jesuida seu De passione Christi by the humanist and physician Girolamo della Valle from Padua († ca. 1458 or 1494). This work, written in hexameter and dedicated to Pietro Donato, Bishop of Padua from 1428 until 1447, was most likely copied from the edition of about 1474 that was printed by Michael Wenssler in Basel (GW M49385) and that also served as model for the lay-out. The fourth part contains the Catiline conspiracy by Sallust. At the end of the volume, the fifth part is made up of three works by two authors (with marginal and interlinear glosses; initials in red and green); due to a bookbinder's error, the order of the quires is mixed up. This fifth part contains the Elegantiolae (the order for reading would be: ff. 1r-10v, 27r-38v, 11r-20r) by the humanist and professor of rhetoric Agostino Dati from Siena (*1420 or 1428, †1478), as well as two treatises by Gasparino Barzizza, which are already included in the printed part, the Praeceptorum summula (ff. 20r-21v) and the Modus orandi (ff. 21v-26v, 39r-43r). The three handwritten parts of the volume were produced by different hands, among them that of the anonymous scribe of Georg Supersaxo. S 56 therefore is comparable to the other manuscripts (S 51, S 101, S 105) that were made for Georg Supersaxo at the time when the young man studied law in Basel (around 1472-1474). Among the annotations on the flyleaves one can recognize a note of ownership by his father Walter Supersaxon, Bishop of Sion (f. N2r). (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This small volume contains a collection of organ works and sacred songs, among them several unique examples by Tarquinio Merula, Martin Benn, Jakob Bannwart (organ music) and Isabella Leonarda (motets from her lost Opus 1). The collection was created “Ad usum Jo: Victoris Ruossingeri Solodorensis. Ao 1656.” The writer probably was Johann Victor Russinger (1630–1700), then chaplain and later canon of St. Ursus in Solothurn. In the 19th century, this small volume was owned by the Solothurn Franciscan Franz Ludwig Studer (1804–1873); later it became part of the Central Library of Solothurn. (bra)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

Influenced by the Islamic culture of North Africa, this megillah (on three sheets with 19 columns of text) dispenses with figurative representations and uses the formal language of Islamic art with its manifoldly varied ornaments. The text is adorned by an arcade that extends over the entire scroll. The decoration most closely resembles that of some ketubot from the city of Meknes in Morocco. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

By its style, the case of this megillah (h: 47cm) can be attributed to religious Jewish art of Eastern Europe. The silver is punched, chased, cast and partially gilded. The double-headed eagle is the heraldic animal of the Habsburgs and of the Russian Tsar. On the shield is a quote from Esther 8:16: “But unto the Jews there came a light and joy and gladness and glory”, and the flags flanking the shield are inscribed: “And the royal crown shall be set upon his head” (Esther 6:8). Numerous of flower, fruit and leaf ornaments, interspersed with representations of animals, cover the case. The scroll can be pulled out by a clasp in the shape of a small lion. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This scroll (on five sheets with 13 columns of text) opens with an impressive sun disk surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. The month of Adar is particularly emphasized, since it was in this month under the sign of Pisces that the extermination of the Jews took place. Each column begins, if possible, with the word ha-melech (the king), which designates the king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, but is also an allusion to the never explicitly mentioned and yet omnipresent God. The silver case from around 1800 is crowned by a bouquet of flowers and leaves, which can be found in a similar way on Torah finials (rimmonim) and other Judaica metalwork of the Ottoman Empire. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This eighteenth-century megillah was created in Lower Saxony and exemplifies a type of folk art decoration and color palette found in other megillot from this region. The most distinctive image in this scroll is the one depicting the hanging of Haman. Bound in chains, he is suspended from the gallows. A venomous snake, a symbol of evil, encircles the upright support of the gibbet. Below, a double-tailed lion, an allegoric embodiment of the Jewish people, is depicted holding a crowned shield and gazing up at the execution. This Braginsky Collection megillah is one of three similar German scrolls containing distinctive images of Haman hanging. Inscriptions on the opening and closing panels of this scroll indicate that this scroll was owned by Berel the son of Abraham Neumark of Hamburg. (red)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

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. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

Jewish ceremonial objects crafted of gold, such as this Esther scroll case, are exceptionally rare since synagogue and personal Judaica objects were usually made of silver or other less precious material. The cylindrical case of this scroll is ornamented with applied filigree. Emerging from a vase at the center is a large naturalistic flowering wine with scrolling stems and blossoms that extend across the case's decorated surface. Large blossoms support or frame the objects associated with the Holy Temple of Jerusalem. Although these motifs are frequently found on a variety of Italian Jewish ritual metalwork, they do not relate specifically to the Esther story. In addition, the Ten Tablets of the Law are placed on the largest central floral motif, a wreath composed of small flower forms that may suggest sunflowers. There are two similar Esther scroll cases of this type undoubtedly created by the same maker. They have been localized to seventeenth-century Rome or Venice. This undecorated scroll is probably from the 18th century. (red)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

The Esther story in this megillah (pl. megillot) isn't presented as an historic drama, but rather as a funny satire. The character of Alsatian Jewish life is captured in the ornamentation of the scroll: the whimsical imagery includes peasant figures in colorful local costume and reflections of folk humor. Lively figures, several shown strolling with walking sticks in hand and others gesturing, are interspersed with human busts, owls, and a gargoyle, while the Hebrew text is arranged within octagonal frames approximately 6 cm high. The few known Alsatian megillot share several distinctive characteristics, such as a bright palette of yellow, red, and green; stocky robust figures; and large vibrant flowers. In this Braginsky Collection Esther scroll, the women wear red or blue garments with yellow corselets laced in front, whereas the men are depicted wearing, amongst others, traditional white ruffs, red or blue jackets with culottes, and a variety of hats. (red)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This illustrated breviary for the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine was produced in 1470/1471 in Lombardy. The elegant script is characteristic of the Abbey of Santa Croce at Mortara. In the 17th century the volume was acquired by the patrician Wagner family of Solothurn, whose books were bequeathed to the city library in 1773. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

The Küchenmeisterei is one of the most widely known German language cookbooks. The Solothurn manuscript of the Küchenmeisterei is a copy of a printed edition, produced no earlier than 1487. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

The border design of this Esther scroll is dominated by a baroque arcade featuring four distinctly patterned columns. The arches are surmounted by a balustrade that supports flowering urns, blank medallions, floral scrollwork, and a variety of birds including a crowned double-headed eagle and a peacock. Scenes from the Esther narrative are positioned beneath each of the nineteen columns of text. The engraved border of this scroll was designed by the Italian scholar, artist, and publisher Francesco Griselini (1717-1787), whose engraved border designs were popular in Italy in the eighteenth century. In these illustrations, Griselini has devoted particular attention to architectural settings and spatial perspective. The artist's printed signature is found in the lower left corner of each membrane. The last scene, placed under the final arch, is rarely found on illustrated Ester scrolls. It depicts the Messiah riding on a donkey heralding the return of the exiled Jewish people back to Jerusalem. The text of this scroll was penned by the scribe-artist Aryeh Leib ben Daniel. In his inscription, which follows the concluding benedictions, he informs the reader that he wrote this scroll in Venice in the winter of 1746. (red)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

The opening panel of this megillah (on 4 leaves with 34 columns of text) shows a rampant lion with a palm frond, surrounded by four birds and insects. Above it, an inscription gives the name “Salomon Marinozzi”, presumably the original owner. To its right, a cartouche containing the name of his son as owner, was probably added later: “This scroll belongs to Mordecai, son of Solomon Marinozzi of blessed memory, and it was bought by Solomon […] in the year 1652.” (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This martirologio-calendario (obituary) of the Parish of Claro has no cover, and its initial pages are quite badly damaged. Each page is laid out to contain five to seven days of the week; names of the deceased whose death anniversaries were to be celebrated are listed in spaces especially intended for this purpose. It is almost certain that this annal replaces an older register. Individual entries were updated later and, as can be deduced from notes in the margins, were transferred to a new book. As a rule, the entries are not dated, but mention of several testaments and local customs allows for placing it in the period after the middle of the 15th century. (ber)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This booklet, with notes and decorated with three initials, contains the texts for the Office of the Dead, the seven penitential psalms, and prayers for a deceased Dominican nun, probably in the convent in Colmar. Judging by the script, it is from the first half of the 15th century. The book belonged to Sister Martha Gosslerin. In 1782 it was acquired by Philipp Jakob Steyrer, Abbot of St Peter's Abbey in the Black Forest; through him, the booklet came to Mariastein Abbey. (sck)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

The calligrapher and artist Arje Leib ben Daniel, who created this megillah (on three sheets with 12 columns of text and a separate sheet with blessings), came from Goraj near Zamość in Lesser Poland. A total of 28 of his megillot have been preserved, eight of which are signed and dated by him. This so-called ha-melech scroll, where each individual column begins with ha-melech ("the king"), was created in Venice in 1748, with the sepia drawings typical of Leib ben Daniel. Influences of Salom Italia's border designs as well as of Eastern European folk art can be discerned. The artist's name in the inscription was later replaced by that of Judah Capsuto, who gave the scroll to Ephraim Isaac Capsuto as a Purim gift. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

Created at the beginning of the 20th century, this Esther scroll (on six sheets with 35 columns of text) could be seen as an attempt to create a national Jewish style by incorporating orientalist and Art Nouveau elements. The origin could therefore be Jerusalem, although other centers in the Ottoman Empire could also be considered. The case is artfully carved from ivory, the megillah was painted in vivid colors and contains floral motifs, as often found in oriental manuscripts. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This megillah (on three sheets with 10 columns of text) is from Eastern Europe and was probably created at the beginning of the 20th century. The elaborate case was made by Ezekiel Joshua Maisels in 1913 in Dolyna in Galicia (today Western Ukraine). It is covered with carved images, ornaments and Hebrew inscriptions, and contains scenes from the Purim story at the bottom and from the hanging of Haman in the upper part. In the central part, the crown (keter malchut), symbol of royal rule, is held by two winged lions. The double-headed eagle refers to the Habsburg Empire. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This mid-eighteen century Italian Esther scroll was most likely printed and hand-colored in Venice. It is kept in a cylindrical case of delicate filigree, ornamented with floral motifs, that is typical of the later and more refined work of Ioannite silversmiths. (red)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

The special feature of this Esther scroll (on 4 sheets with 16 columns of text) are the detailed illustrations of the Book of Esther with the inclusion of motifs from the Midrash literature. These testify to a good knowledge of the Bible and the rabbinical commentaries. The depiction of Jews in festive dress with barrette and white ruffled collar (“Judenkragen”) points to a Western European milieu. In fact, the roll was created in Amsterdam. The scribe of this early and prototypical megillah with a printed decorative frame, Jacob from Berlin, wrote his name in the opening panel and dated the manuscript to the 18th century. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

The text on this Esther scroll (on 5 sheets with 42 columns of text) is written in unusually narrow columns, set in golden frames on a greenish background. The hexagonal case made of cast, chased, engraved and granulated silver bears the silver hallmarks of the city of Rome and of the manufacturer Giovanni Battista Sabatini from 1778 to 1780. The initials alef, resh and samech refer to the patron and to the owner. What is unusual is that in this case, the complete original set of scroll, case and leather box has been preserved. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This profusely illustrated Dutch scroll is distinctive for its thirty-eight illustrations drawn in sepia ink. The decoration of the scroll begins with a triumphal arch reminiscent of Roman Triumphal arches constructed for royal festivities throughout Europe from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. The scroll also contains some unusual representations. One is of Mordecai standing in a room with a wall filled with books. He is portrayed as a scholar, perhaps reflecting a rabbinic tradition that informs us of his remarkable knowledge of seventy languages, which helped him uncover the plot against Ahasuerus. Another striking illustration is the depiction of two merrymaking dwarves dancing and playing stringed instruments in celebration of the Jews' delivery from destruction. (red)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This hand-written megillah Esther from Venice (type: “Gaster I”, on three sheets with text in 19 columns, all but the last one arranged in pairs), is decorated with a printed and hand-colored decorative border; it can be dated circa 1675 based on almost identical Esther rolls that are dated. This decorative technique was first used in Rome in the late 16th century and later, especially in the 18th century, was widely used in Venice and Amsterdam. Polylobed cartouches below and above the text depict scenes from the Book of Esther. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

In contrast to most Esther scrolls, the first two decorative fields of this megillah emphasize the central importance of Mordecai. First there is written, in burgundy letters: “The Scroll of Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew” and then in orange letters “In the fortress Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordecai, son of Jair son of Shimei son of Kish” (Esther 2:5). This genealogy is traced back to Abraham on the borders along the top and bottom of the entire scroll. This is followed by the lineage of the opponent Haman, which was taken from the Targum Riscon, the Aramaic translation of the original Hebrew text. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

Cut-out decors are typical for Esther scrolls from Ancona and Lugo. These can also be found on ketubbot (see K96 and K105) and other decorative sheets. The upper ribbon of cutout designs on this megillah (on three leaves with 12 columns of text) has peacocks, butterflies and deer interwoven with flower, tendril and latticework ornaments, while the lower one shows the signs of the zodiac. The turned wooden roller is 54.8 cm high. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This booklet, written by a single hand around the middle of the 15th century, was used for the prayer of the little hours at the Schönsteinbach Convent of Dominican nuns in Upper Alsace. It contains the texts of the Proprium de tempore and of the Commune Sanctorum. The last part contains the Ordinarium, but it is incomplete. Philipp Jakob Steyrer, Abbot of St Peter's Abbey in the Black Forest, purchased the book in 1781; through him, it came to Mariastein Abbey. (sck)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This Esther scroll was created in Amsterdam around 1641 (on 7 sheets and 49 columns of text); it contains a printed decorative frame engraved by Shalom Italia (see his signature at the beginning of the scroll “Salom Italia sculp[sit]” (Shalom Italia engraved it). His frame designs influenced illustrated megillot throughout Europe. The printing plate, which is repeated several times over the entire length of the scroll, comprises four archways. On each pierced semicircular arch, above the architraves there are two women holding palm fronds. Landscape miniatures appear in the supraports and on the bases of the full-length figures representing Ahasuerus, Esther, Mordecai, and Haman. The scenes are based on contemporary landscape motifs, thus linking the Jewish text with the general visual culture of its time. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

The printed frame design for this Esther scroll (on four sheets with 15 columns of text) was created by the engraver Paul-Jean Franck, a non-Jewish artist in Prague; it is thus one of the rare examples of this type that does not originate from the two printing centers of Venice or Amsterdam. A total of seven episodes from the Book of Esther are presented in vertical order at the beginning and end of the scroll. At the beginning: Ahasuerus on the throne, while Mordecai and Haman are led past; Mordecai hands Hatach the decree of destruction; the king in the tent. At the end: the celebration of Purim; the accusation of Haman by Esther; Mordecai and the king; Mordecai as he records the establishment of the Purim festival in a letter to the Jews. Above the spiral columns' capitals, further scenes are represented. (flu)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This Esther scroll, which combines Indian and Western traditions in a unique way, contains twenty elaborately illustrated panels flanking the text columns. The reader is shown surrounded by men wearing fezes and children holding drums used as noisemakers to drawn out the name of Haman. Additionally, a group of five women is portrayed in a separate space above labeled ezrat nashim (woman's section). The figures in the scroll are depicted in a mixture of contemporary, Western and non-Western clothing, and often are seated in interiors that portray a similar blend of furnishings. Some of the women, including Esther at times, are shown with a Hindu bindi sign on their foreheads. This scroll comes from the collection of the eminent Sassoon family of Baghdadi Jewish descent. It was most likely created for their personal use. The merging of Jewish scribal traditions and Indian artistic design reflects the Sassoon family's deep involvement in the cultural life of India. (red)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This scroll contains one of the most finely executed series of illustrations to be found in decorated megillot (sing. megillah). The highly accomplished artist Wolf Leib Katz Poppers has modeled detailed figures, scenes, and animals with delicate parallel and cross-hatched pen strokes, creating an effect that is strikingly similar to the copperplate engravings of contemporary books. Positioned between a foliate border with animals at the top and a similar one with birds at the bottom, text columns are interspersed with eight elegant full-length characters from the Esther story. Below each of these figures is a small vignette that chronicles the Purim story. It is unusual that the skillfully drawn figures that embellish this scroll are dressed in Ottoman-court clothing. The choice of this type of dress is intriguing, and perhaps the most cogent reason for this combination is that the scroll was produced for a member of a small, affluent community of Turkish Jews who, after 1718, were permitted to live and trade freely in Vienna, while still remaining subjects of the Sultan of Turkey. (red)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This work is dated to the 3rd Adar of the year 5324 (15 February 1564) in Venice and is thus the earliest dated example of a fully decorated Esther scroll. It was made by Stellina and therefore contains the only early modern megillah that we know to have been created by a woman. The scroll begins with blessings. These are followed by the text, which is placed between arcades. The columns of text are flanked by caryatids carrying antique vases, urn vessels or oil lamps on their heads. In the seventh, thirteenth and nineteenth arcade, the caryatids are replaced by a satyr and a woman with animal paws. All illustrations include gold highlights. The style and motifs correspond to the visual language of contemporary mannerism. (flu)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This manuscript unites three moral treatises from different epochs. It begins with the mirror for princes by the Dominican William Peraldus, De eruditione principum, written around 1265. This is followed by a short philosophical text by the Franciscan John of Wales, Breviloquium, from the second half of the 13th century, and then a moral treatise by Martin of Braga, Formula vitae honestae, a 6th century work that was widely distributed in the Middle Ages and that was attributed to Seneca for a long time. Intended for the Bishop of Sion Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), this manuscript was copied in 1463 by the priest Cristoferus in Domo Lapidea (Im/Zum Steinhaus, Steinhauser) of Lalden (parish of Visp), rector of the altar at the Church of St. Mauritius in Naters (fol. 214v und 220r). The copy was made on paper with a watermark (fol. 180r), also used for S 97 (fol. 129r), one of the three manuscripts, together with S98 and Rcap 73, that were made by the same scribe for the library of Walter Supersaxo. (rou)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

Volume S 51 from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains two collections of Latin fables, the first printed, the second handwritten. The first part, printed around 1475 by Michael Wenssler in Basel (GW 7890), contains the Speculum sapientiae, which had erroneously been attributed to the holy bishop Cyril. This collection of 95 fables in Latin prose was probably compiled around 1337-1347 by the Italian Dominican Bongiovanni da Messina. The second part contains Aesop's fables in a Latin version in verse called “Fables by Anonymus Neveleti“ (after the name of the first publisher, Isaac Nicolas Nevelet, in the year 1610), which eventually were attributed to Gualterus Anglicus (12th century). This second, handwritten part was produced around 1474 by Georg Supersaxo's anonymous scribe. It is comparable to other copies that were produced for Georg Supersaxo around 1472-1474, at the time that the young man studied law in Basel. This group of manuscripts includes the classical writers (Terence, Sallust …) as well as texts known only to scholars (Augustinus Datus, Gasparinus Barzizius …). Glued to the pastedowns of S 51, there are parchment fragments with Latin excerpts from Aristotle's Physics (Book IV, in the translation of James of Venice). (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This missal of the Franciscan use contains Sunday and Feast-day masses from the Temporal and the Sanctoral. A possessor's mark from the Franciscan Franz Meyer, from 1587 warden of the Solothurn convent, proves that the manuscript came from that convent. Originally, it may have come, as Schönherr hypothesizes, from the Franciscan convent in Bern, which was dissolved during the Reformation. (hol)

Online Since: 09/06/2023

This substantial composite manuscript contains approximately 2.000 recipes and instructions, principally from art technology, but also other medical, culinary and alchemistic ones. The manuscript had been the property of the Bieler family, residents of Solothurn since the 17th century; the family counted several artisans in its ranks. (hol)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

Obituary of the Parish of SS. Pietro e Paolo of Quinto (Ticino), written by the priest Ambrogio Rossi of Chironico, who copied an older obituary that was probably damaged or had no more space. The Ambrosian type calendar lists the stipends for annual masses or for anniversaries, the solemnities, the indulgences and notes regarding the pledges to the parish and to the entire valley. On December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the commemoration of the Battle of Giornico (Battaglia dei Sassi Grossi, 1479) is recorded. (ber)

Online Since: 06/23/2016

TThis southern german manuscript is a collection of medical texts that include, in addition to the Artzneibuch (Book of Nutrition) by Ortolf von Baierland and extracts from the Thesaurus pauperum by Petrus Hispanus,a complete separate text on healing as the Corpus of cloister medicine as well as assorted versions of the Wacholderbeertraktat (Juniper berry tract), extracts from Bartholomeus, the Antidotarium Nicolai and much more. These texts were assembled between 1463 and 1466 by Reichenau physician Hans Stoll. The codex is listed in the first catalog of the Solothurn City Library of 1766/1771. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

This composite manuscript was compiled around 1560 in Obwalden; a Hans Werb is named as writer. In addition to medieval mystical texts (Rulman Merswin, Neunfelsenbuch; Henry Suso, Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit), it contains other spiritual texts such as prayers, meditations, prophecies, legends (among others about Nicholas of Flüe) and copies of contemporary pamphlets. (hol)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

This small-format missal is an important witness for the Franciscan liturgy of the thirteenth century. Schönherr hypothesizes an origin in the Franciscan province of Upper Germany, and a Bavarian provenance (the convent of Franciscan nuns zum Heiligen Kreuz, Landshut?). A possessor's mark of the warden of the Franciscan convent of Dieburg near Darmstadt dates to 1513. It is not known how and when the manuscript got to Solothurn. (hol)

Online Since: 09/06/2023

The Solothurn Legendary is the earliest example of a collection of legends in the German language. This manuscript was written during the second quarter of the 14th century in a Dominican cloister, possibly in Töss (near Winterthur) or in Oetenbach (Zurich). The manuscript was acquired by Solothurn in the 17th century. (hol)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

This Parisian or Sorbonne Bible, produced around 1270 in Northern France, is remarkable not only for the form of its text including glosses and corrections, but also for its high-quality illuminated initials. The volume came to Zuchwil in the late 16th century and from the 17th century on, it has been held in the Solothurn abbey library. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This German language composite manuscript probably was created at the Oetenbach Convent of Dominican nuns in Zurich in the beginning of the 15th century. In addition to the liturgical Psalter (for the monastic Liturgy of the Hours, Psalterium feriatum), it also contains the Cantica of the breviary and the Litany of the Saints in German, as well as a prayer. At least since the 17th century, the manuscript has been in the possession of the collegiate church of St. Ursus in Solothurn. (hol)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

Johannes Aal (ca. 1500-1551), an erudite humanist, provost and dramatist, was a leading figure in the cultural life of Solothurn. During his studies in Freiburg im Breisgau, his teacher, the universal scholar Heinrich Loriti (Glarean, 1488-1563) on 17 May 1537 dictated him these comments on his De geographia liber. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

The provost and dramatist Johannes Aal (ca. 1500-1551) was a leading figure in 16th century Solothurn. This composite manuscript, produced between 1517 and 1518, gives an insight into his time as a student. It contains excerpts on Greek and Latin grammar and rhetoric, writings on music theory, as well as excerpts from Petrarch, Guarini, Johannes Reuchlin, Sebastian Brant and others. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This small volume with the German translation of the Franciscan Rule (“Augsburger Drittordensregel”) comes from the Franciscan convent of Solothurn and is probably connected with the tertiaries or the Beguinage “zum Lämmli” in Solothurn, which was entrusted to the Franciscans for the cure of souls. (hol)

Online Since: 09/06/2023

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529), with initials in red and blue (some with pen-flourish initials, e.g. on ff. 1r and 113v; two drawings on ff. 77r and 91r), contains eight legal treatises in Latin, half of them anonymous: 1. Johannes de Blanasco, (Libellus super titulo) de actionibus (ff. 1r-45r); 2. Aegidius de Fuscarariis, Ordo judiciarius (ff. 46r-67v); 3. Ordo judiciarius “De edendo“ (ff. 68r-69v; incomplete); 4. Ordo judiciarius “Scientiam“ (ff. 69v-75v); 5. Tancred of Bologna, Ordo judiciarius (ff. 77r-113v); 6. Contentio actoris et rei (ff. 113v-117r); 7. Parvus ordo judiciarius (ff. 117r-121v); 8. [Tancred of Bologna / Raymond of Penyafort], Summa de matrimonio (ff. 121v-125v; incomplete). Johannes de Blanosco († ca. 1281 or later) from Burgundy studied and probably also taught law in Bologna before returning home and placing himself in the service of Duke Hugo IV of Burgundy. In 1256, perhaps when he was still in Bologna, he wrote his commentary on the Institutes “De actionibus“. The author of the second treatise in this manuscript, Aegidius de Fuscarariis (†1289), was the first lay teacher for canon law at the University of Bologna. His Ordo judiciarius from 1263-1266 is his most important work. Tancred of Bologna (ca. 1185-ca. 1236), the author of texts 5 and 8, was a renowned canonist and archdeacon, who associated with Popes Innocent III, Honorius III and Gregory IX; among his works, the Summa de sponsalibus et matrimonio, written around 1210-1214 and revised by Raymond of Penyafort in 1235, enjoyed some success. But he became famous through his Ordo judiciarius (ca. 1214-1216), which established itself throughout Europe as the reference work for legal procedure. Regarding the four anonymous (or not-securely attributed) treatises of manuscript S 102: number 3, better known by the title Ulpianus de edendo, was probably created in England in 1140-1170; number 4 prior to 1234 in France (its author is a certain Gualterus, perhaps identical to Gauthier Cornu, Archbishop of Sens); number 6, from the time of the papacy of Gregory IX, may be of Anglo-Norman origin; and finally number 7, which was written in the North of France in two versions in 1221 and 1238. The Supersaxo library contains numerous legal works. S 102 can best be compared with manuscript S 104 (Goffredus Tranensis, Summa super titulis Decretalium), which likewise is a 14th century work from Bologna. (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529), contains Terence's six comedies, each of which begins with an ornamental initial: Andria (f. 5r), Eunuchus (f. 19v), Heautontimoroumenos (f. 35v), Adelphoe (f. 52r), Hecyra (f. 66v), Phormio (f. 78r). The manuscript is part of a bundle of copies which were made, if not by Georges Supersaxo himself, then by a scribe in his service. At the time, the young man was a law student in Basel. This group of manuscripts includes classical pieces (Terrence, Sallust…), but also texts that would be familiar only to scholars (Augustinus Datus, Gasparinus, Barzizius,…). Terence's comedies take a special place in the collection, since they were recopied into another manuscript in this group, S 101, which remains incomplete. (esc)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

The Summa super titulis (or rubricis) Decretalium is a famous legal treatise about the Decretals of Gregory IX, written around 1241-1243 by Godefridus de Trano, who was professor of canon law in Bologna and later became cardinal († 1245). In this copy, the beginning of each of the five books is marked with an illuminated initial (ff. 1r, 45r, 75v, 105v, 124v). Among the annotations and manicules in the margins and between the columns, there are also numerous small human heads, pen drawings in profile (e.g., on f. 154r). This manuscript is part of the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529). Before that, the manuscript was the property of Georges de Saluces (Bishop of Aosta 1433 and of Lausanne 1440, deceased 1461), at the time when he was still dean of Puy-en-Velay. The Supersaxo library has another manuscript that originated in Bologna, S 102, which is also from the 14th century and contains legal texts. (esc)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) is bound in a piece of parchment and is divided into several parts. The main part (ff. 2r-43r) is devoted to the statutes of Valais (Statuten der Landschaft Wallis). They are preceded by a table of contents in a version that is similar to the statutes (Landrecht) of 1511-1514 by the Bishop of Sion and Cardinal Mathieu Schiner, but with a different order of the articles and with important modifications and additions. On ff. 65r-69v, the same scribe copied the statutes (Kürzerung des Rechten) promulgated in 1525, notably by Georg Supersaxo, and confirmed in 1550. This manuscript from the Supersaxo library therefore is merely a preliminary version of the Statuta of 1571. Only the manuscript from 1571, which is in the State Archives of Valais (AV 62/4) and which also exists in a German and a French version, became the normative base reference up until the promulgation of the Civil Code of Valais in 1852. Between these two versions of the statutes, on ff. 51r-54v, is the testament of Johannes Grölin (Groely), citizen and former castellan of Sion (civis et olim castellani dominorum civium Sedunensium); the document is written by the notary Martin Guntern (1538-1588) on 8 January 1585 in Sion. Various notes from the years 1557-1590 are found at the beginning and end of the manuscript (on the front pastedown and f. 1; on ff. 70v-77v and on the back pastedown). They are fragments of accounts and of jobs in several hands, among them that of Martin Guntern, together with notes relating to the birth of the children of Bartholomäus Supersaxo (†1591), the grandson of Georg Supersaxo. Martin Guntern was not only a notary, he was also an important political figure (especially state secretary from 1570 until his death), who played an important role in the writing and translation of the Statutes of Valais of 1571. Bartholomäus Supersaxo, who in 1565 left behind a note of ownership on the front pastedown of S 95, was governor of Monthey (1565-1567), chaplain of Sion (1574) and Vize-Vogt - vice-reeve - (1579-1585); in 1573, he married his second wife, Juliana, daughter of Johannes Groely. (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

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. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

Texts in German, written in the middle of the 15th century, for use in the nuns' convent of Maria Magdalena in den Steinen in Basel. Later the book belonged to Olsberg Abbey. It contains spiritual texts by various authors, also sermons for Sundays and holidays, as well as legends of the saints. Mariastein Abbey acquired the book at a Basel auction around 1820. The sermon for the Assumption of Mary on Fol. 194r-198v can be found in a printed version in ZSKG 4, 1910, pp. 205-212 or 207-212, based on a copy therefrom by P. Anselm Dietler of Mariastein (died 1864). (sck)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

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. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

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. (hol)

Online Since: 02/17/2010

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). (hol)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

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). (mit)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This chronicle, completed in 1513, tells the early history of Lucerne and, beginning with the Battle of Sempach (1386), it tells the history of the Swiss Confederation from the point of view of followers of the Holy Roman Emperor. The 450 illustrations by two different hands, due to their vividness and to the richness of their subjects and details, constitute a unique source of information about late medieval life. (kam)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

This composite manuscript from the middle of the 15th century is from the Augustinian hermitage in Basel. Since 1470, several brothers there cared for the pilgrimage site Mariastein. This volume was probably left there and was found by the monks from Beinwil, when they took over the pilgrimage site in 1636. It contains, among others, sacred (S. Bonaventura), profane (Cicero, Sallust), historical (Piccolomini/Pius II.) and rhetorical (Laurentius de Aquileja) texts. The second part of the volume, containing the Rhetorica , was written in 1465/66 by the Augustinian Matthias Glaser from Breisach in Basel. A fragment glued to the interior of the front cover gives information regarding the content of the volume. (sck)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript is the only textual witness of this culinary treatise written in the year 1420 by Maître Chiquart, chef for the first Duke of Savoy, Amadeus VIII (1383-1451). The text was dictated to Jehan de Dudens, a scribe and notary from Annecy. The manuscript also contains descriptions of two banquets organized by the Duke of Savoy, followed by aphorisms, etymological annotations and glosses. The manuscript was part of the library of Bishop Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482) and his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529). (tog)

Online Since: 11/04/2010

This manuscript, which was produced in the Upper Rhine area in 1457, contains a remarkably independent translation of the biblical Books of Wisdom, the oldest German translation of several works by Seneca, and a translation, also independent, of the teachings on the ‘cura domestica' by the Pseudo-Bernhard of Clairvaux. It is not known how this volume came to Solothurn, but it has been part of the holdings of the Solothurn City Library since the 18th century already. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript was created in the third quarter of the 15th century, probably in the Upper Rhine area or rather Switzerland, as evidenced by the original binding which is decorated with numerous individual stamps. In addition to the translation of the Psalms with commentary, which had earlier been attributed to Heinrich von Mügeln, the manuscript also contains the Cantica of the breviary in German. The circumstances that brought this volume to Solothurn are not known. (hol)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

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. (hol)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

This scroll contains a collection of 133 culinary recipes that served as a source for the famous Viandier of Guillaume Tirel, or Taillevent. It was part of the library of Bishop Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482) and his son Georges (ca. 1450-1529). (tog)

Online Since: 11/04/2010

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. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

The oldest remaining Solothurn chronicle by Anton Haffner (ca. 1535-ca. 1608) has survived in various manuscript versions. This version was written on paper by Anton Haffner himself around 1577. There are also comments in the hand of his great nephew, Franz Haffner (1609-1671), author of the better-know printed Solothurn chronicle of 1666. (hol)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

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. (hol)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

This composite manuscript brings together assorted treatises, mainly computistical and astronomical works (by Jakob Twinger von Königshofen, Johannes Münzinger, Johannes de Sacrobosco and others). It was written between 1388 and 1394 in Strassburg and in Rottweil on the Neckar (Wurttemberg) by Konrad Justinger and by Werner Mardersberger. One of the scribes, Werner Mardersberger was later director of the Solothurn Abbey School. The volume was acquired by the Solothurn Abbey Library in 1504. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

This manuscript from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) is a collection of literary French texts with moralizing tendencies; it contains the romance Pontus and Sidonia as well as 15th century texts in verse. The major part of the manuscript (ff. 1r-122r; initial in red, yellow and black on f. 1r) is taken up by Pontus and Sidonia, a work that experienced great success in the 15th and 16th century. This prose version of the Anglo-Norman romance Horn, sometimes attributed to Geoffroy de la Tour Landry, was written towards the end of the 14th century or the beginning of the 15th century in France. It is followed by two texts by Alain Chartier (*1385-1395, †1430), secretary and ambassador for the kings Charles VI and especially Charles VII: on ff. 122r-131r is the famous Bréviaire des nobles (ca. 1422-1426) and on ff. 131r-136v is the Lay de paix (ca. 1424-1426). The following part (ff. 136v-145r) contains a less-known work, the Songe de la Pucelle by an unknown author. At the end, on ff. 145v-149r, are six anonymous ballads a pleysance et de bon advis. This manuscript was transcribed in Martigny in 1474 (at least the first part, the romance of Pontus and Sidonia) by Claude Grobanet, whom one also finds as the copyist of two more manuscripts in the Supersaxo library, S 99 (Voyages by Mandeville) and S 100 (Statutes of Savoy). Grobanet was in the service of Antoine Grossi Du Châtelard, Lord of Isérables (†1495). In the beginning of the 16th century, the family of Antoine Du Châtelard apparently fell into financial difficulties; their property - and presumably the three manuscripts as well - passed into the hands of Georg Supersaxo. (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This manuscript of Six âges du monde, created in France at the end of the 14th century or at the very beginning of the 15th century, appears towards the end of the Middle Ages in the library of the Supersaxo family, one of the most important libraries of Valais, which today is held in the Médiathèque Valais-Sion and (this manuscript) in the State Archives of Valais in Sion. The work is remarkable in more ways than one: first, it was created in the rarely-used scroll format, a format reserved for, among others, universal chronicles, a genre to which this manuscript belongs. Second, a complex family tree, showing the descendants of Adam until the birth of Christ, runs the entire length (eight meters) of the manuscript. The columns of text of this impressive graphic document are accompanied by numerous drawings that resemble the style of Parisian works. Finally, this exemplar is not unique, since the municipal library of Reims owns a similar scroll (ms. 61), which certainly was illustrated by the same master. (rou)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

This rather plain (in comparison to Codices 560, 562 und 564) copy of the lives of St. Gall's patron saints Gallus and Otmar by Reichenau Abbot and scholar Walahfrid Strabo, was made in the 10th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. (smu)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

This manuscript contains a martyrology (pp. 1-28), the Rule of Saint Benedict (pp. 28-83) and a homiliary (pp. 84-126). It was written by two scribes in a late Carolingian minuscule and contains two initials decorated with plant branches drawn in ink. In the 13th century, a document about the confraternity of Einsiedeln Abbey and St. Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest was added to a blank area at the end of the text of the Rule of Saint Benedict (p. 83). (ber)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

Obituary of the Parish of S. Ambrogio of Chironico (Ticino), written by the priest Ambrogio Rossi of Chironico, who copied an older obituary that was probably damaged or had no more space. The Ambrosian type calendar lists the stipends for annual masses or for anniversaries, the solemnities, the indulgences and notes regarding the pledges to the parish and to the entire valley. On December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the commemoration of the Battle of Giornico (Battaglia dei Sassi Grossi, 1479) is recorded. (ber)

Online Since: 06/23/2016

The Latin-Old High German Rule of St Benedict, one of the oldest monuments of the Old High German language. (smu)

Online Since: 09/14/2005

This parchment booklet from the parish archives of Dalpe (Leventina) contains the story of the suffering of St. Placidus of Disentis. Although the text is not complete, it contains a passage about the saint's martyrdom, which is not included in the text's principal manuscript held at the Zentralbibliothek of Zurich (Ms. Rh. 5). The community of Dalpe probably obtained this Passio so they could celebrate a yearly mass in honor of the saint in the new village chapel. The chapel had originally been dedicated to the Mary, but, as attested by documented sources, the patronage changed between 1370 and 1426, and the chapel was dedicated to St. Placidus. (ber)

Online Since: 09/23/2014

This manuscript with excerpts from a ‘Martinellus' and from Sedulius' Carmen Paschale was produced around the turn from the 8th to the 9th century in the German-Anglo-Saxon area; in the 16th century it apparently came from Fulda to Basel, a center for printing. The manuscript originally included a Vita s. Eulaliae virginis, which has been lost. Remarkable are the scanning aids at the beginning of the Carmen Paschale. (stb)

Online Since: 03/29/2019