The Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world; it is the most important part of St. Gall’s Abbey district UNESCO world heritage site. The library’s valuable holdings illustrate the development of European culture and document the cultural achievements of the Monastery of St. Gall from the 7th century until the dissolution of the Abbey in the year 1805. The core of the library is its manuscript collection with its preeminent corpus of Carolingian-Ottonian manuscripts (8th to 11th century), a significant collection of incunabula and an accumulated store of printed works from the 16th century to the present day. The Abbey Library of St. Gall was a co-founder of the project e-codices. With its famous Baroque hall, where temporary exhibitions are hosted, the Abbey Library of St. Gall is one of the most visited museums in Switzerland.
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 466
Paper · 218 pp. · 21 x 14–15 cm · second half of the 14th or first half of the 15th century
Composite manuscript with Latin dictionary, sequence commentaries, and glossed sequences
This multi-part paper manuscript contains a Latin dictionary, a hymn for St. Nicholas, one for Mary, and one for the Holy Cross, as well as two sequence-commentaries, and finally sequences with glosses and superscript numbers that indicate a simplified phrasing. A single primary hand may have made the copies, which were then completed by one or more other hands. Scarpatetti dated the manuscript to the second half of the 14th century; from a paleographical perspective, a dating to the first half of the 15th century also seems possible. According to the ownership note on p. 194, the manuscript was in the Abbey of St. Gall already in the 15th century. (len)
Paper · 396 pp. · 20.5/21 x 14/15 cm · 14th/15th century
Liber Sagittarius; Summa poenitentiae; Commentary on hymns and sequences; Gesta romanorum
This composite codex belonged to Kemli, a monk of St. Gall who had the parts, some of which come from the fourteenth century, bound together and interspersed with blank pages, which he and other writers then filled in. For this reason, the manuscript features numerous different hands and a constantly changing layout. The larger blocks of related text are a collection of sermons (Liber Sagittarius, pp. 3–61), a confessors' manual (pp. 71a–92b), commentaries on hymns and sequences (pp. 118–217b), as well as a collection, apparently assembled by Kemli himself, of ancient historical exempla, which in part are taken from the Gesta romanorum (pp. 226–357). The leather binding dates from the fifteenth century. (mat)
Parchment · 55 ff. · max. 17 x 12 cm · 12th and 13th century
Collection of liturgical fragments
This small volume contains liturgical fragments. They come from six different manuscripts (overwhelmingly breviaries/psalters), of which sometimes multiple leaves, sometimes only a few lines survive. The first fragment (ff. 12r-34v) is written in Latin, but has German rubrics, which suggests a breviary for private use. As a note on f. Ar in his own hand indicates, Ildefons von Arx likely assembled this volume. (sno)
Parchment · A–D + 204 + Y–Z pp. · 16 x 11 cm · Northern Italy (?) · 13th century
Marian prayerbook
This small prayerbook contains four large textual units, of which three could be called Marian prayers. A short psalter that connects the first verse of each psalm with an Ave Maria (pp. 5–35), an extensive litany of saints (pp. 37–68), the “Joys of Mary” (pp. 69–180), and another short psalter that is structured like the first text, except that throughout it uses a different Psalm verse instead of the initial verse (pp. 180–200). The manuscript is entirely written by a skilled hand and contains rubrics and initials in red and blue ink. The text is preceded by two full-page illuminations (p. 2 Enthroned Virgin and Child, p. 3 the Flagellation of Christ). The mention of St. Abundius of Como (p. 56) suggests a possible place of origin for the codex. Thus Scherrer suggests that it could have been copied in Italy for Benedictines; Scarpatetti thinks that it was produced in or for a lay chapter or a women’s convent. On p. C can be found a likely post-medieval ownership mark by a certain Jodokus Graislos in Greek script. In the eighteenth century, the book received its current, unadorned binding and an ownership mark of the St. Gall-dependent convent of St. Johann im Thurtal (p. 1), whence the manuscript came to the Abbey Library. (mat)
Parchment · 247 pp. · 14.5 x 10.5 cm · Brabant or Northeast France · 15th century
Book of hours in Latin and necrology
Book of hours of high-quality production and stylistically well-written (pp. 1-193, following four paper flyleaves). The miniature on p. 24, representing St. Veronica with the veil, is particularly noteworthy. Christ’s face was later damaged. A full-page miniature on p. 163 is at the beginning of the Office for the Dead. The manuscript’s initials are decorated with gold leaf, as well as the pages with miniatures - for example pp. 24, 38, 52 and 132 - containing figural decorative elements such as representations of animals. In the 16th century the manuscript seems to have reached the Eastern Alemannic-speaking area and have come to St. Gall. (nie)
Parchment · 145 pp. · 16.5 x 11.5 cm · end of the 13th or first half of the 14th century
Antiphonal and Sequentiary for Saints’ Feasts
The manuscript contains the antiphons, invitatories, and responsories for certain offices of saints, and then the Alleluia verses and sequences for the feast-days of some saints. The majority of the chants are provided with adiastemmatic neumes. A note on p. 112, written before the turn of the 15th century, has neumatic notation on staves. As the leather covering on the spine and the back cover is entirely missing, the Gothic cover joint is very visible from the outside. According to the ownership note on p. 3, in the eighteenth century the manuscript was in the Abbey of St. Johann in Toggenburg. (len)
The German Language Prayer book of Dorotea von Hof
This manuscript of collected items with twelve historiated initials and prayers in the German language was written by Dorothea von Hof (1458-1501), daughter of Heinrich Ehinger and Margarethe von Kappel. The codex contains the Officium parvum BMV as well as assorted prayers (mainly Marian prayers and prayers from the Passion of Christ), the Hundert Betrachtungen ("Hundred Meditations") from the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit ("Book of Eternal Wisdom") by Henry Suso, and prayers ascribed to Thomas Aquinas. This manuscript on paper, completed in 1483, was presumably owned by the sisters of the Dominican cloister of St. Katharina in St. Gall, of which Dorothea von Hof is listed as a patroness. (fas)
Parchment · II + 323 pp. · 10 x 8 cm · St. Gall · first half of the 10th century
Tropary
Important musical manuscript in very small format containing the repertory of tropes, Ordinary chants and sequences in use around 930/940 in the monastery of St. Gall. With discrete texts and compositions by numerous St. St. Gall monks (Notker Balbulus, Tuotilo, Ratpert, Notker Physicus, Waltram and others). The manuscript was intended for the cantor who indicated the melody to the other singers. (smu)
The manuscript contains antiphons, verses, and responsaries, followed by sequences. The chants are accompanied by square notation on four red lines. The script, a small textualis, comes from a fourteenth-century hand. The manuscript and binding (with leather-covered wooden boards) are kept to the smallest possible format. (len)
Paper · 89 ff. · 10 x 7-7.5 cm · St. Gall · 1484, 1485
German prayer book for private use
This prayer book contains prayers from the collection of William III, Duke of Bavaria (ff. 1v-16r), prayers to the Virgin Mary (ff. 17r-39r), prayers for Holy Mass and others (ff. 39v-45v) as well as for Communion (ff. 80r-88v). In between are St. Bernard’s verses (ff. 46v-50v) and various other texts of blessings and prayers (ff. 51v-78v). According to a colophon on f. 81v, the texts were written and decorated with pen-flourish and Lombard initials by the professional scribe Simon Rösch. On ff. 89 and 90 (glued onto the back cover), another poem was added in a different hand. The language of the prayers is Swabian. Numerous feminine forms of names suggest a female commissioner, probably a convent of nuns in St. Gall. (nie)
Paper · A + 142 + Z ff. · 10.5 x 7 cm · St. Gall, St. Katharinen Convent of Dominican nuns, Cordula von Schönau · before 1498
Latin Officium defunctorum and German prayers for the deceased
A German-language allegory about indulgences (fol. 63v–67v) is inserted into this Latin Officium defunctorum (fol. 1r–104r). Following on fol. 104v–141r are German prayers (partly prayers on indulgences) for the deceased. The copyist, Cordula von Schönau, who is named on fol. 141r, is attested to have been at the St. Katharinen Convent of Dominican nuns from 1492 to 1498. (sno)
Parchment · A + 172 ff. · 11 x 8 cm · 2nd half of the 14th century
Dominican Psalter
Most likely intended for the convent of Dominican nuns of St. Catherine in St. Gall, this tiny psalter (11 x 8 cm) reveals its Dominican use already in the calendar (ff. 2r-7v), which includes Dominican saints, such as Thomas Aquinas and Peter Martyr. Copied in a single column of textualis by a regular hand, the text is punctuated by alternating red and blue initials, sometimes with pen flourishes, and in different sizes according to the textual divisions (psalm, verse). In addition to Latin notes, the margins contain instructions in German on how to recite the Psalms. After the litany of saints and prayers (ff. 151r-159v), a paper quire has been added, dating from the end of the fifteenth century and containing hymns (ff. 160r-170v). (rou)
Paper · 144 ff. · 11.5 x 8 cm · St. Gall, Franz Gaisberg · ca. 1477–1504
Franz Gaisberg’s Latin Prayer Book
This small-format prayer book of Franz Gaisberg, who later became Abbot of St. Gall (abbot 1504–1529), only contains prayers in Latin. It begins with a calendar (f. 1r–12v) and a computistic table (f. 13r/v), followed by prayers about the passion (f. 14r–29v), prayers and antiphons to Mary (f. 31r–49r) and other saints (f. 49r–80r), as well as to the Commune sanctorum (f. 81v–83v), various other prayers (f. 83v–107r), as well as the liturgy of the hours for the passion and for the souls of the deceased (f. 107v–140r). There is no decoration except for initials with simple scroll ornamentation in red ink that stretch across two to four lines. (sno)
Paper · 230 ff. · 8.5-9 x 6.5-7 cm · Southern German monastery (present Baden-Württemberg)? · 1509
German prayers
This small codex consists of two parts. The first part (ff. 1-79) is made up of texts by two female scribes (ff. 1r-28r and 28v-79r); it was produced around 1500 or shortly thereafter. According to a colophon on f. 162r, the second part (ff. 80-226) was written by Sister Fides Baierin and, according to a note on f. 80r, belonged later to Sister Barbara Wingelhus. The last three leaves are blank. The booklet reached the Abbey Library in the late 18th century. The first part contains various prayers, especially on the passion; the second part contains prayers in honor of the Virgin Mary. The language of the texts is an Early Modern High German with Swabian influences. (nie)
Parchment · 326 ff. · 7 x 5.5 cm · Amiens: Johannes Mouret · 14th century
Breviary of the Celestine Order
This Breviary can be associated with the Order of the Celestines based on the rubric on fol. 122r. According to the scribe's notes on fol. 211v, 271v, and 319v, it was written by Brother Johannes Mouret from Amiens. The manuscript, executed in tiny handwriting, is decorated with numerous fine pen-flourish initials, as well as a few small pen drawings of faces and dragons in the margins. (sno)
Parchment · A–I + 194 + U–Z ff. · 7.5 x 5.5 cm · first half of the 15th century
Dominican Psalter
This tiny psalter, which was written for a Dominican Convent, begins with a fragmentary calendar (ff. Er-Iv; one leaf, containing the months of January and February, has been removed). After the Psalms (ff. 1r-182v) there follows the Old and New Testament Cantica (ff. 183r-193r) and the Athanasian Creed Quicumque vult (ff. 193r–194v) as well as a fifteenth-century addition of a litany (ff. Ur–Wr). Red and blue initials, some with pen-flourishes, make up the book’s ornamentation. The flyleaves come from older recycled parchment, and the pastedowns are made up of fragments from a fifteenth-century charter. Since Catherine of Siena does not appear in the calendar, the psalter likely was produced before 1460. The manuscript was in the Abbey Library by the eighteenth century at the latest. (sno)
Parchment · II + 161 pp. · 12 x 8 cm · France · 2nd half of the 15th century
Prayer book, Latin and French
Small format prayer Book on highest quality parchment with Latin and several French prayers. The coat of arms on p. 3 refers to the Montboissier family from Auvergne as commissioner. In addition to a half-page crucifixion scene (p. 3), the manuscript also contains many tiny initials, most of them with animal heads, as wells as numerous miniatures on pp. 97-146, taking up four lines of text with images of saints. (sno)
Parchment · A-H + 684 pp. · 16 x 11.5 cm · 14th century
Breviary
This substantial manuscript contains a Benedictine breviary. According to Scarpatteti, a professional copyist produced this in a Benedictine monastery, either in Savoy or in Italy, given some mentions related to Montecassino. The script, a rotunda, and the decoration, consisting of red and blue initials with blue and violet pen flourishes, betray the same transalpine origin. In addition, a fourteenth-century note written in Italian confirms this provenance (p. 8). Although the manuscript is only first officially attested in a catalogue of the St. Gall library in 1827, the insertion of the first pages in paper suggests that it was there at least from the fifteenth century (A-H). Indeed, beyond to adding various notes, a fifteenth-century copyist completed the fragmentary calendar and inserted into it the name of Notker, who was venerated in St. Gall (p. H). (rou)
Parchment · A + 289 ff. · 16 x 10.5–11 cm · second half of the 15th / first half of the 16th century
Breviary of the Diocese of Constance, for the Abbey of St. Gallen
This breviary was written in bastarda by a single hand, probably belonging to a choir monk of the Abbey of St. Gall. In addition to the usual parts of a full breviary (Calendar, Psalterium feriatum, Proprium de tempore [incomplete], Proprium de sanctis and Commune sanctorum), it also contains Marian prayers, the liturgy for compline and the vigil of the dead, a Cursus B. M. V., suffrages, and further prayers. (sno)
Parchment · A + 261 ff. · 11.5/12 x 9 cm · France · 14th century
Breviary (summer section)
This small manuscript contains the summer part of a breviary, copied in an elegant textualis, probably in France, as suggested by the entries in the fragmentary calendar (for example, the anniversary masses for the King of France and for the Countess of Blois). At the end of the codex (f. 261v), annotations in German, written probably in the fourteenth century, and others from the fifteenth century relative to St. Gall (ff. 174v-175r) indicate that, early on, it was present in the German-speaking region and in St. Gall. Various reasons, including the script of one of the later hands, suggest that, at a very early date, the manuscript belonged to the convent of Dominican nuns of St. Gall. (rou)