St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek
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.
This volume, initiated and probably for the most part written by Abbey Librarian Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger (1756−1823), contains diary entires and a large number of copies of letters and documents about the events at St. Gall Abbey and in the territory of the princely abbey between March 10 and August 31, 1798. The contents mirror the chaos reigning at the time: the invasion of St. Gall by French troops, the precipitous events at the monastery and in the territory of the princely abbey, the evacuation of the abbey library and the monastery archives to neighboring countries, the expulsion and the fate of the St. Gall monks, their contacts with the Helvetic authorities, the hectic diplomatic efforts to avert an inescapable fate, the desperation of some of the monks (p. 228: Domine, salva nos, perimus!). The letters convey both the internal correspondence among the conventuals of the monastery and the external contacts of a monastic community in the process of dissolution; they are written mostly in German, occasionally in Latin.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This manuscript, written by the St. Gall monk P. Victor Suter (1651-1714), contains six separately paginated parts of mostly short biographies of monks from the monastery of St. Gall, separated by several blank pages. Part 1 (Vitae patrum Sangallensium antiquorum): pp. 1-97 lives of St. Gall monks, beginning with Gallus; pp. 97-112 lives of St. Gall monks who became bishops; pp. 113-117 lives of women like Wiborada; pp. 118-120 appendix: De Massina. Part 2: pp. 1-107 lives of monks who lived between 1559 and 1636, Book 1 (until 1597); pp. 108-109 register. Part 3: pp. 1-163 lives of monks who lived between 1559 and 1636, Book 2 (from 1597 on); p. 163 register. Part 4: pp. 1-21 lives of lay brothers of St. Gall (between 1566 and 1638); p. 22 register. Part 5: pp. 1-53 index of St. Gall monks, ordered by the abbots under whom they professed, from Abbot Eglolf Blarer (1426-1442) to Abbot Pankraz Vorster (1796-1805). Particularly the later entries list, in addition to the year of profession and the date of death, also the day of profession, date and place of birth, and offices held by the monks. P. Victor Suter wrote pp. 1-24; pp. 25-53 (up to 1829) were written by a second hand, dates of death 1830-1840 were added by a third hand. On pp. 55-68, catalogue of St. Gall abbots and famous monks. Part 6: pp. 1-3 saints and blesseds of the monastery of St. Gall.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The St. Gall Conventual P. Joseph Bloch (1754−1799) compiled this history of the lay brothers of the Monastery of St. Gall from numerous sources in 1793. The text is written partly in Latin and partly in German. In the first part (fol. 6r−21r), Bloch introduces the institution of the lay brothers. He describes the residences of the lay brothers or conversi over the centuries, he discusses their tasks and duties and their conduct with respect to worldly goods, and he describes their seal. In the second part he recounts, in chronological order, important episodes and stories about the lay brothers from the 15th century to the year 1793 (fol. 22r−79v). A third part lists the names of all the lay brothers who were part of the community from the abbacy of Eglolf Blarer (1426−1442) until 1793 (fol. 89r−101r). Between parts 2 and 3 the author inserted, like a transcript and written by another hand, serious exhortations by Prince-Abbot Beda Angehrn (1767−1796) to the lay brothers from the year 1775 (fol. 80r−83v). Because of several problems, the St. Gall abbot had called all the lay brothers to him. The manuscript’s frontispiece (fol. 4v) shows a lay brother in 16th century garb.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This Festschrift for Fr. Aegidius Hartmann (1691–1776), dean of St. Gall, is titled Corona gloriae et sertum exultationis. The monastery community dedicated it to the dean on the occasion of the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood on 16 October 1766. Three poems, odes and eulogies each praise Fr. Aegidius Hartmann as minister of the sacraments, as pastor and as priest celebrating this jubilee. Each poem is preceded by an emblem of a flower in a garden; the three sections each begin with a wreath of three flowers. The Festschrift was drawn and probably also written by Fr. Dominikus Feustlin (who also wrote the four-volume antiphonary Cod. Sang. 1762, 1763, 1764 and 1795). At the end of the manuscript, two small-format booklets contain texts honoring Abbot Beda Angehrn. He received the first of these, titled Duplicis piique voti unanimis consensio, in 1778 from students in Kreuzlingen. The second, titled Alte und neue Dichtkunst. Ein Tafelgesang, was also presented in 1778 by the Imperial Abbey Petershausen in Constance. Both texts were probably meant for a musical performance since they contain arias and a choral piece each, but they lack any musical notation.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This necrology was compiled in 1611 from older books of the dead at the behest of Prince-Abbot Bernhard Müller (1594-1630); it replaces the necrology in Cod. Sang. 452. The records were continued until 1847. In addition to abbots, monks and lay brothers from the monastery, the register also lists persons who were admitted into the confraternity as benefactors of the monastery. Later entries indicate the year of death, occasionally also the place of death or of burial. The age of the deceased is mentioned only in exceptional cases. The last pages (pp. 126-131) contain directions for Masses for the dead and similar forms of commemoration of the dead. According to a note by Franz Weidmann (p. 1), after the secularization of the monastery the manuscript temporarily was in the possession of Fr. Aemilianus Hafner, who gave it to the library in 1840.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
Pontifical vesperal of St. Gall Prince-Abbott Cölestin Sfondrati (Abbot 1687–1696). It was found in 1846 among the books of St. Gall friar Notker Hager († 1836). This volume contains the chants for Vespers (antiphones and hymns) for the Feasts of Jesus Christ and for the saints' feast days throughout the church year. Only the incipits are each written in German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation”) on five lines. Each feast is decorated with initials in the style of grotesques and with several marginal miniatures (on p. 56 is the oldest colored view of the Monastery of St. Gall). The volume is divided into Proprium de tempore (pp. 1–30), Proprium sanctorum (pp. 31–63), Commune sanctorum (pp. 64–74) and Festum sanctorum reliquiarum monasterii sancti Galli (pp. 75–77).
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This Festschrift for St. Gall Abbott Joseph von Rudolphi (1666-1740, Abbot 1717-1740) is titled Novus Hercules in divi Galli requie exsuscitatus. It was presented to the abbott in 1739 on the occasion of his name day by the students of the monastery school (Musae Sangallenses). Based on the twelve labors of Hercules, the text praises twelve extraordinary achievements of the monastery in the twelve centuries of its existence. For each century, a two-page Historia presents background, followed by an emblematic representation and a two-page Elogium that refers to the emblem. Three poems praising the abbot in Latin, Greek and Hebrew conclude the work.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This volume contains mostly the collected notes of St. Gall Abbey librarian P. Franz Weidmann (1774-1843) on the manuscript holdings of the Abbey Library and on the history of St. Gall Abbey and its catchment area; also several alphabetical indexes on the manuscript holdings (subject index, St. Gallen authors, scribes, and owners), copies by Weidmann of texts from St. Gall manuscripts, and excerpts from secondary literature.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
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
This manuscript, written in multiple hands, contains an anonymous commentary on the Catholic epistles (Stegmüller, Repertorium Biblicum, No. 3235, 14–20). Stegmüllers ascription of the text to a St. Gall monk named Hermann, who supposedly was a student of Peter Abelard, is not convincing (cf. David Luscombe, Sententie magistri Petri Abaelardi, Turnhout 2006, pp. 49*–55*). The commentary is preceded by two prologues (pp. 1–2), the first of which is based on Peter Abelard’s prologue to the Letter to the Romans (Stegmüller, RB 6378), while the second comes from Ps.-Jerome (Stegmüller, RB 809). Each of the commentaries on the individual epistles is preceded by a chapter outline and an argumentum from the Glossa ordinaria (edited in PL 114, col. 671 ff. as the work of Walafrid Strabo). The text of the epistles is incorporated into the commentaries and signaled with citation marks in the margin. On the last page (p. 112) appears Gottschalk of Aachen’s sequence for the feast Conversio sancti Pauli, inc. Dixit dominus ex Basan convertam. Ornamentation is limited to two- and three-line red capital initials. The manuscript is bound in a limp binding made from blank leather with a parchment lining and closed with a triangular flap. On the inside of the cover and on p. 112 can be found the library stamp from the abbacy of Diethelm Blarer (1553–1564); on p. 1 a shelfmark from the Burgerbibliothek Bern (Manuscr A 48). According to notes on the inside cover and on p. 1, the codex, which came to Bern in 1712 (as booty in the Toggenburger war) was returned to the Abbey Library of St. Gall in 1863.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
Volume 1 so-called Sacrarium Sancti Galli in six volumes (which could not be found at the time of Gustav Scherrer’s cataloguing of manuscripts before 1875). Volumes 2 to 6 of the Sacrarium have the shelfmarks Cod. Sang. 1719−1723. This volume lists the cult objects such as chalices, statues, monstrances, candle holders, small altars, patens, censers, reliquaries, etc. that made up the church treasure of the Monastery of St. Gall in the year 1693. This overview, compiled and written by Father Gregor Schnyder (1642-1708) and dedicated to the Prince-Abbot of St. Gall Cölestin Sfondrati (1687−1696), includes historical information about the individual cult objects and illustrates these objects with 60 realistic images in opaque colors. This register is of great importance today since many of the objects were lost, were seized or were melted down during the military invasions by troops from Zurich and Bern in 1712, by the French in May 1789, through the secularization of the monastery in 1805 and the following liquidation of a great part of the abbey’s property. Various works by renowned gold- and silversmiths of the early modern period (including Hans Jacob Bayr, Augsburg; Heinrich Domeisen, Rapperswil; Fidel Ramsperg, Appenzell; Johannes Renner, Wil) can be reconstructed only through this Hierogazophylacium (German: Heiligschatzbehälter, ‘container of holy treasure). Other cult objects are still part of the cathedral treasure of St. Gall today, such as the Spoon of St. Gall (p. 170b), which remains in liturgical use today, or the small reliquary monstrance containing parts of the sackcloth belt and robe of St. Gall (p. 168b). In his compilation Fr. Gregor Schnyder paid special attention to the relics contained in the various objects; he noted their origin and copied certificates about their authenticity. This volume is introduced by a frontispiece in shades of brown (fol. IIIr), which shows the founding legend of the Monastery of St. Gall with the Church of St. Gall as it appeared around 1693 in the background.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This volume, written almost exclusively in Latin, contains a compilation of texts taken from numerous older sources about transfers of saints in the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall. The St. Gall monk and custos Gregor Schnyder (1642−1708) compiled and wrote the text, mostly in chronological order, and presented it to Abbot Leodegar Bürgisser (abbot 1696−1717) on 19 April 1699, his name day. The illustrations in opaque colors were done by Father Gabriel Hecht (1664−1745). At the beginning there are descriptions of the various transfers of the relics of Saint Gall between about 640 and 1484 (fol. IXv – p. 20) and those of Saint Othmar between 759 and 1692 (pp. 24b−99). This is followed by reports about the transfers of the relics of Notker Balbulus as well as of his beatification in 1513 (pp. 104b−163) and about the dislocation of the relics of Othmar and Notker that was necessitated by the new construction of the church of Othmar (pp. 169−286). Next are reports of donations of relics of various saints from and of the Abbey of St. Gall (pp. 287−354), among them reports about the arrival of the relics of the saints Magnus (898), Constantius of Perugia (904), Remaclus of Stavelot (1035), Faith of Agen (1084), Charles Borromeo (1611), Sigisbert and Placidus from Disentis Abbey (1624) and Bishop Landolo of Treviso (1631), which were particularly revered in the Abbey of St. Gall. The back part of the manuscript contains compilations of documents and reports about the 17th century transfers of Roman catacomb saints to the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall: there are descriptions (including the respective background and festivities) of the transfer of Honoratus to the Abbey Church of St. Gall in 1643 (pp. 367b−453), of Antoninus and Theodorus to the Abbey Church of St. Gall in 1654 and to Neu St. Johann Abbey in 1685 and of Antonius to the Abbey Church of St. Gall in 1654 (pp. 458−507), of Leander to the Capuchin Convent Maria der Engel near Wattwil in 1652 (pp. 508−513), of Marinus to Lichtensteig in 1657 (pp. 518−530), of Theodora to the Cistercian Convent Magdenau in 1662 (pp. 533−539), of Pancratius to Wil in 1672 (pp. 541−571), of Constantius to Rorschach in 1672 (pp. 573−644), of Laureatus to Wildhaus in 1676 (pp. 647−682), and of Sergius, Bacchus, Hyacinthus and Erasmus to the Abbey Church of St. Gall in 1680 (pp. 687–747).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This volume is written primarily in Latin; in the first part (pp. 1-480) it contains information about the consecration of churches, chapels, altars and bells at St. Gall Abbey and in the territory of the “Alte Landschaft” (a subject territory of St. Gall Abbey) (pp. 1-187), in the Thurgau (pp. 188-263), in the Rhine Valley (pp. 264-309), and in the Toggenburg (pp. 310-457); furthermore about the churches in the urban area of St. Gall, St. Lawrence, St. Mangen and St. Leonard (pp. 475-480). This part was written around 1706 by the St. Gall monk and custos Fr. Gregor Schnyder (1642–1708) and contains numerous additions from the period up to 1788. On an unnumbered leaf before p. 57, there is a pen and wash drawing of the monastery’s tower clock that was completed in 1661. The second part (p. 487-556) is written by the St. Gall monk Chrysostomus Stipplin (1609–1672). It contains a calendar of the feast days of saints for St. Gall Abbey, indicating for each one where the respective celebration is held (pp. 487-501), a list of chapels and altars with the dates of their consecration (pp. 501-502), two lists of altar patronages (pp. 503-506 and 507-509) arranged according to the calendar, an overview of all the altars together with the relics they contained (pp. 509-515), as well as a list of all relics in the monastery and its chapels (pp. 519-556). The first part concludes with a site index (from the time period of the last additions).
Online Since: 12/14/2018
In this volume, written primarily in German, the St. Gall custos Fr. Kolumban Brändle (1720−1780) as author and compiler and Brother Gall Beerle (1734−1816) as scribe tell of the festivities that occurred on the occasion of the transfer of catacomb saints to the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall in the 18th century. The general introduction (fol. Vr – fol. VIIIr) is followed by sometimes extensive documentation about the transfers of Benedict to the Capuchin Convent of St. Scholastica in Rorschach in 1732 (fol. IXv−2v), of Justin to Gossau in 1743 (fol. 63v−68v), of Julian to the Capuchin Convent Notkersegg in 1748 (fol. 69v−77v), of Valentine to Goldach in 1761 (fol. 78v−129v), of Celestine to Waldkirch in 1763 (fol. 130v−167r), of Clementia to the Benedictine Convent of St. Wiborada in St. Georgen in 1769 (fol. 168v−226v), of Theodorus to Neu St. Johann in 1685 (fol. 228v−237r), of Placidus, Felicissimus, Victor, Prosper and Redempta to Neu St. Johann in 1689 (fol. 238v−246r), about the centenary of the transfer of Theodorus to Neu St. Johann in 1755 (fol. 247r−265r) and the centenary of the transfer of Marinus to Lichtensteig in 1757 (fol. 266v−291r), as well as about the transfer of Theodorus to Berneck in 1766 (fol. 292v−352v). These descriptions are accompanied by watercolor paintings of the catacomb saints dressed in festive garb. In addition the volume contains records, documents and reports about the authorization obtained from Rome to venerate Eusebius of Viktorsberg as a saint in the territory of the Princely Abbey of Saint Gall (fol. 3v−54v) as well as about the order of the Pancratius-procession in Wil in 1738 (fol. 55r−62v). The volume also contains a little-know ink sketch of Iberg Castle near Wattwil (fol. 238v).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This collection of papers was compiled in 1785 by the custos of St. Gall Abbey, P. Ambrosius Epp (1572–1817). In several parts, it contains drawings, descriptions and inventories of part of the treasury of St. Gall Abbey (the so-called sacred liturgical objects), as well as documents related to them. Part 1 (pp. 1–157) includes pen and ink drawings of chalices, cruets, platters, coats of arms, candlesticks etc., also drawings of 4 altars. Part 2 (fol. 1–240, with an index on p. 161-166 of part 1) contains inventories of church treasure from the 17th and 18th century. Several inventories are undated, others are dated (to 1665, 1691, 1712, 1720, 1723, 1739 and 1781). Part 3 (fol. 1–104, with an index on fol. 242–244 of part 2) is a collection of documents regarding the earlier-mentioned objects — invoices, letters, diary entries, etc., mostly in chronological order. Part 4 (pp. 1–67 and fol. 68–95, with an index on fol. 107–110 of part 3) are handwritten and printed privileges and indulgences.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
Verbatim copy of Books I-III of the Alchemy Compendium Aureum Vellus oder Guldin Schatz und Kunstkammer printed in 1598/99 by Georg Straub in Rorschach. The woodcuts in the third part (Splendor Solis, pp. 219–270) are executed as colored watercolors and, except for a small number of differences, are copied exactly from the print version. A pen and wash drawing on p. 116 depicts Paracelsus.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This large-format manuscript, which forms a unit with Cod. Sang. 1758, itself consists of two parts. The first part (p. 1-214) from 1473 (dating in the initial on p. 1) was completed in the 16th/17th century. Both parts, however, are not complete; furthermore, multiple pieces have been deleted and replaced with other pieces. The volume contains chants for the Mass – Proprium de sanctis, Commune sanctorum, Ordinarium missae (partially troped), Sequences and Tractus– in German plainsong notation ("Hufnagelnotation") in a five line-system. Together with Cod. Sang. 1758, this codex presents the oldest systematic St. Gall records of sequences on a musical staff. Several pages have book decorations in the form of borders and initials, sometimes with figurative representations. Until 1930, the manuscript was kept in the choir library (first of the St. Gall monastery, later of the St. Gall cathedral).
Online Since: 10/07/2013
This large-format manuscript, which forms a unit with Cod. Sang. 1757, contains chants for the Mass – Proprium de tempore, Ordinarium missae (partially troped), Sequences and votive Masses - in German plainsong notation ("Hufnagelnotation") in a four line-system. Multiple pieces have been deleted and replaced with other pieces. Together with Cod. Sang. 1757, this codex presents the oldest systematic St. Gall records of sequences on a musical staff. Several pages have book decorations in the form of initials (several exquisite filled initials, some with gold leaf) and borders. Heavy decorative fittings with animal heads and mythical creatures. Until 1930, the manuscript was kept in the choir library (first of the St. Gall monastery, later of the St. Gall cathedral).
Online Since: 10/07/2013
Winter portion of a large-format antiphonary in two volumes (summer portion in Cod. Sang. 1760) for the Liturgy of the Hours of the monks of St. Gall, written around 1770 by the St. Gall monk Martin ab Yberg (1741−1777) and richly illustrated with small watercolor paintings surrounded by flowery rococo frames by Father Notker Grögle (1740−1816). This volume, decorated with especially splendid baroque brass fittings, contains the chants of the monks of St. Gall for the feasts of Jesus Christ and of the saints between the first Sunday of Advent and the Feast of the Ascension. It is divided into the parts Proprium de tempore (pp. 1−357), Proprium sanctorum (pp. 358−500) and Commune sanctorum (pp. 501−559). These are followed by suffrages and by antiphons and responsories for workdays (pp. 560−616). Chants for the feast days of the Archangel Gabriel and of St. Scholastica are added (pp. 617−626). The melodies are written in Gothic German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation”) on five lines. This volume came to the Abbey Library from the choir library of St. Gallen Cathedral in 1930.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Summer portion of a large-format antiphonary in two volumes (winter portion in Cod. Sang. 1759) for the Liturgy of the Hours of the monks of St. Gall, written in the year 1770 (chronogram in silver on the frontispiece) by the St. Gall monk Martin ab Yberg (1741−1777) and richly illustrated with small watercolor paintings surrounded by flowery rococo frames by Father Notker Grögle (1740−1816). This volume, decorated with splendid baroque brass fittings, contains the chants of the monks of St. Gall for the Liturgy of the Hours on feasts of Jesus Christ and of the saints between Pentecost and the last Sunday after Pentecost. It contains the parts Proprium de tempore (pp. 1−113), Proprium sanctorum (pp. 114−353) and Commune sanctorum (pp. 354−400). These are followed by suffrages and by antiphons and responsories for workdays (pp. 401−431). Chants for the feast days of St. Joachim and of the Archangel Raphael are added (pp. 432−440). The melodies are written in Gothic German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation”) on five lines. This volume came to the Abbey Library from the choir library of St. Gallen Cathedral in 1930.
Online Since: 09/26/2017