Late medieval prayer book. The first part contains an incomplete Office of the Virgin (fol. 1r-45v) with variants for Advent and for the time period between Christmas and Candlemas (fol. 46r-51v), Absolutions, Benedictions, Orations and other short prayers (fol. 51v-68r). The Office of the Dead (fol. 69r-98v), including Vespers, Vigil, and prayers for the anniversaries of the deaths of priests, abbots and other deceased persons, is followed by prayers of indulgence (fol. 99r-111v). The beginning of the Office of the Virgin as well as possibly a calendar preceding it have been lost. The fact that the patron saints of St. Gall, St. Gall and St. Othmar (fol. 56r-56v; fol. 58r-58v), are the only saints mentioned other than Mary and St. Benedict suggests a provenience from the Monastery of St. Gall. The manuscript is written in Gothic script; it is decorated with numerous initials executed in gold leaf and with colorful vine scrolls in the margins of individual pages. The beginning of the Office of the Dead (fol. 69r) is adorned with a small miniature of a catafalque bordered by two Benedictine monks, one of which is holding a prayer book in his hands. The cut leather binding with the monogram S, created by a master whose name is unknown, is particularly noteworthy. The covers show the two Princes of the Apostles, Peter (front cover, with book and key) and Paul (back cover, with book and sword), surrounded by rich vine scroll ornamentation. The Abbey Library of St. Gall was able to acquire this manuscript in June 2006 at a Christie’s auction in New York from the collection of the American brewer Cornelius J. Hauck (1893−1967) from Cincinnati (Ex Libris on the inside front cover). (smu)

Online Since: 09/23/2014

This vesperal in a distinguished binding was commissioned by Prince-Abbot Beda Angehrn (1767−1796); it was written in 1774 by Joseph Adam Bürke (chronogram with the name of the scribe on p. 92), an alumnus of the Gymnasium (preparatory school) of Neu St. Johann that was led by St. Gall monks, and richly illustrated by Father Notker Grögle (1740−1816). The volume contains the incipits of the chants for Vespers (antiphons and hymns), written in German plainsong notation (“Hufnagelnotation”) on five lines, for the feasts of Jesus Christ and of the saints for the entire liturgical year. It is divided into the parts Proprium de tempore (pp. 1−36), Proprium sanctorum (pp. 37−80) and Commune sanctorum (pp. 81−92). This manuscript was held in the choir library of St. Gallen Cathedral until 1989. Then it was transferred to the archives of the cathedral parish of St. Gall, and in 2014 it came to the Abbey Library of St. Gall. The volume, which consisted of 96 pages in 1774, was certainly used for the liturgy in the Cathedral of St. Gall until the 1930s. The mostly handwritten additions and supplements (after p. 97) date from the 19th century. Also glued and bound into the volume are texts from unspecified printed liturgical publications of the 19th and early 20th century. Noteworthy among the illustrations is the oldest pictorial depiction to date of the newly built “Gallusmünster”, today the Cathedral of St. Gall (p. 72). On the flyleaf is the finely drawn coat of arms of Prince-Abbot Beda Angehrn. (smu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017