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. 174
Parchment · 194 pp. · 35.5 x 27.5 cm · Mainz and St. Gall (?) · 9th century
Epistolae Augustini . Galluslied
This codex consists mainly of copies of letters written by the church father Augustine († 430), produced in the second half of the 9th century, possibly in Mainz. A small section at the front and some pages at the end, however, were produced in the 11th century, during the tenure of Ekkehart IV († um 1060), in the Cloister of St. Gall; these sections contain a Latin version of the Old High German "Galluslied" (originally written by the St. St. Gall monk Ratpert), translated by Ekkehart IV, and various excerpts of mathematical and astronomical content. (smu)
Parchment · 360 pp. · 38 x 28.2 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Augustinus, Epistola 174 (ad Aurelium); De trinitate libri XV
This is a copy, produced in St. Gall in the 9th century, of De trinitate libri XV by the Church Father Augustine. His letter to Aurelius (letter 174) serves as a preface to the work. The manuscript remains in its original binding and contains several corrections by the St. St. Gall monk Ekkehart IV from the 11th century. On p. 356 there is a pen sketch of a man with sword and shield; an almost identical figure can also be found in Cod. Sang. 276, p. 271 (here etched with a stylus). (sno)
Parchment · 476 pp. · 42 x 28-28.5 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Eugippius, Excerpts from Augustine . Commentaries by Ekkehart IV.
A copy of the excerpts of Eugippius († after 533) from the works of Augustine, very popular during the middle ages, produced in the Cloister of St. Gall around the middle of the 9th century. In the first half of the 11th century this text was carefully studied by the monk Ekkehart IV, who added numerous remarks and commentaries to it. On the inner side of the back cover are sketches by Ekkehart IV of a carafe-shaped drinking vessel and three accompanying short verses about his fellow monk Crimalt or Crimolt, who was fond of a drink. (smu)
Parchment · 462 pp. · 37.5 x 29 cm · Auxerre · middle of the 9th century
Augustinus, De civitate dei
Incomplete copy of De civitate dei by Augustine (Books I-XIV), probably written around the middle of the 9th century in Auxerre in the sphere of Bishop Heribald (cf. p. 452-453). The manuscript was in St. Gall around 860 already, where it was listed, with a Carolingian binding, in the oldest library catalog (Cod. Sang. 728). (dor)
Parchment · 414 pp. · 39.7 x 29.9 cm · St. Gall · around 850
Augustine, De civitate dei, books 11-22
A copy of books 11 through 22 of Augustine's work De civitate dei (The City of God), written in the middle of the 9th century by many hands at the Abbey of St. Gall. Includes numerous glosses by St. St. Gall monk Ekkehart IV from the first half of the 11th century. On the last page are pen tests, including the verse, frequently repeated in St. Gall, Adnexique globum zephyri freta kanna secabant, which contains all letters of the Latin alphabet. (smu)
Parchment · 242 pp. · 16-16.5 x 24-24.5 cm · St. Gall · first third of the 9th century
Augustinus, In epistolam Iohannis ad Parthos tractatus X
Commentary on the Epistle of John by the Church Father Augustine. This copy was produced in St. Gall around the first third of the 9th century and remains in its original binding. On p. 1-4 and 239-241, it also contains readings for the liturgy. (sno)
Parchment · 72 pp. · 17.9-18 x 25.9-26 cm · Cloister of St. Gall (?) · early 9th century
Pseudo-Augustinus, Sermons
The sermons Homiliae XVIII in Apocalypsin, falsely attributed to Augustine, in a manuscript that was partly incorrectly bound and written by various hands, probably in the Monastery of St. Gall. (dor)
Parchment · 266 pp. · 29-30 x 23.5-24.5 cm + 25.5 x 19 cm · St. Gall · 10th and 11th century
Prosper of Aquitaine . Augustine . Halitgar of Cambrai
This manuscript consists of two parts: the first part contains a commentary on Psalms 100-150 (Expositio psalmorum) by Prosper of Aquitaine in a copy from the second half of the 9th century. The second part contains, in addition to selections from the works of Augustine and the first part of the "Bussbuch" (Book of Penances) by Halitgar of Cambrai, mainly computistical-astronomical texts, schemata and tables as well as a glossary of terms. On page 242: a sketch of a small, simple T-O world map. Manuscript copy produced by the Cloister of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 194 pp. · 25.9-26 x 18.3-18.5 cm · St. Gall · beginning of the 9th century
Prosper, de activa et contemplativa vita libri III.
A copy of the work De vita contemplativa by the Gallic priest Julianus Pomerius (5th c.), incorrectly ascribed to Prosper of Aquitaine, produced in the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall, in part by the monk Rihpertus, who included his name in a secret script. (smu)
Parchment · 320 pp. · 25.5 x 21.5-22 cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Gaius Iulius Solinus, Collectanea rerum memorabilium
A 9th century St. Gall copy of the Collectanea rerum memorabilium, which was very popular during the middle ages, by the Roman author Gaius Iulius Solinus. It is a compilation of oddities and curiosities, derived mainly from the natural histories of Pliny and the geographical descriptions of Pomponius Mela. In addition, this codex contains works by Prosper of Aquitaine and the sermon entitled De bono mortis by the church father Ambrose. (smu)
Parchment · 422 pp. · 29 x 19.5 cm · Luxeuil (?) · around 700
Maximus of Turin, Sermons
Sermons of Bishop Maximus of Turin († between 408-423): one of the most important manuscript copies from the time around 700, possibly produced in the Cloister of Luxeuil in Burgundy, in a Merovingian Uncial script. It is among the oldest books held by the Abbey Library still preserved in their original forms and bindings. (smu)
Parchment · 282 pp. · 23.5 x 16 cm · St. Gall · 8th century
Eucherii Instructiones; Isidori liber differentiarum; S. Hieronymus super Daniel.
Copy of the first book of the work Instructiones by Eucherius of Lyon († about 450) as well as a small portion of his work Formulae spiritalis intelligentiae, the Libri differentiarum by Isidore of Seville, and the commentary of Jerome on the Old Testament book of Daniel, written in an Alemannic minuscule script at the Abbey of St. Gall near the end of the 8th century. This codex, still in its original Carolingian binding, represents the base manuscript of the commentary by Jerome. (smu)
Gallic Bishops' letters from late antiquity: unique to this manuscript - the correspondences of Bishop Desiderius of Cahors (about 590 - 655), and Ruricius of Limoges (about 445 -511). A frequent correspondent: Bishop Faustus of Riez (about 410 - 511). On pages 1 and 37 the manuscript contains the so-called “St. Galler Bienensegen”, the oldest known invocation for bees in the Latin language. (smu)
Parchment · 358 pp. · 21.4 x 14.4 cm; 21.2 x 14.1-14.2 cm · St. Gall · 9th century, 12th century
Hieronymus de viris illustribus, Gennadius de viris illustribus, Cl. Claudianus, Carmina, et alia
A copy of the catalog of authors assembled by the Church father Jerome (347-420) De viris illustribus (a list of 135 Christian authors from Simon Peter to Jerome himself) together with a list presented in the catalog of authors by Gennadius of Marseille (d. 496) De viris illustribus, with biographies of more than 90 important Christian authors of that time. Produced in the 9th century, though not at the Abbey of St. Gall; already listed in the holdings of St. Gall by 1000. (smu)
Parchment · 180 + II pp. · 20.5 x 16 cm · 14th century
Collection of exempla; Treatise on the seven sacraments
The manuscript consists of two codicological units brought together in a fifteenth-century binding. The first unit (pp. 1-132) is copied in an older Gothic cursive; the second (pp. 133-180) in a textualis, and both date from the fourteenth century. The labels glued to the back inside cover and on the spine give as the title of the work: Fulgentius de virtutib[us], a title confirmed by a note written on a leaf added in the back of the volume: bellus differentiarum Fulgentii. Only two pages remain from this text (pp. 97a-98b), which is brought together with three other collections of exempla: Robert Holcot’s Moralitates (pp. 1a-97a), the Declamationes Senecae moralisatae (pp. 99a-115a) and the Enigmata Aristotelis moralizata (pp. 115b-120b). This combination of four texts, which Nigel Palmer called the Compilatio exemplorum anglicorum, circulated predominantly in Germany and in Central Europe. The first part ends with tables and an alphabetical index (pp. 121a-132b). The second codicological unit contains an anonymous treatise on the seven sacraments (pp. 134a-180b). (rou)
Palimpsest-manuscript of the oldest known texts of the Old Testament books of Ezekiel, Daniel and the Minor Prophets
An impressive palimpsest-manuscript (with pages containing duplicate texts) of the oldest known texts of the Old Testament books of Ezekiel, Daniel and the Minor Prophets. Upper script in Retro-Romanish minuscule from the time around 800 (from Rätien or St. Gall): sermons of Caesarius of Arles (470/71-542), further homilies and sermons, tracts, prayers and lessons. Lower, sometimes difficult to read script in Roman half uncial from northern Italy: fragmentarily preserved Latin bible texts from the Old Testament books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets. (smu)
Parchment · II + 233 + IV pp. · 18 x 12 cm; 24 x 18 cm; 17.7 x 12 cm · southern France or Spain; St. Gall · around 700 and first half of the 8th century
Composite manuscript; palimpsest
Early homiletic manuscript collection from the monastery of St. Gall, written on stiff, poorly smoothed, unevenly cut and damaged parchment, already previously used, overwritten in the first half of the 8th century with the sermons of Caesarius of Arles and the Synonyma of Isidore of Seville. Underlying script (Merovingian): a significant copy of the Old Testament Books of Wisdom, written in about 700 in southern France or Spain. This is among the oldest books preserved by the monastery of St. Gall. (smu)
Parchment · 88 pp. · 21 x 14-14.2 x cm · St. Gall · 9th century
Ferrandus diaconus de duce religioso.
A copy of a tract by the north African theologian Fulgentius Ferrandus (second half of the 6th century) in letter form, addressed to Count Reginus, with a collection of rules for conducting a Christlike life. This copy was made at the Abbey of St. Gall in about 800. (smu)