This Liber benefactorum, the book of benefactors of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, was written gradually between the 1430s and the 1520s. The main part of the manuscript, a calendar created in the early 15th century, contains the names of over 800 benefactors. The manuscript was designed from the beginning as a Liber benefactorum and has close ties to an annal from the Basel charterhouse that was written during the tenure of Prior Heinrich Arnoldi (StABS, Klosterarchiv Kartaus N). (pla)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This commentary on the Psalms is an autograph by Ambrosius Alantsee, who, after having studied and then taught at the University of Basel, entered the Carthusian monastery of Basel in 1480 and, among others, held positions there as scribe, prior and author of primarily liturgical literature. This manuscript was written a few years before his death, which occurred in 1505 while on a visitation journey to Erfurt. (mue)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains handwritten and printed texts concerning questions on the history of the order, on the spiritual life, as well as on theological interpretations, as for example the commentary on Ecclesiastes by Denis the Carthusian (1402-1471). The handwritten parts are by various hands, among them the Carthusian Johannes Gipsmüller of Basel (1439-1484). (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This volume contains a large number of texts about theology and canon law. All of it was written by one scribe, the Carthusian Heinrich von Vullenhoe of Basel. In a long note he provides information about the motives that guided him during the compilation: Since as a Carthusian he could not himself act as a preacher, he only had the possibility to spread the Word of God with his hands, i.e. by writing books. He expresses the hope that this compilation he has organized may strengthen the pious on their path and may offer an occasion for remorse for the sinners. Many of the texts that Vullenhoe has combined in this volume refer directly to the Carthusian Order. One example is the treatise de esu carnium, which defends the Carthusian practice of renouncing meat as a foodstuff. Many texts have also been handed down in other manuscripts from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (fis)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This volume was written in 1489 by Ambrosius Alantsee (†1505). Ambrosius, originally from Füssen, enrolled at the University of Basel in 1468/69 and, as can be proven, wrote several mostly liturgical books between 1484 and 1492 at the Carthusian Monastery in that city. Among them is this Epithalamium (bridal or wedding song) for Mary. Possibly this is the same Ambrosius Alantsee who is attested as prior of St. Mang's Abbey in Füssen in 1491. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This composite manuscript from the Carthusian monastery of Basel contains — partly handwritten and partly printed — primarily texts of devotional and spiritual content. Author (and for the first part of the manuscript also the scribe) for the most part is Heinrich Arnoldi, Prior of the Carthusian monastery from 1449-1480. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript, owned by Johannes Heynlin, came to the Basel University Library (UB) along with the holdings of the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel; it contains primarily sermons, many of them written by the Dominican Guilelmus de Malliaco. A keyword index enables the user to search for a sermon with a suitable topic. The binding is striking: the two covers are each fitted with five brass bosses. On the inside of the covers, their anchors are each covered with small parchment pieces cut out in the shape of a heart. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This composite manuscript, property of the scholar and Carthusian monk Johannes Heynlin from Basel, consists of various handwritten and printed pieces of theological content: among them the treatise De saecularium religionibus by the Dominican and church reformer Johannes Nider, written in 1465 by a French scribe and annotated in the margin by Heynlin; or the text De miseria humanae conditionis by Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, one of the most important humanists of the Italian Renaissance. After Heynlin's death, the volume became part of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript (third quarter of the 15th century), a collection of theological texts, consists of two parts; it originated in the Carthusian Monastery in Basel, where it was probably also created. This is certain for the second part of the manuscript, which, in addition to the Vita et revelationes by Agnes Blannbekin (Chapters 1-23), also contains extensive excerpts from Lux divinitatis, the Latin translation of Das fließende Licht der Gottheit by Mechthild of Magdeburg, which became the basis for further copies made in the monastery. The model for most of the texts contained in the second part of Cod. A VIII 6 was the manuscript Basel, university library, Cod. B IX 11. (nem)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

This volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains prayers and meditations by various authors, but most of them written by, or at least attributed to, Anselm of Canterbury. In addition, there is an instruction in spiritual exercises for novices and a Passion of Christ compiled from all four Gospels by Heinrich Arnoldi. Texts by other Carthusian authors are also represented. The codex was written by Martin Ströulin, a Carthusian from Basel. (mue)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

15th century devotional volume, mostly written by the Carthusian Johannes Gipsmüller and owned by the Carthusian monastery of Basel. On the verso side of a parchment leaf, inserted as f. 57 into the paper manuscript, there is a full-page image of Christ on the cross with Mary and John. A peculiarity is a collection of Bible passages in Latin and sayings in German by Petrus Wolfer, which are said to have been written on a wall of the Carthusian monastery, surrounding a crucifixion. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This late medieval book of devotion and prayer is named for its first owner, Margret Zschampi, Dominican at Klingental Convent in Basel. It is a typical manuscript for edification, in German, as they were customarily used and written at the end of the Middle Ages for private devotion, especially in women's convents and in lay communities. Margret Zschampi donated the manuscript to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, where it became part of the library for lay brothers. As part of this Carthusian library, the devotional book reached the university library of Basel in 1590. This is the only completely preserved known manuscript from the Dominican Convent of Klingental.  (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

The first part of this paper manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains the Tractatus de modo perveniendi ad veram et perfectam dei et proximi dilectionem by the Prior Heinrich Arnoldi (1407-1487) and, in the second part, titled De humilitate, it contains a collection of his minor texts. Both text units are also found in manuscript A X 83, which was written the same year. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

The writings of Prior Heinrich Arnoldi (1407-1487) in the first part of the manuscript (the collection De humilitate and the treatise De modo perveniendi) for the most part are the same as those contained in Cod. A X 69. The second part contains the Tractatus de reformatione virium animae by the Dutch theologian Gerardus de Zutphania (1367-1398). This manuscript was written in 1472 by Johannes Gipsmüller (1439-1484) at the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. There must have been a colored woodcut before fol. 1; color residue and a mirror-inverted imprint of the caption are still visible. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

In addition to the Rosarium Jesu et Mariae by the Belgian Carthusian Jacobus van Gruitrode, this small-format codex from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains letters by two representatives of the Devotio Moderna, Florens Radewijns and Geert Groote, as well as excerpts from the Bible and from commentaries, various prayers, and diverse shorter and longer fragments of varying content. (mue)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Ludwig Moser brought this small-format volume to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel (cf. note of ownership 1r), from where it came to the Basel University Library. It contains the first three of the four books of Thomas à Kempis' De imitatione Christi. This text, which is influenced by the teaching of various mystics, especially Meister Eckhart, offers spiritual people a guide for detaching from the world. It was very well received by Catholics as well as Protestants and is considered one of the most widely read books of Christendom. (mue)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This small-format paper manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel is mostly by the hand of the librarian Georg Carpentarius, who for the sake of daily spiritual exercises compiled prayers for various occasions, hymns, meditations and other theological texts. Among the identifiable authors are great ones such as Anselm of Canterbury and Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as lesser known names such as Basilius Phrisius. Two colored prints are glued in the covers: St. George with the dragon (front pastedown) and the Mass of St. Gregory (back pastedown). (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This obsequiale, written by Prior Jacob Lauber in his own hand, governs the Office of the Dead at the Carthusian Monastery in Basel. The inserted prayers (among them the Lord's Prayer in Latin and in German) as well as the chants with musical notation are situated in a liturgical context. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel consists primarily of the best-known works by the Roman historian Sallust – De coniuratione Catilinae and De bello Iugurthino. In addition, it contains various short texts and fragments of known (Isidore, Publilius Syrus, Ps.-Serviolus) and unknown authorship (rules for syllabification, arithmetical riddles) and a drawing of a labyrinth. The manuscript contains numerous interlinear and marginal glosses by various hands. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

In 1482 Jakob Lauber, the librarian at the time, began to compile a loans register for the holdings of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. This register was continued after Lauber's tenure until 1527. The loans register was set up according to the shelfmark letters A to I, and it even was possible to record volumes on loan that had no shelfmark. Borrowed books were listed with the exact shelfmark under the corresponding letter; after the book's return, the entry was crossed out. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This 13th century manuscript with Peter Lombards' commentary on the Psalms, previously owned by Petrus Medicus, came to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in the 15th century. The codex is organized in three columns, although the outermost column closest to the margin remains empty. The two columns of text are in turn again partly divided in half and give the biblical text in the left half and the commentary in the right half, in lines of half the height. Figure initials in delicate French style correspond to the division of the Psalter into eight liturgical sections. The blank area below the text contains nearly unreadable notes perhaps in pencil, which may be a further commentary. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

First part of a two-volume edition of Gregory's Moralia in Iob. From the Carthusian Monastery, purchased at the Council of Basel. The main part of the manuscript was written at the turn from the 11th to the 12th century; the Tabula found at the very beginning and very end of the volume was added in the 13th century. The earlier provenance of the manuscript is not clear, but an origin in common with the second volume (B I 13a) stands to reason. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

Second part of a two-volume edition of Gregory's Moralia in Iob. This volume from the end of the 12th century, richly decorated with initials, was purchased at the Council of Basel for the Carthusian Monastery of Basel and was augmented at the monastery by the scribe Heinrich von Vullenhoe. The provenance of the volume is not certain. An erased note of ownership of the Monastery of S. Maria in Insula could refer to the Premonstratensian Abbey of Marienwerd in Goldern or to the Cistercian Abbey of Notre Dame de l'Ile-de-Ré near La Rochelle. The first volume (B I 12) probably has the same origin. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript, sparingly decorated with foliate and figure initials, was produced at the end of the 12th century and belonged to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. In addition to the glossed cantica ad laudes et ferialia, it primarily contains the Psalter with the glossa ordinaria, the standard medieval commentary on the biblical texts. The layout of the text is in the customary catena-style: the text of the Psalm is in the middle of the page, surrounded by interpretation in the margins and betweens the lines. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This Gospel Book, written in an accurate Carolingian book hand, was probably created in the Marmoutier abbey by Tours. It features richly decorated initials and artistically designed frames for the canon tables. The manuscript was a gift to the Carthusians of Basel from the former dean of Rheinfeld, Antonius Rüstmann, in 1439. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript contains the homilary of Paulus Diaconus for the winter season and was written and illustrated during the 9th and 10th centuries by various St. Gall copyists. It belonged to the Charter House at Basel, to which it was presented, like B IV 26, by Pierre de la Trilline, Bishop of Lodève near Montpellier (1430-1441), who served in various capacities at the Council of Basel. (ber)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

The parchment manuscript, decorated with filigree and Lombard initials, originally belonged to the Carthusian Monastery of Mainz and reached the Carthusian Monastery of Basel via several stations. It contains Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra gentiles, written between 1259 and 1265. This manual for Christian missionaries offers philosophical arguments for Christianity and is especially designed for the conversion of Muslim and Jewish believers of other faiths; it is the only scholastic work to have been translated from Latin into Hebrew. (mue)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

The Legenda aurea by the Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (about 1228-1298) is one of the most widely known spiritual collections of the Middle Ages. This 14th century manuscript from Bologna preserves it along with further legends of the saints. The codex is written in a regular Italian Gothic script and, as a matter of routine, is carefully decorated; a large lacuna in chapter 45 (legend of St. Michael) was augmented by a 15th century hand. The volume belongs to the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This manuscript, a collection of theological texts, from the Dominican Monastery of Basel, consists of various parts; it alone transmits the complete Latin translation of Fließenden Lichts der Gottheit by Mechthild of Magdeburg. The manuscript is remarkable not only because of its age (around or shortly before 1350), but also because of the numerous marginal notes, which reveal knowledge of the German version of the text, with which this copy of the Latin translation of Das fließende Licht was being compared. (nem)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

The greatest part of this manuscript consists of two texts by Rudolf von Biberach – Sermones super cantica and De VII itineribus aeternitatis. They were originally created in the 14th century as two separate pieces; later they were bound together into the current volume at the Carthusian monastery of Basel, whose library owned the manuscript from the 15th century on. Still in the 14th century, a German translation of De VII gradibus contemplationis was added as a supplement to the second part. Probably only at the time of binding the manuscript was the beginning of the Abstractum-Glossars added as a last page, bound in upside down; the transcription of this text also dates from the 14th century and therefore could not have been produced at the monastery.  (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This volume is from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; it contains the first part of the Collationes Patrum by John Cassian (360/365-432/435). It also contains assorted excerpts on the life and work of Cassian from various sources, as well as a letter on the way of life at the Abbey of Monte Cassino under abbot Desiderius (1058-1087). This manuscript was produced in Lorsch and forms a unit together with B V 14. It has supplements and signs of use up to the15th century.  (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript, along with volume B V 13 together with which it forms a unit, was produced in Lorsch and later reached the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. It contains the second part of the Collationes Patrum by John Cassian (360/365-432/435), Cassian's conversations with the Desert Fathers. In comparison with B V 13, there are relatively few corrections and annotations.  (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript from the Carthusian monastery of Basel, whose shelfmark was changed several times, consists of three originally independent parts. The first, homiletic, part contains a series of Sermones and interpretive Expositiones on the Gospel readings of the day. The second part consists of a treatise on the ten commandments by the Augustinian Hermit Heinrich von Friemar (1245-1340) and an anonymous commentary on the Latin version of the Physiologus Theobaldi. In the third part of the manuscript, in addition to instructions for leading a God-pleasing life, there is a dispute between angel and devil about the seven deadly sins.  (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This codex contains high quality excerpts of nearly all known Latin writings by the Dominican Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260 – ca. 1328), which are available overall in no more than a dozen manuscripts. Although the scribe, who probably belonged to the circle of the Dominican Monastery of Cologne, seems to have compiled the excerpts “mechanically and without understanding” (Koch), the texts are of high quality. The manuscript was purchased in 1386 by the Westphalian priest Gottschalk Kamenschede, who later donated it to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This manuscript, which has been decoratively sewn with silk thread in many places, was donated to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in the 15th century by Johannes Obrest, chaplain of St. Martin in Basel. It contains, in addition to several short texts of pastoral and medical character, the Summa poenitentialis by the English theologian and subdean of Salisbury, Thomas of Chabham (ca. 1160-1233/36). (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript for regular use consists of four parts; it contains material for preparing sermons, including a register of sermon topics, an extensive corpus of legends and more than 100 exempla. The manuscript shows various signs of use and, on the back, it still has a title label from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was held in the 15th and 16th century. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format parchment volume from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel is composed of three originally separate fascicles. The first is decorated with three initials (1r, 53r, 58r) and contains the Stimulus dilectionis by Eckbert of Schönau along with prayers, Penitential Psalms and a Litany of the Saints. This is followed by the fragment of a prayer book, which is missing the beginning as well as the end. The third part contains a compilation from Bonaventure's Soliloquium and Hugh of St. Victor's De vanitate mundi. The heavy soiling of pp. 24-53 (Agenda defunctorum and Penitential Psalms) should be noted; it indicates intensive use of this part of the codex. (mue)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This composite manuscript is from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; it contains the first part of the Orationes et meditationes de vita Christi by the mystic Thomas à Kempis (1379-1471), one of the most important representatives of the Devotio moderna. The script and decoration of the fascicle indicate a Dutch school. A central printed part is followed by a collection of supplications and prayers in Latin. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format manuscript in Latin is from the Carthusian monastery of Basel; in particular, it treats the Passion of Christ. The devotional image on the front pastedown takes up this topic, as do the texts, which are by, among others, Ludolph of Saxony, Bonaventure and Eckbert of Schönau. The manuscript's first text, a long devotional text De vita et passione Iesu Christi, may have been written by Heinrich Arnoldi, Carthusian of Basel. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format parchment manuscript is known as the “Basler Liederhandschrift”; it transmits German and Latin texts in verse and prose, which are primarily spiritual in character and in part are supplemented with musical notation. Among them are texts by Konrad of Würzburg and Walther von der Vogelweide, among others. This manuscript was written around 1300; in the 15th century it was in the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, and in the 17th century it was the property of Remigius Fäsch, a collector from Basel.  (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format parchment manuscript is from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was completed in 1478 by the scribe Johannes Gipsmüller. The numerous devotional texts on various female saints have mostly been passed down anonymously; some – such as those on Margareta, the patron saint of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel – can probably be attributed to Heinrich Arnoldi. The codex is decorated with full-page illustrations of saints treated in the text as well as numerous initials, the latter in a variety of styles. (mue)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This composite volume, originally composed of ten fascicles, was at least partly written in the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. One of the writers is Hans Lesser, a brother from St. Gallen. The small-format manuscript was part of the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel and contains various German-language prayers and devotional texts, some of which refer explicitly to the lay brothers of the Carthusian Monastery. (stu)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This small-format manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains prayers to and about the saints and martyrs Margaret of Antioch, Barbara of Nicomedia and Catherine of Alexandria. The Meditationes were composed by the Carthusian Henricus Arnoldi of Basel; the small-format manuscript was written by his fellow monk Johannes Gipsmüller. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

The first part of this composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains Aristotle's writing on the soul, De anima, in William of Moerbeke's translation, copied in Paris in 1459 by the scholar Johannes Heynlin. The main text, decorated with artistic initials with gold leaf as well as fleuronné initials, is closely surrounded by commentary in marginal and interlinear glosses, written in a small, compact semi-Gothic script. Bound into this volume as the second part is Aristotle's De animalibus, printed in Venice in 1476; this text's uncharacteristic lack of decoration at least raises the question of whether it was also part of Heynlin's library. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript, written by several Northern Italian hands, contains the Lectura super codicem by the legal scholar Guilelmus de Cugno or Cuneo, who gave lectures in Toulouse in 1316-1317. The original must have been divided into quires, at least there are annotations in the manuscript that are similar to those of the pecia system. In 1383, this volume was owned by a converted Jew in Trier; later it became part of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This 14th century parchment manuscript contains the commentaries of the legal expert and canonist Johannes Andreae (around 1270-1348) on the Liber Sextus Decretalium Bonifacii, the third part of the Corpus iuris canonici. The volume came into the possession of the Carthusian monastery of Basel during the Council (1431-1449). (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

For efficiency, writings of law and canon law were often copied using the pecia system, where a model was divided into quires and distributed to several copyists. In the same manner, this commentary on the decretals by ”Abbas antiquus“, only later identified as Bernardus de Montemirato, was created in three pieces. The sparingly decorated manuscript is written in a littera bononiensis and was owned by the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

From 1470 until 1475, Jakob Lauber, later the head of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel and its richly endowed library, attended lectures by the famous decretist Peter Andlau at the newly founded University of Basel; this is attested by his lecture notes on the Conclusiones Clementinarum and the Liber sextus of Boniface VIII from the year 1471. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

This manuscript, a composite manuscript of legal content, has as its main text the Summa super rubricis decretalium by the Italian legal scholar Godefridus de Trano (deceased 1245). This is a textbook on the Compilation of Decretals commissioned by Pope Gregory IX, which was widely distributed. The text is decorated with five small figure initials, probably of French origin. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

Not without entering into competition with the curial judiciary authority did the Council of Basel (1431-1449) demand conciliar judicial authority patterned on the Roman Rota. The tried cases were recorded by notaries of the Rota, as in this manuscript written by Johannes Wydenroyd in the period between 15 March 1435 and 13 June 1439. This manuscript is the middle volume of three remaining Rota manuals from the Council of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This volume, written in littera parisiensis in the middle of the 13th century, contains Avicenna's De anima in a translation by John of Seville, as well as parts from the Metaphysica, translated by Dominicus Gundissalinus. It also contains the first two books from part 2 of Al-Gazali's libri metaphysicae et physicae, also in a translation by Dominicus Gundissalinus. This manuscript came to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel as part of the book collection of Johannes Heynlin, who had purchased the manuscript in 1461. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

The core of this manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel is a copy of the Flores temporum, a Latin world chronicle from the 13th century that was widely used in Alemannic areas. The copyist, Nicolaus Gerung de Blauenstein, supplemented this chronicle with a self-written, partly German appendix on events from the region around Basel as well as a chronicle of the Basel bishops. Shorter texts such as treatises on councils or on the Carthusian order and lists of emperors, cathedrals, kingdoms and languages in various parts of the world round off the collection. (mue)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This codex, which consists of several parts, contains primarily decrees, bulls, letters and decisions related to the Council of Basel (1431-1448), by various hands in Latin and German. Later hands added occasional notes, corrections and additions. Historiographic information is included with the so-called “Grössere Basler Annalen” and Latinized excerpts from the Rötteln Chronicle and the German Chronicle of Jakob Twinger von Königshofen. This manuscript came from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel and then became part of the holdings of the Basel University Library. (srf)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

This Eusebius manuscript is from the 14th century and was already part of the holdings of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel under Heinrich Arnoldi (prior between 1449 and 1480). The manuscript is made of high quality calfskin vellum; it is carefully written and rubricated, in part with pen-flourish initials. The manuscript contains various 14th and 15th century additions; the binding is from the 19th century. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This manuscript was owned by Johannes Heynlin de Lapide, who donated it to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel; it contains a collection of speeches and letters by renowned humanists such as Poggio Bracciolini and Enea Silvio Piccolomini— among them an original letter from Johannes Reuchlin to Jakob Louber— with texts by Greek and Oriental authors in Latin translation. Parts of the manuscript are written by Heynlin and Reuchlin. (mue)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This manuscript, of French origin, came to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel after having been the property of Johannes Heynlin. The massive volume contains Aristotle's six works on logic, some with commentary, which were assembled into the so-called “Organon“ only after the time of Aristotle. The decoration and science are complementary: each of the books of the main text begins with an elaborate ornamental initial; the commentary, if there is one, is grouped closely around the main text and is mostly unadorned. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel was written by various hands; it contains primarily astrological writings, among them texts by Abraham ibn Esra, Al-Zarkali and Hermes Trismegistus translated from the Arabic, Hebrew and Greek. In the margin of f. 120r there is a blessing against worms, on f. 145v medical advice in a blend of German and Latin. In addition to handwritten parts, the volume also contains three prints. One of the two original leather clasps is still intact. (mue)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

This composite manuscript with content regarding astronomy, bound in crimson sheepskin, was owned by Heinrich Amici († 1451), city physician of Basel, who bequeathed it to the city's Carthusian monastery. In addition to calculations of planetary conjunctions and eclipses, the volume also contains astronomical treatises by Pierre d'Ailly or Petrus de Alliaco (around 1350-1420). D'Ailly was a scholar and church politician and infused his theological works with astrological justifications. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

Since the 9th century, Aristotle's Historia animalium, an orderly description of various creatures, had been available in an Arabic translation, which Michael Scotus translated into Latin in 1220. The decoration of the initials in this manuscript, which Johannes Heynlin purchased in Paris and bequeathed to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, is rich in drolleries. Throughout the volume, there are annotations by various hands. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This composite manuscript comes from the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel and contains school texts on the ancient comic poet Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) (ca. 195 - ca. 159 B.C.), such as Comoediae cum didascaliis, as well as various Rhetoricae, or teachings on the art of speech making and letter writing. The first part of the manuscript was written by the later Prior Jacob Lauber while he was still a student in 1471 and 1472. (flr)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This manuscript was written by Johannes Heynlin during his time in Paris between 1469 and 1471. It contains three "classic works for education", the (annotated) Bucolics, the Georgics, and the Aeneid by Virgil, as well as a whole series of pseudo-Virgilian works. The volume is finely decorated with figural initials from a Parisian studio with scenes from Virgil's works. The manuscript was probably bound in Basel, perhaps at the instigation of the Carthusian monastery, into whose possession it came when Heynlin entered the monastery. (flr)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This manuscript, written in a 13th century textura, was the property of the cleric and historian Dietrich von Niem (1340-1418), who provided it with numerous marginal notes. The volume, which was passed on to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, contains, among others, Seneca's Naturales quaestiones, the discussion Cur deus homo? by Anselm of Canterbury, and the astrological work De radiis stellarum by the Arab philosopher and scientist Alkindi. It also contains the article De probatione virginitatis beatae Mariae from the so-called "Suda", a Byzantine encyclopedia widely used in the Latin translation by Roberto Grosseteste. (flr)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

This volume contains the so-called Wörterbuch des alten Schulmeisters (old schoolmaster's dictionary). This is an independent adaptation of the more widely used Vocabularius ex quo. In contrast to the more original version, in the old schoolmaster's edition the German explanations take a back seat to the purely Latin ones. The original pastedowns, which were detached from the cover during a restoration in 1974, also contain excerpts from a Latin translation of Aristotle's De anima and other pieces of related content. The fact that the text on the rear pastedown directly continues the text from the front pastedown shows that, in their original context, the pastedowns must have been two successive pages of one manuscript. (fis)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

Probably written in Schongau and later acquired by the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, this volume is part of the vast tradition in manuscript and in print form of the so-called Vocabularius Ex quo. This alphabetically ordered dictionary was intended as a resource for users with limited knowledge of Latin and remained enormously popular in the German-speaking region until the end of the 16th century. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This manuscript transmits various Latin-German vocabularies, among them the Mammotrectus by the Italian Franciscan John Marchesinus, which was written around 1300. This manuscript, written around 1400 by a certain Ulrich Wachter, was purchased for the Carthusian monastery of Basel in 1430. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This French manuscript from the third quarter of the 15th century contains two works from ancient times. Nonius Marcellus (4th/5th century) offers linguistic and factual explanations on Latin authors mainly from the time of the Republic, partly in alphabetically-ordered lemmas; M. Terentius Varro († 27 BC) addresses linguistic questions concerning the Latin language. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

Various Aristotelian writings in the Latin translation of Boethius as well as treatises by Boethius, written in a small 13th century script; they were bound together with two 15th century additions, probably for the scholar Johannes Heynlin from Basel, who bequeathed the volume to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. Noteworthy for codicological reasons are the back pastedown and flyleaf, a parchment leaf that had been prepared for a prayer book. It consists of two bifolios with upside down text that should have been folded before binding, as was usual for printed sheets. However, the two bifolios were excluded and were not used in the prayer book; therefore there are no pinholes in the fold. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This small-format, almost square 14th century Ovid manuscript contains the Heroides accompanied by the commentary of William of Orléans (Guilelmus Aurelianensis, around 1200). An older erased note of ownership suggests a French origin; Johannes Heynlin bequeathed this manuscript to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Pierre d'Ailly (Latin: Petrus de Alliaco) was a scholar, church politician and productive writer. His geographic work Imago mundi became famous; Christopher Columbus used it in order to plan his voyages of discovery. This Basel exemplar belonged to the city physician of Basel, Heinrich Amici († 1451), who bequeathed it to his city's Carthusian monastery. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

This volume contains texts that are related to late medieval, early humanistic school practice; i.e. on the one hand, works intended for school practice (grammars, word lists) and on the other hand, theoretical treatises of didactic-pedagogical content. This volume, bound at the Carthusian monastery of Basel, brings together several originally independent parts. The first part, the prose version of Alexander of Villedieu's versified grammar, is from the Carthusian monastery of Mainz and was donated to the Carthusian monastery of Basel. The last part, the grammar of Giovanni Sulpizio, here in a version printed by Johannes Amerbach, came to the monastery library as a gift from the printer. (fis)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This manuscript contains exercises and Quaestiones on Aristotle's works De anima and De physica by the reform theologian Johann von Wesel (1425-1481). This volume is from the Carthusian monastery of Basel; based on a comparative study of the script, it can be assumed that the scribe of the first part is Jakob Louber. Numerous annotations in the margins and on slips of paper attest that the manuscript was heavily used. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

As its main part, this manuscript, completed in 1474 by Henricus de Bacharach, contains a copy of the widely transmitted Latin-German Vocabularius Ex quo, which was very popular through the end of the 16th century; in addition, it contains a calendar, an astrological table and several short texts by other hands. The main text was decorated by the scribe himself with naive but partly very imaginative initials and drawings. This paper codex came to the UB (Basel University Library) along with the holdings of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

Composite manuscript of philosophical content, owned by Jakob Lauber and even partially written by him. Jakob Lauber from Lindau studied at the then newly founded University of Basel from 1466 until 1475, first in the Faculty of Arts, then canon law in the Faculty of Law. After serving as rector for a short period, he entered the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in 1477; as its prior from 1480 on, he expanded it significantly and reorganized its library. When he entered the monastery, Lauber's library became the property of the monastery. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript, which was written in part by Johannes Heynlin de Lapide and which came to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel with him, contains Johannes de Fonte's florilegium Auctoritates Aristotelis, a collection of quotations in alphabetical order, two anonymous treatises, as well as treatises by the Franciscan Francis of Meyronnes, by the pseudo John Duns Scotus and by Johannes Breslauer de Braunsberg. A print (5 leaves) of the Tractatus de memoria augenda by Matheolus Perusinus is also bound into this volume. (mue)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

In the 4th century AD, the rhetoric teacher Gaius Marius Victorinus wrote explanatory notes on Cicero's De inventione. In the third quarter of the 15th century, these were copied in a completely uniform script, probably in Frace. The scholar Johannes Heynlin from Basel bequeathed this manuscript, together with the other books in his vast library, to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. The manuscript shows no signs of use. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

The extensively glossed Rhetorica ad Herennium in the front part of this composite manuscript was copied by Johannes Heynlin, who also brought this book with him to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. The text from the 1st century BC represents the oldest surviving theory of rhetoric in Latin; it was very popular during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as attested by a vast tradition of more than 100 manuscripts as well as translations into numerous European languages. The volume transmits principles of rhetoric that have remained valid until to this day. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018