Since the 13th century the Quatuor libri sententiarum, a collection of teachings of the church fathers on important theological problems compiled by Peter Lombard in the middle of the 12th century, had the status of a textbook in theological faculties. The texts were an essential part of basic studies and were intensively interpreted in lectures and commentaries. This 14th century manuscript from the chained library of the Dominican Convent of Basel contains commentaries by Henry de Cervo, William of Ockham, Jakobus of Altavilla and others. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

While both parts of this manuscript are more than a thousand years old, they were probably first bound together in the fifteenth century. They come from the monastery of Murbach and could have entered the Basel Franciscan convent with Conrad Pellikan. Like the few other surviving volumes from this convent, this collection of writings by the Church Father St. Augustine is not a typical Franciscan manuscript. Part one contains a copy of the catalogue-like De haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum, written around 429 and introduced by letters on the history of its composition, as well as a Regula ancillarum (Letter 211). Part two is one of the oldest witnesses of the 395 treatise on free choice (De libero arbitrio), although limited to book 1: Unde malum. (mag)

Online Since: 08/21/2025

Isidore of Seville's “Etimologies” combine an outline of all knowledge with a description of the world. In the beginning, this Basel manuscript differs from the usual text structure. Instead of a division into books, each of the texts about the seven liberal arts Artes liberales is introduced with its own title. The manuscript originated in France and used to belong to the Fulda Monastery, until it came to Basel in the 16th century. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

This composite manuscript from the Basel Dominican Convent, one of several from the estate of Johannes Tagstern, was rebound in 1952 and contains texts on optics and geometry, such as the Dietrich of Freiburg's treatise on rainbows, with several clear, compass-and-ruler-drawn schemata. The first part was written on parchment in the fourteenth century, while the other, newer parts can be dated more precisely on the basis of the watermarks of the paper used to the end of the fourteenth century or to the beginning of the fifteenth century, that is, to the period in which the previous owner, Tagstern, is attested on the last page (f. 157v) as a member of the Dominican Convent. (mag)

Online Since: 09/26/2024