This composite manuscript of theological content originally belonged to the patrician family Gossembrot of Augsburg (late 15th century); via Johannes Oporin († 1568), Eusebius Merz († 1616) and Remigius Faesch († 1667), it finally became part of the university library of Basel in 1823. Except for a single remaining woodcut, various miniatures and woodcuts pasted into the manuscript have been torn out. (stu)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

This codex was produced in the opening years of the 16th century. Though it was created at a time when book printing had already proven its usefulness, this manuscript serves to demonstrate a high level of achievement in the calligraphic and illuminatory arts. Copied by Bartolomeo Sanvito, who also produced four other manuscripts of the Canzoniere and the Triumphi by Petrarch, CB 130 was written using a well-balanced, simplified script and refined illuminations. The beginning of the manuscript contains three full-page illustrations on parchment. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

This manuscript unites two different collections of Italian poetry: a collection of 380 poems by Petrarch and a collection of works by the preceding generation of poets, especially Dante. In this mysterious "libro de la mia Comare" (Book of my Godmother), the poems of Petrarch are recorded in an archaic script, augmented here and there with individual glosses which are not found elsewhere, apparently in an effort to introduce these texts to a female readership. (fmb)

Online Since: 05/20/2009

10th century manuscript of Italian origin, which contains numerous works of rhetoric: the Ars rhetorica by Fortunatianus, the Principia rhetorices by Augustine, the Praecepta artis rhetoricae by Julius Severianus and the Partitiones oratoriae by Cicero. In the 14th century, it became the property of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca), who, at various times of his life, added numerous marginal notes. The manuscript demonstrates the humanist's interest in the Oratores latini minores (minor Latin orators), which contributed to their rediscovery and proliferation. (ber)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

De vita solitaria is one of the Latin works by the famous Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), who wrote it in 1346 and revised it several times in the course of the following years. Two books praise the secluded, solitary life dedicated to study and meditation. This paper manuscript shows a certain elegance, in the page layout as well as in the two gold initials (p. 7, 103). Its origin is unknown, but before 1892, when it was acquired by the library, it was owned by the canons of Lausanne and a family of notaries from Muraz (Valais). The binding originally consisted of a series of 14th century paper fragments, which were joined together in numerous layers and were later detached and restored. Some of these fragments are papal privileges addressed to members of various French dioceses, others are in Italian from the area of Tuscany, and one contains Hebrew text. (ber)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

This codex contains two different texts, both incomplete, in a single 19th century binding. One of these is Henry Suso's Horologium Sapientiae (1-66), a text that was written in Constance and that was in wide use during the late Middle Ages. The other is Petrarch's De Vita Solitaria (67-116). The first is a parchment manuscript of Italian origin that can be dated to the late 14th or early 15th century; it is written by a single hand in a semi-cursive Gothic script in two columns. What makes this manuscript special is that it was written on a parchment palimpsest that originally contained legal texts written in the 13th century. The second part, by another hand and of French or Swiss origin, contains a text by Petrarch written in a bastarda script in two columns, dated to the 15th century. Both texts contain pen-flourish initials and are interspersed with manicules. (fav)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

The provost and dramatist Johannes Aal (ca. 1500-1551) was a leading figure in 16th century Solothurn. This composite manuscript, produced between 1517 and 1518, gives an insight into his time as a student. It contains excerpts on Greek and Latin grammar and rhetoric, writings on music theory, as well as excerpts from Petrarch, Guarini, Johannes Reuchlin, Sebastian Brant and others. (hol)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This collection of works was produced during the third quart of the 15th century, under the influence of early humanism, in one of the southwestern German states. It contains German and Latin texts from the late middle ages as well as some interlinear and marginal glosses. The newer works by humanist authors include contributions by Petrarch, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (later Pope Pius II), Hieronymus de Vallibus and Antonio Barzizza. (gam)

Online Since: 11/04/2010