e-codices Newsletter

Issue n^o 37 - 3 June 2019

In this issue:

1. Commenta Bernensia – Two Lucan-manuscripts from the Burgerbibliothek of Berne
2. Rudolf of Ems: Chronicle of the World
3. Directorium perpetuum ecclesie sancti Galli
4. From OPenn to e-codices

The e-codices newsletter provides information about the latest updates, highlights, and activities of our project. We are delighted to count you among our readers!

The e-codices team

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1. Commenta Bernensia – Two Lucan-manuscripts from the Burgerbibliothek of Berne

Cod. 45 was created in Fleury in the 9th century. In addition to the Lucan's De bello civili, it contains the by far oldest textual witness of the Orestes myth by the African poet Dracontius. The first page has two striking initials from the Irish tradition of book decoration. Also noteworthy are the scholia; they are famous mostly due to Cod. 370, which is known in the literature as the Commenta Bernensia. Cod. 370 contains only scholia, i.e. it contains only the commentary, not the actual text.

2. Rudolf of Ems: Chronicle of the World

Rudolf of Ems (circa 1200 - 1254) was a member of the Imperial ministerial family of Hohenems in Vorarlberg. His Chronicle of the World is written in German verse and is among the most widely read medieval texts. This copy from the Zurich Central Library (Ms. Rh. 15) is a product of the artistic and cultural environment of the city of Zurich in the first half of the 14th century. It contains 100 colored miniatures. Online-publication in e-codices makes it possible to compare its pictures with those from the other richly illuminated copies that are held in Switzerland, such as Cod. 302 from the Cantonal Library, the Vadian Collection of St. Gall, which was illuminated in the same geographical area, but which is 40 years older.

Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Ms. Rh. 15 – Rudolf von Ems, Weltchronik

3. Directorium perpetuum ecclesie sancti Galli

The Directorium perpetuum of the monastery of St. Gall consists of seven volumes (Cod. Sang. 533-539) containing the liturgical rules for the Liturgy of the Hours for all possible annual calendars, due to the variable date of Easter. At a time when printing had become prevalent and played an important role even in the production of liturgical texts, Abbot Franz von Gaisberg (1504-1529) commissioned this great work from the scribe Fridolin Sicher, then the cathedral organist. The decoration was entrusted to Nicolaus Bertschi, a prolific miniaturist and owner of a thriving bookstore in Augsburg.

4. From OPenn to e-codices

We would like to share an example of how open data can spur research: OPenn contains complete sets of high-resolution archival images available for everyone. In this archive, we found three Romansh manuscripts. Since all images had been released into the public domain in the highest resolution, e-codices could take up these manuscripts and integrate them into our sub-project Romansh manuscripts. Prof. Dr. em. Georges Darms wrote new manuscript summaries, which we released into the public domain along with the images.