This copy of Burkart von Hallwyl's (1535-1598) pharmacopoeia is a collection of medications and recipes for treating everyday problems. The length of the recipes ranges from a single sentence to detailed texts containing instructions and lists of ingredients. The manuscript is organized with an alphabetical index, which is followed by more entries. (wan)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript is a pharmacopoeia and recipe book. It contains many recipes against “pistilienz” and other diseases. Sentences and entire parts of instructions for medications are crossed out. The book is not paginated and does not have an index at the end. (wan)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

In the “Mägte Büchlin”, Maria Iselin collected (culinary) recipes. It contains the first known recipe for “Basler Läckerli”. For a long time, gingerbread was also considered to have medicinal properties. (wan)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This parchment manuscript dates from the first half of the 13th century. About 300 formulas for medical remedies are described on 72 leaves, including information on the production, use and effect of the remedies. The text is based on Nicolò Perposito’s Antidotarium from the medical school of Salerno. In general the manuscript has a simple text design with only a few small initials in red and blue ink, some with ornaments, embellishing the text. From enclosures it can be assumed that Mr. Ludwig Bertalot (1884-1960) probably was the previous owner of the manuscript. The Pharmacy Museum was able to purchase this manuscript in 2017 from Daniel Thierstein's antiquarian bookshop in Biel. In 2019/2020, Friederike Hennig restored the manuscript in Basel. (wan)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

The family register of the pharmacist Hans Friedrich Eglinger (1608-1675) from Basel provides insights into 17th century pharmacy and its networks. The book contains mostly German, French and Latin sayings by various authors, addressed to Eglinger. In some cases, they are splendidly illustrated. One illustrated entry by Jacobus Mozes on f. 53r depicts a very large mortar in the center. The title page is decorated with a baroque tempera painting. (wan)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This family register of the pharmacist Emmanuel Ryhiner (1592-1635) from Basel provides insights into 17th century pharmacy and the relations among pharmacists. It contains mostly Hebrew, ancient Greek, French and Latin sayings by various authors, addressed to Ryhiner. In some cases, they are splendidly illustrated. The register page dedicated to him by his classmate Matthaeus Colomanus in 1612 dates back to Ryhiner’s student days. The picture (242v) of an idealized apothecary shop, open to the street, was created by the miniaturist Johann Sixt Ringle of Basel. It depicts a pharmacist standing in front of shelves abundantly filled with colorful wooden containers, dispensing medication to a lady. (wan)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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

Leaf from the third volume (May-June) of a Fulda Legendary that originally consisted of six volumes, commissioned in 1156 by Rugger, monk at Frauenberg Abbey in Fulda (1176-1177 abbot of Fulda as Rugger II). This fragment contains parts of the Vita s. Martialis as well as of the Passio sanctorum Primi et Feliciani and probably was written by Eberhard of Fulda. The legendary was still used in the middle of the 16th century in Fulda by Georg Witzel (1501-1573) for his Hagiologium seu de sanctis ecclesiae (Mainz 1541) as well as for his Chorus sanctorum omnium. Zwelff Bücher Historien Aller Heiligen Gottes (Köln 1554). Other fragments from this third volume are in Basel, Solothurn and Nuremberg. It shows that this volume, and at least the 6th volume (November-December) of the legendary as well, reached Basel, where both evidently were used as manuscript waste around 1580. (stb)

Online Since: 06/13/2019

This codex contains a virtual reconstruction of a manuscript of F III 15e and N I 1: 3c. In conjunction with the digitization and description of this two manuscripts it became possible to establish that around 1500 N I 1: 3c‬‬‬ had been part of F III 15e‬‬‬ as its first quire. This explains the title De conflictu viciorum et virtutum N I 1: 3c, 1r, which makes sense only in the context of the entire codex. As shown by the lost text at the beginning and at the end, N I 1: 3c‬‬ had previously already been part of another codex. The original codex reached Basel in the 16th century; there N I 1: 3c‬ was separated prior to 1643. (stb)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

This meticulously executed manuscript contains the first part of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa theologiae, one of the Scholastic’s main works; it is from the library of Johannes de Lapide, Carthusian monk in Basel. The quires consist of paper and parchment in regular alteration; the proem begins with an ornamental page decorated with gold with a Q-initial on gold leaf, scroll ornamentation with flowers and berries in the margins, and a decorated intercolumnium. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript was written in 1445 by the prolific scribe and later prior of the Dominican Monastery of Basel, Albert Löffler, shortly before entering the order. Its content illustrates Löffler’s academic and religious education: it contains Latin texts of spiritual character, such as the Speculum artis bene moriendi now attributed to Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl, the Pilgerbuch der Seele zu Gott by Bonaventure, and the Speculum ecclesiae by Hugh of Saint-Cher, as well as the hugely popular Liber de ludo scacchorum by Jacobus de Cessolis, one of the first Latin treatises on chess. The manuscript also contains two German texts: a treatise on perfection and a catalog of questions to examine whether, after death, a sick person’s soul may expect eternal life. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This volume contains, among others, writings on the councils; the last treatise is called noviter compilatus. Several hands from the second quarter of the 15th century contributed to the writing. The last page is decorated with a Titulus crucifixi in three languages, written in majuscules in the Byzantine tradition, which spread, often in bizarre forms, from Italy during the time of the councils. Holes in the front cover and traces of rust on the detached front pastedown page establish that the volume used to be part of a chained library. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

This composite manuscript from the second quarter of the 15th century consists of eight independent parts; accordingly several hands can be distinguished. The volume contains writings on the council; notes in his own hand suggest that the volume belonged to the Dominican John of Ragusa, who was a one of the leading theologians participating in the the Council of Basel. This volume was later owned by the Dominican Convent of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

Postil on Genesis and Exodus, written in 1396 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 52 quarter- to half-page colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 2-‬6 and ‬10-‬13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, written in 1397 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 23 mostly half-page, partly colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1, ‬3-‬6 and ‬10-‬13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Esdras and Job, written in 1401 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 58 half-page, partly or entirely colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-‬2, ‬4-‬6 and ‬10-‬13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on Kings and Esther, written in 1400-1401 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 52 single-column, partly colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-‬3, ‬5-‬6 and ‬10-‬13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on Jeremiah, Daniel, Maccabees and Judith, written in 1393 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 53 half- to whole-page, partly framed colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-‬4, ‬6 and ‬10-‬13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on Isaiah and the Twelve Minor Prophets, probably written between 1393 and 1396 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with two schematic drawings of the sun dial that illustrates the miracle of the healing of Hezekiah, This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which A II 1-5 and 10-13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

Postil on the Gospel of Matthew and on the treatise on chess by Jacobus de Cessolis, written in 1392 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 13 single-column colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-6 and ‬11-13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on the Gospels of John, Luke and Mark as well as on Tobias and Baruch, written in 1392-1393 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 3 whole-page, partly colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-6, ‬10 and ‬12-13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on the Acts of the Apostles, on the Apocalypse, and on the canonical letters, written in 1405-1407 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf, decorated with 14 half-page, partly colored pen and ink drawings. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume, richly illustrated copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which ‬A II 1-6, ‬10-‬11 and 13 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

Postil on the Pauline epistles, written in 1413-1415 by the Freiburg priest Rüdiger Schopf. This manuscript is part of a multi-volume copy of the Bible commentary Postilla super totam Bibliam by Nicholas of Lyra, which the secular priest Rüdiger Schopf from Memmingen created for the Carthusian Monastery of Freiburg between 1392 and 1415. In 1430 the work, to which the richly illustrated volumes A II 1-6 and 10-12 belong as well, was sold to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript brings together anti-Hussite treatises by the theologians Stanislaus de Znoyma (-1414), Simon de Tišnova (1370-1432) and Petrus de Pulka (1370-1425). Although the last title of the first treatise gives 1431 as the date of the copy, the entire manuscript was written during the second quarter of the 15th century. The paper has watermarks. A hand contemporary with that of the main scribe added a table of contents at the beginning and a list of the Hussite theses along with their refutations at the end. This same hand concludes the manuscript with a poem that condemns the pillaging of soldiers. This manuscript was the property of the Dominican Convent of Basel. The old blind-tooled pigskin binding was originally chained and had a clasp. The back board has a parchment fragment; the front board once contained the fragment of a French poem. (mal)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Koran, written in Ramaḍān 639 h. [= March-April 1242] by Muḥammad Ibn al-Maʿāǧīnī. In addition to the canonical text, the manuscript also contains the variants of the seven readers of the Koran and their main transmitters. It was brought to Basel from Constantinople in 1437 by the Dominican John of Ragusa , one of the leading theologians for the Council of Basel. Since 1433 the manuscript was the property of the Dominican monastery of Basel as a bequest of John of Ragusa, and in 1559 it became the property of the university library. The Zurich theologist Theodor Bibliander made use of this manuscript in the preparation of his printing of the Latin translation of the Koran by Robert von Ketton (Basel 1543). (wur)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

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

German translation of the postil on the Psalms by Nicholas of Lyra (deceased 1349), probably created during his lifetime. The commentary on the Psalms, earlier attributed to Heinrich von Mügeln, is the work of an anonymous writer, not yet historically ascertained, the so-called “Österreichischer Bibelübersetzer“ (Austrian translator of the Bible). In his translation of the original, he abbreviates the text and supplies additions. This copy from the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel dates to the middle of the 15th century; the miniatures are part of the Vullenhoe group. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

These two individual leaves transmit both stanzas of the “Goldenes Ave Maria“: once as a song with glosses “Ave got grüß dich reine magt“ (A III 52a), a second time in an adaptation by the Carthusian Ludwig Moser of Basel (A III 52b). Both texts probably were written by him in the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript contains mainly Augustine’s Confessiones as well as his treatise De virtutibus et meritis. It was copied in 1471 by Henricus de Bocholdia, who, on the occasion of the Windesheim reform, had made his profession of faith among the canons regular of St. Leonhard in Basel. In a note on folio 162rb, added in 1473 but then crossed out several times and therefore difficult to read, Henricus relates the attempt to reform Interlaken Monastery (1473-1475), where he would have liked to have gone. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This manuscript, parts of which are dated, is from St. Leonhard Monastery of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine; it contains mostly patristic and liturgical texts. For a while, this volume, along with the corrections later added to the manuscript, served as a model in the printshop of Michael Furter of Basel, who in 1496 edited the Expositio super cantica canticorum, which has been preserved among the works of Gregory the Great, but today is attributed to Robertus Tumbalena. A specimen copy may have been returned to the monastery along with the manuscript, as there remains one printed copy with a note of ownership indicating such. (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This manuscript is part of the holdings of the Carthusian monastery of Basel, to which it came as a gift from a former dean of Rheinfeld, Antonius Rütschmann. It contains mainly Gregory the Great ’s Homiliae in evangelia and the first two books of the Libri miraculorum by Caesarius of Heisterbach, as well as sermons and excerpts by Johannes of Freiburg, Johannes of Mülberg, and Jordan of Quedlinburg. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This 14th and 15th century Ashkenazi copy of the Sefer Moreh Nevukhim (Guide to the Perplexed) by Moses Maimonides is the Hebrew translation of the work made in 1204 by Samuel ben Judah Ibn Tibbon (1150-1230). This copy also includes a preface from the commentary to the Moreh Nevukhim by Shem Tov ben Joseph ben Shem Tov, a 15th century Spanish rabbi and vigorous defender of Aristotelian and Maimonidean philosophy. In the 16th century, this manuscript was owned by Johann Buxtorf II, and used as the base for the latter’s Latin edition of the Doctor Perplexorum (Basel, 1629). (iss)

Online Since: 03/19/2020

This manuscript, in a strikingly narrow format, was created in Mainz and, as a gift from the Carthusians living there, it later came to the Carthusian monastery of Basel. It contains a large number of short and very short texts: in addition to some sermons, it mainly contains excerpts from theological, church historical and political treatises, including some in German. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This codex from the holdings of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains as a first part a treatise about the appropriate penance for various transgressions against commandments and sacraments. A second part consists of a collection of Latin hymns with an interlinear translation into German, as well as a loose translation into German as continuous text, in part also combined with a short interpretation. This is followed by texts about the mass and several Opuscula by Gregory of Nazianzus, a letter by Johannes Heynlin de Lapide about the qualities of a good priest, and a brief text by Heinrich Arnoldi about a sermon on Mary. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This manuscript was produced in the Southern Alemannic-speaking region around 1370; it contains the corpus of exempla of the “Alemannischen Vitaspatrum”, one of the most important collections of hagiographic texts in its original form. A treatise compiled of mystic texts is added at the end, into which is inserted the gloss "Von dem überschalle”. The origin of this manuscript is unknown. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This fascicle, consisting of only three pages, contains prayers and a text about the seven heavenly joys of Mary. (mue)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This undecorated paper volume from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains theological Disputationes or Quaestiones by Johannes Heynlin de Lapide. These discussions, which, according to a note on folio 1r, took place in Paris in the presence and at the instigation of Heynlin, were copied by different hands, including that of Heynlin himself. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

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 manuscript, created around 1460 and written by the Basel notary and city clerk Jodocus Seyler (1454-1501), contains the Pauline Epistles in canonical order, as well as the apocryphal Epistle to the Laodiceans. Only the Letter to the Romans is richly glossed; First Corinthians still has several interlinear glosses, then the commentary ends. Of the many initials that probably were originally present, only one figure initial remains. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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

This libellus of John the Evangelist from the Gnadental Convent of the Poor Clares was completed in 1493. The manuscript contains texts by and about John the Evangelist, among them exempla, sermons, sequences, lections, and the Revelation in German. A pictorial cycle with scenes from the legend of the Evangelist decorates the vita of John at the beginning of the manuscript. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

In addition to Greek and Latin Psalms, written somewhere in continental Europe by Irish monks during the Carolingian period, this famous Basel codex also contains a brief series of devotions in Latin for private use, appended by the monks. The exact place where the manuscript was written and its various subsequent travels are unknown, although, based on one note, whose interpretation is under debate, some relation to the Abbey of St. Gall and/or to that of Bobbio is frequently mentioned. In about 1628-1630 the manuscript was listed in the catalog of the Amerbach family, then around 1672-1676 in that of Johannes Zwinger. (and)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

Around 1510, Georg Carpentarius, Carthusian of Basel, translated the statutes of his order’s lay brothers from Latin into German. At the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, the text was considered an autograph by the translator. It was held in the library of the lay brothers. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

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 small, thick paper and parchment manuscript from the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel must have been intensely used, as suggested by soiling and signs of heavy usage. The original red leather binding is covered with another layer of leather that sticks out beyond the covers at the bottom and can be folded over the lower edge as protection. The manuscript contains prayers, hymns and other devotional texts by numerous different authors — primarily saints and popes — such as Mechthild of Magdeburg or Bernard of Clairvaux. Also represented are Carthusian authors such as Heinrich Arnoldi. Several colored woodcut and metalcut prints have been glued onto leaf 4v and 316v. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This paper manuscript, prepared specifically by the scribe Johannes Loy for the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, contains a collection of sermons for reading in the chapter. The sermons were written by three Carthusians: Hieronymus Brönick, Heinrich Arnoldi and Heinrich Eger von Kalkar. An introductory note on folio 1v explains that in order to avoid uniformity, which is the mother of tedium, four different sermons are assembled for every feast day so that the same sermon will be held once only every leap year. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

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 anthology contains theological treatises, including various texts by Jean Gerson (1363-1429). The volume was written by Alfred Löffler (1416-1462). This scribe, originally came from Rheinfelden, entered the Basel Dominican monastery in 1445; at several places in the manuscript, he requests prayers for him. He also mentions individual dates (1454, 1456) as well as places of writing. The latter are the Convents of Dominican nuns at Steinbach and at Himmelskron near Worms, where Löffler served as confessor during the years in question. When he returned to Basel, he probably also brought with him this volume, which found its way into the library of the Dominican monastery of Basel and, after the Reformation, became part of the university library. (stu)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This codex, with a binding partially in leather, contains mostly chapter sermons and collationes written by Heinrich Arnoldi; usually they begin with a quote from the Bible and are only a few pages long. The composite manuscript for in-house use was produced at the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, where it was written mostly by Martin Ströulin and in part by Heinrich Arnoldi himself. In addition to the handwritten part, it also contains two short prints. (mue)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

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

This composite manuscript in German is from the Convent of Dominican nuns of St. Maria Magdalena “an den Steinen” in Basel, which was reformed in 1423; most of the manuscript was probably written there as well. In addition to two sermons, a treatise and a miracle of Mary, the manuscript mainly contains legends: Elizabeth of Hungary, Jerome, Francis, Vincent, Ignatius, Julian and Basilissa, Paul of Thebes and Anthony. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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

This volume with Quaestiones by the Viennese theologian Iodocus Gartner (attested between 1424 and 1452) was owned by Albertus Loeffler (middle of the 15th century); it was part of the chained library of the Dominican Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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 manuscript from the beginning of the 13th century is of unknown origin; it contains monastic and canonistic writings, among them, for example, the monastery rule that Benedict of Nursia issued for his monastery at Monte Cassino in 529, Gregory the Great’s Regula pastoralis about the ideal of the (secular) pastor of souls from the late 6th century, or the abbreviated version of a part of the Decretum Gratiani from the 12th century. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript from the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian monastery in Basel consists of various parts that are bound together. It was meant as a devotional book for the lay brothers and contains various basic texts in German translation, among them a Rule of Saint Benedict, a life of Saint Benedict, as well as various prayers that address either the lay brothers of the Carthusians or the lay brothers of the Benedictines.  (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

These 14 leaves were removed from a composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel around the end of the 19th century. The 11 colored woodcuts with the respective handwritten text transmit a German Ars moriendi, a type of text on the art of dying well that was very popular during the late Middle Ages. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This small-format devotional book is from the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. It was written by ten different hands and contains, in addition to numerous prayers, the legend of Hugh of Lincoln, a treatise on the Passion, as well as a “Cisiojanus” (a poem for remembering religious feast days and holidays, named for the incipit of the Latin version). (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

These 21 leaves with Conrad of Gelnhausen’s Epistula concordiae originally were part of a composite manuscript of theological content from the Dominican monastery of Basel. The text was written in Paris in 1397 by Heinrich Jäger from Ulm. The content takes up a proposal elaborated at the suggestion of King Charles V of France for the resolution of the Great Schism of 1378; Conrad of Gelnhausen proposes the convocation of a general council. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript of university lecture notes on the Sentences of Peter Lombard was written by Heinrich von Weinfelden in Vienna in 1399/1400, during his studies at the university there. Together with its writer, this volume went to the Dominican Monastery of Basel, where it became part of the library. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

Hymn and sequence commentary written in Isny in 1443 by Ulrich Bentz of Winterthur, attested as a registered student in Erfurt in 1444/1445. The text is closely linked to a 14th century Basel manuscript; parallel versions can be found in various southern German manuscripts. Marks on the back cover identify the volume as a liber catenatus. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

15th century paper manuscript: During his university studies in theology, the Dominican Wernher von Selden near Aarau — and subsequently the prior of the Basel monastery — in 1487/88 transcribed the lectures of two Dominicans on Peter Lombard, including the Lectura super sententiarum libros by Hieronymus Raynerii. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

 A large part of this manuscript was written by the Dominican Heinrich von Rheinfelden (†1433 or later) of Basel during his student days in Vienna in the late 14th century. The codex contains diverse theological writings of early Viennese theologians (the University of Vienna was founded in 1365). Among them are highly regarded authors such as Henry of Langenstein (†1397), as well as authors such as the theologians and university rectors Stefan von Enczensdorf (†1405) or Johannes von Russbach (†1417), of whom no texts are known other than the ones in this manuscript. Heinrich von Rheinfelden himself must have brought the codex to the Dominican monastery in Basel, where it was signed into the library; as part of the holdings of that library, it became part of the University Library Basel after the Reformation. (stu)

Online Since: 06/13/2019

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

Lecture by Peter Siber about the first two Books of Sentences by Peter Lombard, whose systematic presentation of the whole of theology by means of carefully chosen quotations from Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church has often been commentated. The volume was copied in 1488 by the Dominican Wernher von Selden from Basel during his studies in Cologne. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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

The Psalterium feriatum was written in 1472 by the Carthusian monk Johannes Gipsmüller of Basel. Although there is no note of ownership, it certainly was meant to be used in his monastery. Throughout the Psalter there are hymns, antiphons, etc., many with musical notations. For quickly finding texts in the Liturgy of the Hours, red and white tabs protrude from the front ‬edge. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 03/19/2015

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 volume, originally from Ludwig Moser’s private book collection (cf. note of ownership 2r) came to the Basel University Library as part of the holdings of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. It contains various theological texts in German, beginning with a version of Wilhelm Textoris’ Migrale vel Ars moriendi (Sterbebuch, a book on the art of dying), which Moser himself translated into German. This is followed by Henry Suso’s "Büchlein von der Wahrheit”, Thomas Peuntner’s "Büchlein von der Liebe Gottes”, and several sermons by Johannes Tauler and Meister Eckhart. (mue)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

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 paper manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains ordinaries for priests (among them an address in German to the lay brothers), deacons and subdeacons, instructions for the office of the sacristan, as well as a number of shorter and longer pieces of liturgical music. Among the latter, otherwise all in Latin, there is a German version of the sequence Ave praeclara maris stella (135r-135v) written by Sebastian Brant. This manuscript was written by Thomas Kress, the last Carthusian in Basel (†1564), at the beginning of his monastic career (more precisely: in the third year of his period of profession, cf. 102v). (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

This composite manuscript, comprising originally separate parts from the holdings of St. Leonhard Monastery in Basel, contains, among others, texts by Hugh of Saint Victor and Thomas à Kempis. Among the volume’s shorter pieces are two German texts (“Fünf Mittel gegen die Ungeduld” and “Zwölf Zeichen der Minne”), as well as three small glossaries: one Hebrew-Latin, one Greek-Latin and one Latin-German. The intact thorn-clasp on the coeval binding is also noteworthy. (mue)

Online Since: 12/14/2018

Commentary on the Sentences by the Dominican theologian Robertus Holcot (ca. 1290-1349), who critically discusses the theological problems raised by Lombard. Robertus Holcot gave lectures on biblical theory at Oxford and was held in high esteem by his contemporaries. This volume, originally a catenatus from the Dominican monastery in Basel, was created between 1429 and 1431. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This manuscript, written mostly in German, consists of various parts, all of which probably date from the same time, the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century. This codex belonged to the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian monastery in Basel and may have been written, at least in part, in this same monastery. Among the texts in this devotional book are the exemplum of the pious [female] miller, the “Guten-Morgen-Exempel” often attributed to Meister Eckhart, a recounting of the history of the Carthusian order, as well as various sermons, prayers, sayings and exempla. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This German devotional book was written by a single hand; it is from the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian Monastery in Basel. In addition to the Office of the Virgin, which is at the beginning and takes up about half of the manuscript, this codex also preserves various prayers and other devotional texts. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This manuscript contains, among others, prayers by Johannes von Indersdorf for Duke William III of Bavaria, the seven Penitential Psalms, as well as texts on the passion and the deposition of Christ. The major part of the prayer book was written in the years 1534 and 1540, more prayers filled in blank sections until the 1560s. The exact provenance of the manuscript is unknown, but the written language as well as the textual tradition suggest the East Upper German-speaking area (the region of Bavaria/Austria). The prayer book receives its name from Elisabeth Blumin, deceased 23 May 1550, who is mentioned at the end, and who may have been the first owner of this manuscript. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format codex probably is from the Carthusian monastery of Mainz, from where it came to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, where numerous ownership notes were added. It contains a great variety of excerpts from religious, historical and other literature from the Middle Ages and antiquity. The length of the texts also varies considerably: in addition to short excerpts and two- or four-line verses about various things such as popes or bees, there are longer pieces such as Hugh of Fouilloy’s De rota verae et falsae religionis or the first half of Paradisus Animae by Pseudo-Albertus Magnus. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel, written by various 15th century hands, is decorated simply. The manuscript contains a miniature; on a torn out page, only remnants of a second miniature can be discerned. In two places, musical notes are added to the text. The texts collected in this volume consist almost exclusively of prayers, most of which are quite short, sometimes taking up no more than half a page of the already small-format manuscript. Some prayers are in prose, others are in verses. (fis)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

Composite manuscript from the Dominican Cloister Maria Himmelskron in Hochheim near Worms, containing works by Johannes Meyer; according to a note of ownership in his own hand, it was written in 1474. The Dominican Johannes Meyer of Basel acted as confessor in women’s convents of Strict Observance and put his extensive historiographic work in the service of the 14th century reform of the Dominican Order. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This chronicle, which came to the Basel University Library as part of the holdings of the Museum Faesch, contains two parts. The first part was written by Heinrich Arnoldi and deals with the foundation and development of the monastery until 1480; it is written in the form of a dialogue between the prior of the monastery and its patron saint, St. Margaret. This dialogue format, which Arnoldi employed in several of his writings, is unusual for historical content; it is abandoned in the second part. This second part, an autograph by Georg Carpentarius, continues the chronicle until 1526, that is, until shortly before the dissolution of the monastery in 1529. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

Famous for the two portraits of Gregory of Nazianzus and Elias of Crete, as well as for a unique cycle of illustrations in honor of Gregory (of which 5 have been lost), this codex is also noteworthy for its content (19 commentaries by Elias of Crete, still unpublished in Greek) and for the story of its creation. The commentaries were copied around the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century, a project that did not provide for miniatures on the frontispiece. These were added a short time later, together with a prologue. The codex still retains the binding that was created in Constantinople between 1435 and 1437 during a restoration for its new owner, the Dominican John of Ragusa, who brought the codex to Basel in 1437. (and)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

The Matriculation Register of the Basel Rectorate, recorded in manuscript form from 1460 to 2000, contains semester and annual information notices added by each successive rector as well as lists of enrolled students, thus providing an important resource for the history of the University of Basel. In addition, Vol. 1 contains records in illustrations and text of the opening of the university. The rich book decoration in the first three volumes is particularly notable. The work of 3 centuries, it is easily datable due to the chronogical order in which it was added and thus provides a welcome demonstration of the art of miniature painting in Basel. (mit)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

The Matriculation Register of the Basel Rectorate, recorded in manuscript form from 1460 to 2000, contains annual information notices added by each successive rector as well as lists of enrolled students. The rich book decoration in the first three volumes is particularly notable. The work of 3 centuries, it is easily datable due to the chronogical order in which it was added and thus provides a welcome demonstration of the art of miniature painting in Basel. (mit)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

The Matriculation Register of the Basel Rectorate, recorded in manuscript form from 1460 to 2000, contains annual information notices added by each successive rector as well as lists of enrolled students. The rich book decoration in the first three volumes is particularly notable. The work of 3 centuries, it is easily datable due to the chronogical order in which it was added and thus provides a welcome demonstration of the art of miniature painting in Basel. (mit)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

Those wishing to study at the University of Basel, founded in 1460, had to enroll in the rector’s registry, take an oath of loyalty and obedience, pay the tuition fee and — only with this did the matriculation become valid — had to enroll in their faculty’s register. In addition to the entries made by the deans, the theological register of 1462-1740 contains the old as well as the new faculty statutes. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

The first part of this volume contains registers of the deanships from 1461 to 1529 with the respective accounts of the faculty’s funds as well as the lists of docents; the second part of the volume almost exclusively contains entries regarding doctorates granted from 1533 to 1921. Among the writers are, among others, Sebastian Brant, Basilius Amerbach, Remigius Faesch and Niklaus Bernoulli. (flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This volume of registers from the faculty of arts contains, as its oldest and originally sepa-rate part, the statutes of the faculty. At the end of the 15th century, they were bound toge-ther with an academic calendar and with two registers containing the names of students and graduates (‘baccalaureates’) matriculated since 1461. Quires originally left blank for this purpose continue the list of degrees (‘magister’ and ‘baccalaureate’) awarded until 1848. (flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

List of foreign students registered between 1599 and 1837 at the theological faculty in Basel for basic (undergraduate) studies in artes liberales as a preliminary stage for graduate study in theology, law or medicine. The list ist divided by deans; from 1665-1800 it also gives the names of the “Corregens” of the Alumneum, the residence hall of scholarship holders. In addition, the volume contains regulations concerning admission to the faculty and the text of the oath upon matriculation. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

In 1532 the University of Basel was provided with the former Augustinian monastery as a second (“upper”) location in addition to the (“lower”) one, the college building near the Rheinsprung. This first volume of the upper college’s register for the years 1543-1672 lists, among other items, those who endured the Depositio rudimentorum, an archaic and rather cruel rite of initiation as condition for official matriculation. (flr/dil)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This first volume of the Liber alumnorum of the Basel college in the Augustinergasse lists the students in the residence hall from 1594-1658 and from 1667-1682. In addition to the lists of alumni, the volume also contains agreements and settlements with the bakers who supplied the college with bread. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This second volume of the Liber alumnorum of the Basel college in the Augustinergasse contains a list of the students in the residence hall from 1665-1686. In addition to the lists of names, there are also numerous notes regarding the cost of board and lodging or for heating. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This register of the “Alte Universität” (old university) founded in Basel in 1460 and located at the Rheinsprung, the “lower” college, contains numerous regulations (administrative, financial, legal and moral in nature) as well as a list of those who, in the years 1541-1626, endured the Depositio rudimentorum, an archaic and rather cruel rite of initiation as condition for official matriculation. (flr/dil)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

In addition to the new statutes of 1594 and various decrees, this volume lists the students from Basel as well as the foreign students of the lower college from 1599-1623 and from 1733-1789. During restoration, the original simple limp binding made of parchment manuscript waste was reused as endpapers. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

The statutes of the faculty of medicine go back to the period of the founding of the University of Basel (1460). They contain general regulations regarding discipline, attendance and punctuality; regulate baccalaureate and doctoral examinations; give directions regarding the duration of studies and the admission of foreign students; and reflect the strict hierarchy of the faculty. The model for these statutes probably was the 1398 statutes of the Viennese medical faculty. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016