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

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

Manuscripts AN II 36 and AN II 37 together constitute a complete Bible in German. This is a copy of the so-called “Mentelin Bible” [printed in Strasbourg by Johannes Mentelin, prior to 27 June 1466] and of the “Pflanzmannbibel.” In the 17th century, both manuscripts were owned by Peter Werenfels (1627-1703), professor of theology and pastor at St. Leonhard in Basel. (stu)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

Manuscripts AN II 36 and AN II 37 together constitute a complete Bible in German. This is a copy of the so-called “Mentelin Bible” [printed in Strasbourg by Johannes Mentelin, prior to 27 June 1466] and of the “Pflanzmannbibel.” In the 17th century, both manuscripts were owned by Peter Werenfels (1627-1703), professor of theology and pastor at St. Leonhard in Basel. (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

This manuscript contains two Middle French poems from Les Pèlerinages by Guillaume de Deguileville (1295-1360). This religious-allegorical work treats the literary topos Homo viator, man on a (spiritual) journey. The origin of the first owner, the rubricator and perhaps also the scribe of the manuscript, Petrus Guioti, suggests that the manuscript originated in the Loire region. The work was owned by the art collector and painter Peter Vischer-Passavant (1779-1851); in 1823 it became part of the Basel University Library. (flr)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

This magnificent book of hours probably was created in the third quarter of the 15th century in Northern Italy. The style of the painting and of the veneration of the saints suggests the region around Modena, Este, Ferrara. The historiated initials in the calendar show the twelve months; at the beginning of the offices there are ornamental pages with illustrations mostly from the life of Christ. The miniatures and initials are executed in opaque colors and in gold. In the 20th century, this manuscript came to the university library from the Kunstmuseum Basel. (stu)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

The Sefer Nizzaḥon Yashan is the name of an anonymous anthology of arguments against the Christological interpretation of biblical verses, supplemented by critique of the Gospels and Christian doctrines and morals. Composed in Franco-Germany circa 1300, most confutations are based on polemical themes and criticisms of Christian faith which were disseminated in Jewish circles in medieval Ashkenaz and northern France. There are few extant editions and manuscripts of this work, one of which is the Basel Nizzaḥon. This manuscript which bears some similarities with the other copies, should nevertheless be considered as an indirect, yet important witness to Jewish apologetic from medieval Franco-Germany. (iss)

Online Since: 03/19/2020

Around 1520, Georg Carpentarius, the librarian of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel at the time, compiled a shelf list  for the library. This catalog consists of two volumes, one each for the two library rooms of the Bibliotheca antiqua (AR I 2) and the Bibliotheca nova (AR I 3). The catalog for the Bibliotheca antiqua is preceded by the so-called “Informatorium bibliothecarii”, a guide for the librarian which instructs him in his tasks, among them the cataloguing and the care of the books as well as of the inventory. Bound into the front is a list of books that were donated to the Ittingen Charterhouse by the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in 1526. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Around 1520, Georg Carpentarius, the librarian of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel at the time, compiled a shelf list for the library. This catalog consists of two volumes, one each for the two library rooms of the Bibliotheca antiqua (AR I 2) and the Bibliotheca nova (AR I 3). The catalog for the Bibliotheca nova was designed for expansion and contains blank pages after each letter of the alphabet, where more shelfmarks could be added. (stu)

Online Since: 10/04/2018