4 leaves from a manuscript possibly produced in Fleury with grammatical content, including a Carolingian commentary on Donatus. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Two bifolia from a manuscript produced in Fleury; in addition to Phocas' grammar, the fragment contains excerpts from Priscian as well as a poem on Saint Benedict. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Six leaves from a medical manuscript that was produced in France. In addition to excerpts from the Dynamidia, the fragment contains medical recipes and blessings. It came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
9 leaves (probably 1 quire) of a manuscript produced in France. The fragment contains passages from the eighth book of Martianus Capella's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, as well as grammatical excerpts. It came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A ten-leaf fragment of French origin, coming from two different codicological units. Part A (the two outer bifolia) contains a text on the twelve gems as well as various medical treatises. Part B holds parts of the second book of Isaac Judaeus' Practica, in the Latin translation of Constantinus Africanus, as well as a few medical recipes. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three leaves from a manuscript produced in France. The leaves chiefly contain a text, probably excerpted from various sources, on the twelve gems as well as medical recipes. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolia from a manuscript produced in France that, on the basis of a beautiful majuscule explicit, may have contained Jerome's commentary on Matthew. There follows a short orthography, an excerpt from Augustine, as well as the text by Eugenius Toletanus on the ten Egyptian plagues. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolium from a manuscript produced in France. The fragment contains the accessus to Cicero's De amicitia as well as the beginning of a glossed version of Horace's Ars poetica. It came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Single leaf of a manuscript probably produced in France containing Persius' Saturae. The fragment, with its numerous interlinear and marginal glosses, came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Two bifolia from a manuscript produced in France. The fragment contains, in addition to Walter Map's Praedicatio Goliae and the beginning of Hugh of Saint Victor's De quinque septenis, one or two homilies that have not yet been identified. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A heavily damaged leaf from a manuscript produced in France, containing a list of French kings as well as Archbishops of Tours. The additions to the list extend into the second quarter of the 13th century. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Single leaf of Paolo Emili's De rebus gestis Francorum. The fragment, written in a beautiful humanistic minuscule and later used as a book cover, came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
4 bifolia (probably 1 quire) from a manuscript produced in Fleury. The content of the texts, which are partly designed as a student-teacher dialogue, ranges from orthography and grammer to the Artes liberales and the ages of the world to a glossary of the parts of the body. The fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A heavily degraded bifolium from a manuscript produced in France containing Augustine's Principia dialecticae. Ownership marks indicate that, in the fifteenth century, the fragment belonged to Isabel d'Esch, a member of one of the most prominent families of Metz. It came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
This composite manuscript consists of three parts and was probably written in Picardy. The manuscript contains a rare legend of St. John, the Prophecies of Merlin, and the Tale of the Seven Sages of Rome; it was probably written for private use. Once owned by Isabel d'Esch, a member of one of the most important families of Metz, as can be determined from notes of ownership, the volume came to Bern in 1632 from the holdings of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This textual witness of the Rhetorica ad Herennium, erroneously attributed to Cicero, was produced in the Loire area. The manuscript gained great attention in the 19th century already because it contains a short library catalog from the 11th/12th century, which probably refers to books from the Abbey of Saint-Mesmin de Micy. The claim that the manuscript originated in Fleury, proposed by many earlier authors, is uncertain and has been rejected several times in recent times. This volume came to Bern in 1632 from the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
One of the oldest and most important manuscripts of the Alexander story by Curtius Rufus; it probably was copied on the initiative of Lupus of Ferrières at the local abbey. A quire bound in the front contains a collection of excerpts from the Pseudo-Isidorian papal letters (= false decretals) which has been preserved only here. This collection is larger than the related partial collection by Hinkmar of Laon and most probably stems from the common 'legal invention', which was thought to have been lost. The final pages of the manuscript contain a geographical index of the late Roman administration and notes on the city of Rome. This volume came into the possession of Pierre Daniel, who annotated it extensively; in 1632 the manuscript came to Bern as part of Jacques Bongars' collection.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The Arba'ah Turim is a work of legal nature and is divided into four books, the first of which is found in MS Cod. 253 is the Tur Oraḥ Ḥayim or ‘Path of Life' and encloses laws on daily Jewish practices of blessings (i.e. washing hands in the morning, tefilin, tsitsit), prayer and laws on the Sabbath, festivals and Torah readings. This section also includes aspects of the Hebrew calendar relative to the annual liturgy.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Single leaf from a Carolingian Bible, later used as book binding material. Place of origin unknown (possibly from southern Germany); also unknown are its provenance and the circumstances of how the fragment came to be in the Bern library.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Two fragments of leaves from a Thebaid manuscript by Statius, probably from Central Switzerland. Later used as binding manuscript waste for the print Hunger, Conrad: Unser liebe Frauw zue Einsidlen, Lucerne 1654, and owned by a Ueli Fässler around 1665. Acquired in 1920 by the student Ernst Burkhard at the Brockenhaus in Bern and donated to the City Library of Bern.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf from a manuscript of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Hiob, perhaps written in Northern Italy, later used as book binding material. Provenance and acquisition of the manuscript are unknown.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Bifolium from a manuscript of Ambrose's Hexameron from the Upper Rhine area/Switzerland, later used as a book binding material. Provenance and acquisition of the fragment are unknown.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf of a large-format manuscript of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Hiob, possibly made in Germany. Provenance and acquisition of the fragment are unknown
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf of a manuscript of Gregory the Great's Homiliae in Ezechielem, probably written in Alsace (Murbach?). Of unknown provenance, the fragment reached the City Library of Bern before 1674, and here it was removed from the host volume (MUE Klein p 92), probably in the 1930s.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf of a manuscript that was probably written in France, containing letters by Pelagius. Origin unknown. As part of the collection of Leonhard Hospinian (MUE Hospinian 208), the fragment came to the City Library of Bern, where it was removed from the host volume in 1935.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Two fragments of a single leaf from a manuscript of Flavius Josephus' Antiquitates Iudaicae. Place of origin and provenance of the fragments are unknown.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf from a Bible that was perhaps produced in Eastern France; later it was used as binding for a 1561 printed volume from Strasbourg. Before 1674, the fragment came from unknown provenance to the City Library of Bern, where it was removed from the host volume (MUE Klein f 217) in October 1934.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf from a manuscript of unknown provenance containing Gregory the Great's Moralia in Hiob. The fragment arrived in Bern in 1632 as part of a printed volume (MUE Bong IV 251) that had been the property of Jacques Bongars; it was probably removed from the host volume in the 1930s.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Fragments (1 bifolium, 1 single leaf) from a manuscript of Clement of Rome's Recognitiones, possibly from Germany; around 1495 Johannes Vatter, bookbinder for the Dominican monastery of Bern, used them as pastedowns for volumes printed in Basel. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1528, the host volume (MUE Inc. I.88) found its way into the Bernese library under unknown circumstances. In February 1935 the fragments were removed by librarian Hans Bloesch.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Two leaves that originally belonged together, from a copy of a document dated 8 March 1439; in 1935 they were removed during the restoration of Cod. 207 at the Burgerbibliothek Bern. In the text on f. 1r, Charles, Duke of Orléans and of Valois (1394-1465), and Jean the Bastard of Orléans (= Jean de Dunois, 1402-1468) are mentioned.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Bifolium from a manuscript probably made in Germany, containing Gregory the Great's Homiliae in Ezechielem. The fragment was purchased by the City Library of Bern in 1937 as part of the von Mülinen family's collection, although it is not recorded in Gottfried v. Mülinen's catalogue, which was compiled in 1837.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Fragment from a choir book with neumes (Proprium Sanctorum) for Benedictines in the Diocese of Constance, with a large initial H for the Matins of Candlemas (f. 1vb). This leaf is from a manuscript that was perhaps produced in Engelberg for the monastery of Augustinian Canons Regular at Interlaken; since the 16th century it served as the cover of a book of accounts in Meiringen. In 1940 it was acquired by the City Library of Bern through an exchange with the State Archives of Bern.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Single leaf with a splendid initial from a richly illustrated manuscript of Flavius Josephus' Antiquitates Iudaicae from the monastery of Engelberg; around 1600 it was sold by Abbot Andreas Hersch or Abbot Melchior Kitz to the Zurich bookseller and bookbinder Johann Felix Haller (active 1603-1637) and was then used by him as manuscript waste for a historical work by Hans Felix Grob the Younger (1572-1653). It is unclear when this volume reached the City Library of Bern and when it was assigned the shelf mark Mss.h.h.XXIa.25; the binding manuscript waste was removed by Johann Lindt in 1941.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
This fragment, consisting of 1 leaf, contains an excerpt from a missal with neumes, which probably originated in the Strasbourg area based on its contents, the celebration of St. Arbogast. Around 1650 it was re-used, presumably in Bern, as dust cover for a school notebook of Niclaus Frisching (BBB Mss.h.h. XXIV.183), from which it was removed in 1944.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Bifolium from a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by Hrabanus Maurus, from the Loire region and written largely in Tironian notes. The provenance initially suggests that it may be part of the Bongarsiana, but apparently the City Library of Bern purchased the fragment only in 1937 with the collection of the von Mülinen family; the fragment was discovered in December 1954 in a collection of papers that were part of the family library.
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Bifolium from a manuscript of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Hiob, probably written in France; in the 16th century it was used as binding for orders and statutes of the County of Lenzburg. Initially the property of the von Hallwyl family, it was later acquired by Wolfgang Friedrich von Mülinen (1863-1917) and then presumably purchased by the City Library of Bern in 1937 along with the Mülinen Collection. In 1954 it was removed from the host volume (BBB Mss.Mül.377).
Online Since: 07/02/2020
Bifolium and 3 fragments of another bifolium of a manuscript of Augustine's De genesi ad litteram, written in uncial script and possibly produced in Luxeuil; other parts were identified in Paris, BN lat. 9377. The manuscript came to Bern in 1632 from the holdings of Jacques Bongars. At the time of Hermann Hagen (around 1870), the fragments, originally bound as f. 1-2 and 227-229 in Cod. 224 (composite manuscript containing texts by Isidore), were removed and preserved separately; they were given a new binding by Johann Lindt in 1944.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Two bifolia from Gregory the Great's Regula pastoralis, possibly originating from central Switzerland. Donated to the City Library of Bern in 1914 by the historian and librarian Carl Josef Benziger (1877-1951) from Einsiedeln.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Extraordinary compilation of various texts by Isidore on secular (Etymologiae, De natura rerum) and ecclesiastic topics (Prooemia biblica, De ortu et obitu patrum; Allegoriae), as well as pieces on the Latin language (Differentia, Synonyma, Glossaria). This composite manuscript contains three full-page family trees as well as astronomical and geometric figures. Originally written in the scriptorium of Bishop Theodulf of Orléans, probably in Saint-Mesmin-de-Micy, this volume was soon held in Strasbourg, as attested by various Formulae iuris as well as a glossary of herbs and an incantation. From the holdings of Jacques Bongars, the volume came to Bern in 1632; here the original early 8th century flyleaves (Bern Burgerbibliothek, Cod. A 91.8) were removed around 1870.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This compilation of various legal texts, also known as Breviarium Alarici, probably is from the Upper Rhine area; it is preceded by two excerpts from Isidore's Etymologiae, which also pertain to laws, and by two full-page family trees. At the end there is a Latin-Hebrew-Greek glossary. This is an exceptionally colorful manuscript that gives the impression of being antique; it has a splendid title page, and it served as model for Johannes Sichard's edition of the Breviarium Alarici (which he considered to be the Codex Theodosianus), published by Heinrich Petri in Basel in 1528. The volume came to Bern in 1632 from the holdings of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
A "small medicine book for poor people", probably written in the region of Venice/Northern Adriatic Sea; the work, written in Arabic in Hebrewscript, was completed on May 19, 1413, according to the date note. The manuscript was later probably part of a Jewish library that cannot be located more precisely; it was transferred to the Bernese Library at the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th century, where it was evaluated by the Bernese theology professor Gottlieb Studer (1801-1889).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible from the Dominican Monastery of Bern, which were used around 1495 by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter as pastedowns for various incunables that are currently held in Bern and Solothurn. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volume (MUE Inc I 85) became the property of Eberhard Rümlang (ca. 1500–1551) and Wolfgang Musculus (= Müslin, 1497–1563), who donated the volume to the Bern library in 1556. Around 1945, the fragments were removed from the host volumes by Johannes Lindt. Reunification of the fragments : [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 5 (Biblia latina).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible from the Dominican Monastery of Bern, which were used around 1495 by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter as pastedowns for various incunables that are currently held in Bern and Solothurn. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volumes (MUE Inc. III.15, Vol. 3–4; the strip of Cod. 756.70e is from MUE Inc. I.6), perhaps as part of a bequest of books by the Venner [standard bearer] Jürg Schöni in 1534, became part of the Bern library. Around 1945, the fragments were removed from the host volumes by Johannes Lindt. Reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 5 (Biblia latina).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible from the Dominican Monastery of Bern, which were used around 1495 by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter as pastedowns for various incunables that are currently held in Bern and Solothurn. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volume (MUE Inc. III.15, Vol. 1) perhaps as part of a bequest of books by the Venner [standard bearer] Jürg Schöni in 1534, became part of the Bern library. Around 1945, the fragments were removed from the host volumes by Johannes Lindt. Reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 5 (Biblia latina).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible from the Dominican Monastery of Bern, which were used around 1495 by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter as pastedowns for various incunables that are currently held in Bern and Solothurn. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volume (MUE Inc. I.20) perhaps as part of a bequest of books by the Venner [standard bearer] Jürg Schöni in 1534, became part of the Bern library. Reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 5 (Biblia latina).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This medieval Hebrew lexicographical and scientific miscellany dates back to 1290 and encloses three highly important texts, used as the base for published editions and studies. These are: the Maḥberet Menahem by Menahem ben Jacob Ibn Saruq (died c. 970); an anonymous Hebrew prose translation of the very popular Old French version of the lapidary by Marbode of Rennes (12th c.) and lastly, an anonymous abridged version of the talmudic and midrashic lexicon entitled Sefer ha-Arukh by Natan ben Yehiel Anav of Rome (1035-1110), called the Berner Kleiner Arukh. The particularity of this copy is the presence of Old West Yiddish and Old French glosses. Furthermore, among the numerous later notes, there are more significant additions which abound in the blank pages and margins of the manuscript, the most unusual of which is a charm in Middle High German in Hebrew characters, relative to Hulda, a German goddess comparable to Venus, taken from the Tannhäuserlied. Moreover, this manuscript belonged to several famous Jewish and Christians owners, whose scriptural witness testifies to the manuscript's remarkable stature as a treasured source of knowledge from the time it was compiled at the end of the 13th century, to its possession by Christian Hebraists in Switzerland during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Composite manuscript consisting of four very different parts that probably came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars; parts B and C are from the Collège de Navarre in Paris. All parts are at least partly illuminated. All fragments have related parts in other libraries: for part A, Paris BN lat. 7709, f. 1–4; for B, Paris BN lat. 17566, f. 1–40; for C, Paris BN lat. 17902, f. 1–85; and for D, Leiden UB, Voss. Q 2 IX (f. 60).
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Composite manuscript consisting of two different parts that probably came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars. Part A comes from an extensive collection of lives of the saints for the liturgy of Fleury, various of which have been preserved in the Vatican Library: Reg. lat. 274, f. 95–102; Reg. lat. 318, f. 1–79, 80–146, 147–258; Reg. lat. 585, f. 13–27; Reg. lat. 711.II, f. 11–18; 67–76. Part B contains fragments from Isidore's grammatical writings and probably was written in Eastern France.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The only textual witness for certain letters by Salvianus of Marseille, the complement of which is preserved in Paris BN lat. 2174, f. 113–115. This non-illuminated fragment probably came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Fragment of the Boethius' On Arithmetic, containing numerous schematic drawings; it probably came to Bern in 1632 as part of the property of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Two bifolia from an Isidore manuscript that was probably produced in the Loire region. The fragment contains, among others, a carefully sketched wind rose as well as astronomical texts at the end that, in the context of the Aratea, are known as the “Scholia Bernensia”. It probably came to Bern in 1632 as part of the collection of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Fragment of a manuscript in uncial script containing medical texts; it was probably written in Spain and came to the library of Chartres Cathedral perhaps via Italy. The remaining parts are preserved in Paris BN lat. 10233. Based on an entry by the Bernese librarian Samuel Hortin, the fragment in all likelihood came to Bern in 1632 as part of the Bongarsiana collection.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This quire of 8 leaves probably originated in the circle of John Scotus (in the area of Reims-Laon-Soissons). It contains a fragment of Augustine's Retractationes and, after that, some previously unknown exegetical texts on the Gospels. A leaf (f. 5) that is several decades older was inserted into the quire, possibly from the model used for this text; it contains another unknown text on the virtues and vices. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This fragment consists of 8 leaves from a large-format manuscript that has long been associated with Theodulf of Orléans. It is actually a quire from Theodulf's composite manuscript of biblical exegesis, which had until now been thought lost; its remaining parts are contained in MS Paris, BN lat. 15679. The quire, now bound, contains the end of the commentary on the Psalms as well as the beginning of the commentary on the Proverbia Salomonis. Thanks to a partially erased note of ownership, it can be demonstrated that this fragment once was the property of the Abbey of Saint-Mesmin, Micy; in 1632 it came to Bern as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The Sefer ha-Yashar is one of two Bible commentaries by the great R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089/92-1164/67). Written in Lucca, Italy ca. 1142-45, this work attained great recognition and popularity during the Middle Ages and has been preserved in numerous manuscripts and printed books. This 15th century Italian copy is of particular interest since it belonged, at some point during the 16th century, to Theodore de Bèze (1519-1605), the famous Genevan Calvinist theologian and Professor, who then gave it to one of his disciples and colleagues, Antoine Chevalier (1507-1572), the first Professor of Hebrew language at the Académie de Genève.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This codex consists of two parts that were united in the 9th century already. The first part, written in Mainz (ff. 1-110), contains the second book of Cassiodorus' Institutiones, which is devoted to secular knowledge; since the 9th century, it has been preserved in several manuscripts in an interpolated version that contains Cassiodorus' remarks on grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy, supplemented with excerpts from Quintilian, Boethius, Augustine and others. The second part, written in Mainz or in Saint-Amand (ff. 111–126), contains the picture poems of Optatianus Porphyrius as well as some from the beginning of the reign of Charlemagne. A note in Jacques Bongars' own hand indicates that the manuscript - like many others - came into his possession from the chapter library of Strasbourg Cathedral.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This manuscript was created in Fleury; the first page is magnificently decorated with two large interlace initials, which represent a special type of insular decorative art. In addition to smaller pieces, this composite manuscript contains the epic poem De bello civili (Parsalia) by Lucan (middle of the 1st century) as well as a version of the Orestes myth by the African poet Dracontius (5th century). For the latter, this codex constitutes by far the oldest textual witness. The beginning of Lucan's text by is provided with an abundance of scholia; because of Cod. 370, which contains only scholia, they are known as the Commenta Bernensia.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This manuscript, which was probably produced in Reims, consists of two parts that contain only the scholia on Lucan, but not the actual text. The first part (up to f. 125v) contains the scholia known as the Commenta Bernensia, which are preserved only in this codex. The text is interspersed with 21 simple schemata in color, geographic representations as well as plans of cities and of battles. The second, unfortunately incomplete part contains a collection of non-illustrated glosses (Adnotationes) for books 1 to 4 as well as 9 and 10 (beginning). As becomes clear from the content, the original plan of merging the Commenta and the Adnotationes into a single text was apparently abandoned in the middle of the first book of the Commenta, and the Adnotationes were copied separately in the last third of the manuscript (from f. 125v).
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This late 13th or early 14th century fragment of a French Trouvère manuscript probably was once part of the same codex as Paris, BN français 765. It contains 20 chansons, among them 14 by Thibaut de Champagne; all chansons are attested in a parallel version. 14 songs include square notation.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Remnants of a manuscript of the Summarium Heinrici as well as of the glossary of plants appended thereto, with interlinear glosses in German. Prior to 1875, Hermann Hagen detached them from three book bindings from the Stadtbibliothek of Bern. Other parts are located in the Zentralbibliothek of Zurich and the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek of Bonn.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Folium from a manuscript of the Collectanea rerum memorabilium by Gaius Julius Solinus; it contains parts of the Descriptio Indiae. Prior to 1875, Hermann Hagen detached it from a host volume from the Stadtbibliothek of Bern.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Bifolium from a manuscript of the Viaticus by Constantinus Africanus, from a handbook for traveling doctors, translated from Arabic. Prior to 1875, Hermann Hagen detached it from a host volume from the Stadtbibliothek of Bern.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
A love letter in Middle High German, which came to the Burgerbibliothek Bern from the estate of Dr. Friedrich Emil Welti.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a manuscript of the Institutiones grammaticae by Priscian, probably from the South of Germany; 10 more leaves from this manuscript can be found in Paris BN lat. 10403. f. 6–15. These four single leaves, inserted into a printed version owned by Jacques Bongars, came to Bern in 1632, where they were detached from their host volume in the 20th century.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Remnants of a manuscript of the Arabel by Ulrich von dem Türlin, which constitutes the backstory to the Willehalm by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Purchased by the Burgerbibliothek in 1937 from Hans Peter Kraus, antiquarian book dealer in Vienna.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This Österreichische Chronik der 95 Herrschaften was copied around 1479 by Clemens Specker in Königsfelden Monastery. It is followed by a song about the War of Aargau, texts about King Frederick III, Konrad Pfettisheim's story of Peter von Hagenbach, a song about Charles the Bold, the Swiss Annals by Clemens Specker, as well as pasted woodcuts of the Nine Worthies. It is richly decorated with miniatures and coats of arms. A copy of Cod. A 45 from 1597 can be found in BBB Mss.h.h.VI.74. After the dissolution of the monastery, the codex passed into private hands in Bern in 1528, and in the 17th/18th century, it became part of the Stadtbibliothek of Bern.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a 14th century French Trouvère manuscript. It contains 18 jeux-partis (17 with the participation of Jehan Bretel) and a fragment of the Prise amoureuse by Jean Acart de Hesdin; all chansons except for one are attested in the parallel version. The songs have been transmitted without notation.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a contemporaneous French translation of the Chirurgia parva by Lanfranc of Milan. This small-format booklet is incomplete; it presents the oldest remaining witness of the work; the other four surviving manuscripts all date from the 15th century. Based on a text comparison with the Latin version, one must probably assume the loss of a quire at the front as well as at the back.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
The Latin part of this fragment (f. 1r–3r) contains a collection of excerpts from various authors regarding sins and penance, morals, etc. The French part (f. 3v–4v) contains one or two poem(s) in verse, which seem to have survived only in this fragment.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a small-format manuscript with sermons by Maurice de Sully. It contains sermons 27–36, however, the quires are arranged incorrectly: the text of quire 2 (f. 9–13) is followed by the text of quire 1 (f. 1–8).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment of a panegyric on Queen Blanche of Navarre (1331–1398), consisting of almost 400 verses. The author Robin Comtet - who mentions himself toward the end of the piece - is not otherwise known. The poem seems to have been preserved only in this copy and has not yet been published.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment with an excerpt from the Continuation des Chroniques abrégées by Baldwin of Avesnes (for the years 1369–1370); the text for the events of the years 1342-1383 was adopted without changes for the Chroniques de Flandres. The additions twice contain the name of Robert Migaillot, canon at Laon, who gave this manuscript as a gift to his cousin in 1515.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Copy of a letter by Etienne du cimetière, prévôt d'Orléans, regarding Jean de Saint-Mesmin's confession to the maison de la chèvrerie, dated March 1331 (or 1337).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Fragment (2 bifolia) of a French manuscript of Lancelot in prose. Based on the note of sale, perhaps related to the library of Jean Buridan, philosopher and professor at the University of Paris?
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This fragment from Königsfelden Monastery consists of only 12 leaves (= 1 quire) and contains a complete calendar (necrology) with records of the days of death of the members of the donor family from the House of Habsburg, as well as that of the confessor of Queen Agnes of Hungary (Lamprecht of Austria), up until 1330. After the dissolution of the monastery, it passed into private hands in Bern in 1528, and in the 19th century, it was donated to the Stadtbibliothek of Bern.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
Remnants of a manuscript of the Willehalm by Wolfram von Eschenbach. In August 1928, Hans Bloesch detached it from codex Mss.h.h.XIV.144.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This composite manuscript contains various texts in chronicle form, some of them rare, regarding worldly and ecclesiastical rulers. It is a heavily edited and corrected manuscript from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Mesmin de Micy, which contains characteristic writings in various black and brown inks and which is richly decorated with many calligraphic initials in different styles. Based on various supplements, the time of its writing can be dated quite exactly to the middle of the 11th century.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
The so-called Liber ad honorem Augusti by Peter of Eboli is one of the most famous and most requested manuscripts in the Burgerbibliothek Bern. The manuscript is exceptionally richly illustrated; it is from a workshop in the circle of the imperial court in southern Italy. Neither the scribe nor the illustrator is known, but, the text was doubtlessly corrected by the author himself. The text, an epic poem in Latin in about 1700 distichs that has survived only in this manuscript, is divided into three books. The first two books describe the prehistory of Sicily and its conquest by the Staufers; the third book contains a poem in praise of the parents — Emperor Henry VI and his wife Constance, daughter and heir of King Roger II of Sicily — of the famous Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II, who was born on 26 December 1194 in Jesi near Ancona.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
These three documents are from the previous binding of Cod. 120 (now 120-1 and 120-2), from which they were removed during restoration. They are two documents from the imperial court of the tribunal of the Counts of Sulz in Rottweil (no. 1 and 3) and a fragment of a bill of sale issued in Strasbourg.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
Late 13th century songbook from Lorraine (Metz?); the manuscript has empty staves throughout. It contains 524 trouvère songs by anonymous as well as by named authors and includes various genres, religious texts and many songs that are transmitted only in this source.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
The so-called "Berner Parzival" is the last dated manuscript of Wolfram von Eschenbach's epic poem about the Holy Grail, created between 1200 and 1210; moreover, this textual witness is adorned with illustrations. Presumably the Bernese merchant Jörg Friburger commissioned the manuscript in 1467 from the scribe Johann Stemhein of Konstanz, who edited and stylistically modernized the text of his model to match the tastes of a late medieval urban public. In addition, he gave directions for illustrations, which were later executed by a painter who created 28 colored pen and ink drawings. The further history of this manuscript,which today consists of 180 leaves, is unknown; it must, however, have reached the Bernese municipal library in the early years of the 19th century, where it is attested at least since 1816.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
Cod. 207, presumably created in Fleury (St. Benoît-sur-Loire), is one of the few and by far the richest representative of a style that evolved in Fleury towards the end of the 8th century; with its extremely rich and high-quality artistic decoration, consisting of three ornamental pages and almost 140 initials, it is an outstanding example of the creative evolution that the insular language of forms underwent in the important cultural centers of the continent. The manuscript, consisting of 197 leaves in Bern as well as 24 leaves in Paris (BNF, lat. 7520), is the oldest grammar manuscript from Fleury; it contains an early medieval corpus of Roman grammarians from antiquity and from the early medieval period: Bede, Donatus, Maximus Victorinus, Julianus Toletanus, Servius Honoratus, Asper minor, Sergius, Petrus Pisanus, Isidore, as well as numerous other anonymous treatises and excerpts.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
Composite manuscript consisting of three parts, bringing together French translations of classic reports of voyages to the Far East. The manuscript, especially its first and third parts, is richly adorned with gold decoration and delicate scroll ornamentation in the margins, yet it contains no illustrations. Hand-painted coats of arms make it possible to identify the family de Pons de Saint-Maurice from the Périgord as a previous owner; later the codex was purchased by Jacques Bongars, who, towards the end of his life, was preparing a volume of source materials about travels to Asia.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
One of the earliest and most famous manuscripts of Valerius Maximus; its importance lies in the autograph reworkings by Lupus of Ferrières. Lupus himself wrote the Exempla and the comment on the sometime "flyleaves" (f. II-III), repeatedly collated the main text, added supplements from the parallel transmission of Iulius Paris (an abbreviator of Valerius Maximus) and also its accompanying text (Gaius Titius Probus: De praenominibus; f. 158va-159r). In making the fresh description a hitherto unnoticed letter- or charter-like text was discovered on the last page (f. 159v).
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The two fragments come from the previous binding of Cod. 125, from which they were removed during restoration; presumably they contain parts of a plenarium with musical notation.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This manuscript, which was probably produced in Fleury, consists of two independent parts. The first part (f. 1-47) comprises three commentaries on the Old and the New Testament; the second part (f. 48-192) consists of a total of 14 glossaries containing a total of about 25,000 lemmas. A particularity of this manuscript is that it shows different stages in the development of glossaries side by side. The first part represents an earlier stage with definitions of words in the order of the source text, also containing glosses in Old English and Old High German. In the second part the glossaries are already more developed with entries on individual authors or certain topics, ordered alphabetically by keywords.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
A very interesting, completely edited and corrected manuscript of the three books of the Sententiae by Isidore of Seville. Compared to the main tradition, the form of the text is substantially different and contains numerous transpositions and additions. The manuscript was written at the Abbey of Saint-Mesmin, Micy, as evidenced by ownership labels (ex libris) written along the text area of each quire. In the middle there is a subsequently inserted binion (11th century), which contains, among others, parts of the Sermones by Fulbert of Chartres.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This manuscript is probably from Murbach Abbey; it is an example of the transmission of texts by the medium of the medieval scroll. The Rotulus von Mülinen contains more than 460 recipes, incantations and blessings in Latin, with selective interlinear glosses in Old High German. In addition there is an isolated recipe purely in Old High German Contra paralysin theutonice. The verso side contains an extensive glossary with over 1500 lemmas from the field of medicine, partly provided with Latin and Old High German explanations.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
These two fragments are from the binding of Cod. 611, from which they were removed during restoration; they are two halves of a French notarial document relating to Pierre Daniel.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This Merovingian composite manuscript, which was created in Bourges, originally consisted of six independent parts, which were written by different, often not very practiced hands in various phases. Most of the close to thirty individual pieces are texts from grammatical, patristic, computistic and medical works. The longer pieces are interspersed with further excerpts, partly written in Tironian notes. One quaternio from the only partially preserved third part is today held in Paris (BN lat. 10756). Noteworthy is the palimpsest in the fifth part, whose undertexts were probably written in Italy in the 7th century and in the second half of the 5th century respectively.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This magnificent complete edition of the works of Virgil (Bucolics, Georgics, Aeneid) was given to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Martin in Tours by the Levite Berno (note and book curse on f. 1v). Virgil's text is interspersed with numerous commentaries (scholia) from late antiquity by Servius and Donatus, which have been transmitted in this form almost exclusively in manuscripts from the Bongarsiana collection. However, Cod. 165 does not present the true Scholia Bernensia as in Cod. 167 und Cod. 172, but rather a collection by various scholiasts which was compiled in Tours — hence the name Scholia Turonensia.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This complete edition of the works of Virgil (Bucolics, Georgics, Aeneid) is connected to Auxerre. In the beginning the manuscript contains numerous paratexts to Virgil, such as the vitae, Argumenta, etc.; beginning on f. 6v, the inner column is reserved for the text, the outer one for the scholia. Virgil's text is interspersed with numerous commentaries (scholia) from late antiquity by Servius and Donatus, which in this form have been transmitted almost exclusively in manuscripts from the Bongarsiana collection. Cod. 167 presents the true Scholia Bernensia, but only the left column, not the right column of Cod. 172; whether it was copied from the latter remains in dispute.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This complete edition of the works of Virgil is from Fleury. This manuscript contains only the Bucolics, the Georgics and the first five books of the Aeneid; the second part with books VI to XII is now in Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale, lat. 7929). In the beginning the manuscript contains the so-called Vita Donatiana and various slightly later texts. It is made with great calligraphic care so that the central column is always bordered on the right and on the left by a column of scholia. Cod. 172 is the principal textual witness of the scholia (commentaries) by Servius and Donatus, which have been transmitted in this form almost exclusively in manuscripts from the Bongarsiana collection.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This fragment was removed from Cod. 172 during the restoration of the previous binding; presumably it originated in the legal office of Pierre Daniels in Orléans, as attested by the fact that his name is on the document.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This composite manuscript contains a total of 21 texts of Old French literature; in part these are unique records that survive only in this manuscript. The major part consists of romances from the great saga cycles such as the Garin le Loherain, Perceval, etc., which often comprise several thousand verses; the manuscript also contains several prose chronicles such as Ernoul's history of the crusades and other smaller pieces of varied content. The manuscript is richly illustrated with several hundred large initials; it probably originated in Picardy.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This manuscript is famous primarily for its rich collection of Old French Fabliaux, a considerable number of which survive only in this manuscript; it also is considered among the most important textual witnesses for the fragment of the Sept sages de Rome and for Perceval. Because of its great importance to French poetry, it was lent to Paris at the beginning of the 19th century, was temporarily lost, and had to be re-bought by the municipal library of Bern at great expense in 1836.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This manuscript is part of a substantial Carolingian composite manuscript, the surviving parts of which today are held in the Burgerbibliothek Bern (Cod. 330, 347, 357), the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris (Ms. Lat. 7665), and in the Universitätsbibliothek Leiden (Voss. Lat. Q 30). Cod. 330 contains the last part of the volume with works on orthography by Cassiodorus, Alcuin-Bede, Caper, Terentius Scaurus, Agroetius, as well as several other texts.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript is part of a substantial Carolingian composite manuscript, the surviving parts of which today are held in the Burgerbibliothek Bern (Cod. 330, 347, 357), the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris (Ms. Lat. 7665), and in the Universitätsbibliothek Leiden (Voss. Lat. Q 30). Cod. 347 contains the first part of the volume with astronomical excerpts and diagrams from Macrobius and Pliny, as well as the beginning of Nonius Marcellus.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript is part of a substantial Carolingian composite manuscript, the surviving parts of which today are held in the Burgerbibliothek Bern (Cod. 330, 347, 357), the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris (Ms. Lat. 7665), and in the Universitätsbibliothek Leiden (Voss. Lat. Q 30). Cod. 357 contains: on ff. 1–32, the second to last part of the volume with various glossaries and excerpts from Sallust; on ff. 33–41, the rest of Nonius Marcellus (continuation from Cod. 347), the oldest surviving textual witness of Petronius' Satyricon, as well as a fragment of a poem about weights and measures.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
The manuscript consists of two parts. The first, Carolingian (fol. 1–12) with its original texts (fol. 1v–11v), reflects a meeting between Einhard and Lupus of Ferrières that occurred in June of 836 in Seligenstadt. Lupus received the arithmetic book (Calculus) by Victorius of Aquitaine along with a now widely known model alphabet for Ancient Capitals. Around 1000, texts by Abbo of Fleury on the ‘computus' (reckoning the date for Easter) were then added at the abbot's home monastery on the Loire (fol. 12–28), along with an abacus table (fol. 1r). The resulting collection of documents contains key items for and from Abbo's technical scholarship and offers a slightly divergent counterpart to the contemporaneous Floriacensis, Berlin, Staatsbibl., Phill. 1833.
Online Since: 03/19/2015