Volume 4 in a series originally consisting of eight volumes by St. St. Gall monk P. Ulrich Aichahaim (1626-1675): poems and epigrams for various high holy days, Marian feast days, and saints' days, composed by monks from the monastery of St. Gall, some during the last third of the 16th, but most during the 17th century. Examples also include elaborate New Year's Exhortations by abbots of St. Gall and printed verses by St. St. Gall monk Johannes Ruostaller, composed while he was studying in Dillingen in 1565, compiled in the year 1673.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Volume 6 in a series originally consisting of eight volumes by St. St. Gall monk P. Ulrich Aichhaim (1626-1675): declamations and speeches, composed mainly by St. St. Gall monks during the late 16th and first half of the 17th century, some the product of rhetorical classes in the monastery of St. Gall, others produced for festive occasions, compiled in 1655. Contents of this volume include speeches, epitaphs, a fictional letter about Herod's the bloodbath of the holy innocents, verses about Gallus's exorcism of Fridiburga, daughter of the Duke Gunzo of the Allemans, and twelve extensive meditations on the life of Christ, composed by Mayor of Villingen Ferdinand von Freiburg, father of St. St. Gall monk Simon von Freiburg.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Volume 8 in a series originally consisting of eight volumes by St. St. Gall monk P. Ulrich Aichahaim (1626-1675): the major portion of this volume contains verses by St. St. Gall monks for, among other events, the translation festivities surrounding the transfer of the remains of Saints Anthony and St. Theodorus from the catacombs to St. Gall in 1654, poetry dedicated to the respective saints on their feast days, verses about the most important European rulers and nations during the Thirty Years War, and fictional grave inscriptions for St. Gallen abbots and monks, compiled in the year 1673.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Oratory practice pieces in Latin by novices at the monastery of St. Gall (fratres studiosi), dedicated as a "Festschrift" for the name day of St. Gallen Abbot-Bishop Gallus Alt, 1660/61.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Latin homilies by a St. St. Gall monk, delivered in various churches in the territory of the Fürstabtei (Bishop's Abbey) of St. Gall between 1674 and 1691.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Latin poems of praise honoring the Augsburg Bishop Marquard von Berg, written in 1577 by students from the monastery of St. Gall who were attending the Jesuit University of Dillingen on the Danube, where the Benedictine monks from St. Gall frequently studied during that period.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
"Festschrift" from the monastery of St. Gall: translation of the Marian psalter into Greek by monks at St. Gall in the year 1661.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Composite volume from the monastery of St. Gall with bound printed texts from the 16th century: 1) Berhnard Legner, Septem psalmi poenitentiales, Mainz 1576, dedicated to St. Gallen Abbot Otmar Kunz (1564-1577); 2) Johannes Hartmann, De dulcissima sententia Davidis, o.J., dedicated to St. Gallen Abbot Joachim Opser (1577-1594); 3) Wolfgang Betulanus, Rudimenta doctrinae christianae, Konstanz 1592; 4) Portion in manuscript form: copy of Psalm 91, produced by Georg Balticus, the son of noble family of Ulm, dedicated in 1595 to St. Gallen Abbot Bernhard Müller (1594-1630); 5) Portion in manuscript: Latin verses by St. St. Gall monk P. Chrysostomus Stipplin (1609-1672) for all the saints' feast days of the year, in calendar order. Among them are also numerous verses about St. Gallen's patron saints and highly respected abbots and monks from the monastery of St. Gall.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Latin poetry composed by St. St. Gall monk P. Athanasius Gugger (1608-1669) on the occasion of the great translation festivities of 1628 (about, for example, the return of the remains of Saints Otmar and Notker Balbulut to the newly renovated Otmar Church in the year 1628) in addition to Latin hymns and verses on various themes from the monastery of St. Gall.
Online Since: 12/20/2007
Greek translation of the Benedictine Rule and some additional devotional materials, made at the monastery of St. Gall by St. Gallen's Frater Gallus Schindler (1643-1710), a native of Lucerne, between 1660 and 1667.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
This elegant illuminated copy of the Sefer Moreh Nevukhim (Guide to the Perplexed) by Moses Maimonides was produced in Christian Spain in 1292. It is a copy of the Hebrew translation of the work made in 1204 by Samuel ben Judah Ibn Tibbon (1150-1230). The manuscript arrived in Italy either after the Jewish persecutions of 1391 or the ensuing expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian peninsula in 1492. It was in the possession of the renowned Bolognese Sforno family before reappearing in the early 17th century in the hands of the Italian Jewish apostate and inquisitor Renato da Modena. After more than a century, the manuscript reappeared in the possession of Johann Caspar Ulrich (1705-1768) a Protestant theologian, who donated it in 1762 to the Bibliotheca Ecclesia Carolina, the chapter library of the reformed Grossmünster church of Zurich. In 1835, when the chapter was dissolved, the books and manuscripts of the chapter library became part of the new Cantonal Library in Zurich. Finally in 1917, the holdings of this library, among others, formed the new Zentralbibliothek, where the manuscript still remains today.
Online Since: 03/19/2020
The Sefer ha-Shorashim by R. David ben Joseph Kimhi (1160-1235) is extant in numerous medieval Hebrew manuscripts and fragments of diverse origins (Sephardi, Italian, Ashkenazi, Provençal), several printed editions and Latin translations, all testifying to the incomparable popularity of the work throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. However, the great significance of the Sefer ha-Shorashim of the Zentralbibliothek, dated to the 14th century, lies within the fact that it is the only preserved copy of Byzantine origin known today.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This Italian manuscript is a manual containing the laws of ritual slaughter (Shekhitah) and forbidden foods (Treifah), taken from the Babylonian Talmud tractate Ḥulin. These laws have been commented on by two medieval rabbinical authorities, included in the manuscript. The first is Judah ben Benjamin ha-Rofe Anav of Rome (Rivevan, d. after 1280), whose commentary to the laws makes reference to customs practiced by the Jewish community of Rome, such as an important ruling taken by the elders of Rome in 1280 at the Bozzechi Synagogue, which has been edited in the description. The second author, whose work is partially copied in the manual, is the leading Talmud authority for the Jewish communities in 11th century North Africa and Spain, Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (Rif, 1013-1103). The first three chapters of a commentary on the Babylonian Talmud tractate Ḥulin, taken from his magnum opus entitled the Sefer ha-Halakhot, have been copied into this manual. This latter work played a fundamental role in the development of halakha and is the most important legal code prior to the Mishneh Torah by Maimonides (Rambam, 1135-1204).
Online Since: 10/10/2019
This 14th and 15th century Askhenazi miscellany is a vademecum for personal use, destined to a scholar and composed mainly of halakhic material on ritual slaughtering, reflecting the decisions of the most important rabbinical authorities from 13th to 15th century Ashkenaz. There are also numerous treatises and tables on the Jewish and Christian calendars scattered throughout the manuscript. In addition, there is a selection of liturgical and mystical commentaries, as well as excerpts of ethical, Midrashic and Talmudic literature. The margins of the manuscript are filled with small notes and texts on medical recipes and magical incantations for various occasions in Hebrew and in Old West Yiddish.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
The Sefer Mitsvot Qatan or “Small Book of Precepts” is a halakhic compendium, which also includes ethical, aggadic and homiletical material, written ca. 1276-1277 by Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil, one of the great codifiers and French Tosafists of the 13th century. The work is also called Sheva Ammudei ha-Golah or the “Seven Pillars of the Exile”, due to its division into seven sections, corresponding to the seven days a week, encouraging its daily study. This work is an abridged version of the Sefer Mitsvot Gadol (Semag), another halakhic compendium completed in 1247 by Moses ben Jacob of Coucy (1st half 13th c.). Consequently, with a much more accessible legal code, the Sefer Mitsvot Qatan achieved widespread popularity, receiving recognition from rabbinical authorities from Franco-Germany. This copy includes glosses by R. Isaac's main disciple, namely Perets ben Elijah of Corbeil (died 1297).
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Orah or "Gates of Light" is one of the major texts of Jewish mysticism written in thirteenth century Spain, where Kabbalah flourished. It is considered to be the most articulate work on kabbalistic symbolism and its content provides a comprehensive explanation of the Names of God and their designation within the ten sephirot or attributes/emanations, through which Eyn Sof (the Infinite) reveals Itself and continuously creates both the physical and metaphysical realms. The work is organized into ten chapters, one for each sephirah.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This well-preserved pocket-sized Siddur, enclosing the statutory prayers of the Jewish liturgical year (daily, sabbath and new month prayers, Ḥanukkah, Purim, Pessaḥ, Shavuot, Rosh ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret), is a precious witness of the production of these small prayer books for personal use in 15th- century Italy.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This 14th century Sephardic Siddur for personal use is composed of the daily and sabbath prayers, as well as a text on the interpretation of dreams. Moreover, there are additions for the prayers of the new month and the festivals of Hanukkah, Purim and Pessah, the latter of which has been followed by the Haggadah, read at the Seder itself. However, the importance of this Siddur lies within the presence of some instructions on the structure of the Seder in Judeo-Spanish, or more precisely, medieval Castilian.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Beautifully illuminated Maḥzor for Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur according to the Ashkenazi rite. It is however possible to surmise that this manuscript was produced in Poland during the 14th century, as its script resembles that of contemporary Hebrew manuscript fragments of maḥzorim produced in Poland. This manuscript of middle-sized format, enclosing several ornate initial words and illuminated frames, contains the liturgy for the High Holidays of Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur, including many liturgical poems (piyyutim) displayed in several columns, and was destined for public use by the precentor (ḥazan) at the synagogue. However, the particularity of this maḥzor lies in the presence of a woman's name, גננא כהנת (Jeanne Kohenet), inserted within the painted letters of a decorated monumental initial word. She was probably the patron of this manuscript and either the daughter or wife of a cohen. The manuscript is incomplete at the beginning and at the end.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This small format siddur for personal use can be characterized as a vademecum for Jewish religious and communal life. It is divided into three parts, relative to liturgy, Jewish ceremonies, and a last miscellaneous one. The latter includes, among other significant texts, a rare and intriguing list of the names of books and incipits of chapters of all 24 Books of the Bible, with the Hebrew and Latin names, spelled out in Hebrew characters.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This composite manuscript by three different scribes encloses two textual units which were bound together. The volume is structured by a liturgical section, according to the Ashkenazi rite and a halakhic section. The manuscript Heidenheim 145 is one of many compendia of its genre, consisting of an assortment of texts which reflect the religious and talmudo-centric orientation of the intellectual elite of medieval Franco-Germany.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This almost complete Italian 15th century paper copy is composed of Books II to VIII of the Hebrew translation of Averroes' Middle Commentary on the Physics by Aristotle. The learned Andalusian polymath, jurist and imam, Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd – or Averroes (1126-1198), known as the Commentator, devoted his entire life on restoring Aristotle's original teachings, and writing commentaries on nearly all of Aristotle's works. He was therefore considered one of the most influential philosophic authorities of the Middle Ages, not only among the Latin Scholastics, but particularly among Jews, for the understanding of Aristotelian science through the Hebrew translations of his commentaries. The Middle Commentary is the least known of Averroes' commentaries on the Physics and exists today in two complete Hebrew translations from the Arabic and one partial 16th century Hebrew-to-Latin translation. The Hebrew translation found in Ms. Heid. 166 is that of the Provençal Jewish philosopher Qalonymos ben Qalonymos (1286-d. after 1328), entitled Bi᷾ ur ha-Shema', and was the most widely copied version of the Hebrew translations.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This manuscript is divided into two separate textual units, which were both written by two different scribes in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. Ms. Heid. 192A is a small booklet, copied by one hand in 1642 and 1687, which consists of a collection of customs and anecdotes on Rabbi Isaac B. Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (Arizal, 1534-1572) and his entourage, as well as a mystical protective prayer to be recited in the morning and evening, followed by portions of biblical readings for the days of the week, and ending with a selection of penitential prayers (Seliḥot). Ms. Heid. 192B is a miscellaneous collection of biblical midrashim, prognostication literature, tales, Alphabeta de Ben Sira, Talmudic Aggadot.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Illuminated biblical and ethical miscellany produced in Italy in 1322. This small format manuscript, with an exquisite 16th-century white leather binding blindstamped with the coat of arms of the city of Zurich, is divided into two groups of texts. The first section is made up of the biblical texts of the Five Megillot, accompanied by three commentaries on them, composed by the great medieval scholars, Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi), Avraham ibn Ezra and Joseph Qara. The second section is of ethical nature and consists in the Mishna tractate of the Pirqei Avot or Ethics of the Fathers and its commentaries. The first is an anonymous one ; the second is entitled Shemonah Peraqim by Maimonides, as translated by Samuel ibn Tibbon, and the third is a commentary by Rashi placed in the margins of the latter. In addition, this handbook is interspersed with aggadic, midrashic, mystical and philosophical material.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
This pocket format 15th century Hebrew Book of Psalms from Ashkenaz, is representative of private use hand copies, which are more seldom preserved in separate textual units rather than incorporated in the Hagiographs section of Hebrew bibles and liturgical manuscripts. Nonetheless, this genre of biblical literature is already attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Additionaly, Ms Or. 159 contains 149 Psalms, rather than the canonical 150, which is only one among many configurations found in early and late medieval Hebrew manuscripts, enclosing between 143 and 151 Psalms. Lastly, two medieval Hebrew manuscript fragments of an Esther Scroll have been reused as flyleaves for the 16th century leather tooled binding, protecting this little exquisite Book of Psalms.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This richly illustrated manuscript of Rudolf von Ems' Chronicle of the world was written in the 1340s, probably in Zurich (in the same writing workshop as the 1346 book of statutes of the Zurich Grossmünster). Its iconographic program is closely related to that of the Chronicle of the World currently held in St. Gall (Vadian Collection Ms. 302). Ms. Rh. 15 came to Zurich in 1863 from the library of the dissolved Rheinau Abbey.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
The Rheinau Psalter, Ms. Rh. 167, is among the preeminent treasures of the Zurich Central Library. Its miniatures are a product of the highest level of artistry of the High Gothic painting of this period around 1260, which is also true for the sophisticated color and painting techniques that were used. In contrast, the script, while of quite good quality, cannot be counted among the highest examples of the art of writing. The commissioner of the manuscript must be sought in the area of Lake Constance, probably in the city of Constance, which was very important in the politics and church politics at the time of the interregnum. In 1817, Father Blasius Hauntinger purchased the manuscript from Melchior Kirchhofer in Schaffhausen for the Benedictine Rheinau Abbey; in 1863, the manuscript, along with the Rheinau Abbey Library, became part of the Cantonal Library (today Central Library) in Zurich.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
In its first part, the parchment manuscript contains the text that has been named, on the basis of its outstanding cycle of illustrations, the Aurora consurgens. The manuscript also contains numerous other alchemical treatises, for ex. Albertus Magnus on Secreta Hermetis philosophi, Johannes de Garlandia (John of Garland), excerpts from Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan), the Thesaurus philosophiae and the Visio Arislei. Nine other Aurora-manuscripts are currently known to exist: Berlin Die uffgehnde Morgenrödte, Bologna, Glasgow, Leiden, Vienna, Paris, Prague and Venice. The Berlin manuscript, dating from the early sixteenth century and containing the illustrations as well as the texts in German translation, is closely related to the Zürich Codex.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
The main portion of the manuscript Ms. Rh. hist. 27, written in the early 9th century, contains the so-called Codex of Fraternisation of Reichenau. Codices of Fraternisation contain a list of the members of the monastery's confraternities who were required to include the other living or deceased members of the confraternity into their daily prayers. The zone of influence was large, reaching from Reichenau in the South to Monteverde and Conques, from Mondsee in the East to Fulda and St. Trond in the North as well as to Jumièges in the West. Over 38.000 names are documented. The earliest entries have been continuously amended and updated for several centuries. At the end of the volume, following the Codex of Fraternisation, there are 15 leaves of parchment from the 10th-12th centuries containing lists of friars, additional names and transcriptions of charters. At the beginning of the volume there are straps glued on paper containing agreements of fraternisation and obituaries from the 14-16th centuries.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This codex contains a rare illuminated manuscript constituted entirely by illuminated pages, for each of which only a succinct caption is given, most often only a line of text, and which therefore provides exceptional historical image-sources for numerous domains. The pictures presented here of military technology were perhaps originally part of a medieval house book. A typical collector's item, this illuminated manuscript underscores the collection character of the Rheinau conventual library, whose librarians and abbots were expressly on the lookout for rare books.
Online Since: 06/09/2011
"Codex Florus dispersus” contains a virtual reconstruction of a manuscript of letters and sermons by Augustine. It was written by a single hand in a late 7th or early 8th century uncial script. The manuscript evidently originated in France, perhaps in Luxeuil or in Lyon. Originally the manuscript contained at least 30 quinions (at least 300 leaves), of which 117 leaves remain today. One part with 63 leaves from the original quires 4-11 is currently held in Paris (BnF, lat. 11641); after leaf 26 there could be inserted a single leaf which currently is held in St. Petersburg (NLR, Lat.F.papyr. I.1). Another part with 53 leaves from the original quires 24-30 is being held in Geneva (Bibliothèque de Genève, lat. 16). The outer leaf of each quire (quinio) is parchment, while the remaining leaves are papyrus. During the 9th century the volume was part of the library of Florus of Lyon, who added numerous marginalia to the manuscript in his own hand. "sine loco", codices restituti, Cod. 1 contains a virtual reconstruction of the surviving pieces in their original order.
Online Since: 12/15/2014
This codex contains a virtual reconstruction of Engelberg Abbey Library's Cod. 20 with the first volume of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob. It contains the first (ff. 6r-99r) and second part (99r-193v), each divided into five books. At the front of the volume there used to be a full-page illustration consisting of an artistic portrayal of Job with his three friends (upper half) and a portrayal of Gregory the Great and a writing monk (lower half), who according to custom represents Peter the Deacon (Petrus Diaconus). This leaf with a verse of dedication by Frowin on the back, the actual recto side, was carefully described by P. Karl Stadler in his hand-written catalog of 1787; this helped to identify the membrum disiectum, which is now held by the The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1955.74 (Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fund), as unequivocally belonging to this volume.
Online Since: 12/15/2014
Fewer than ten textual witnesses of Theodulf of Orléans' († 821) version of the Vulgata have survived. Numerous fragments of such a 9th century Theodulf Bible from the collegiate church of St. Ursus in Solothurn, where it was cut up and used as binding material, have been preserved in the state archives of Solothurn and the central library of Solothurn. Virtual reunification of the fragments: [sine loco], codices restituti, Cod. 3 (Biblia Theodulfi Fragmenta).
Online Since: 03/19/2015
A total of 23 leaves 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). The main parts probably were written by Eberhard of Fulda; the book decoration as well is very reminiscent of the Codex Eberhardi (Marburg, Hessisches Staatsarchiv K 425 and K 426). Based on the numbering in the surviving indexes and at the beginning of the texts, the size of the collection can be projected to have been about 500 vitae and passions. Thus this work bears testimony to the efforts for not only the economic, but also the spiritual and cultural reform undertaken under Abbot Markward of Fulda (1150-1165); at the same time this work is the northernmost and probably the earliest of the surviving five- and six-volume 12th century legendaries from Southern Germany. Later it served as (indirect) model for the base stock of texts of the great Legendary of Böddeken, through which it remained influential for the Bollandists' Acta Sanctorum and on into the modern times. The monumental Fulda Legendary was still used in Fulda in the middle of the 16th century 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). Fragments from the 3rd, 4th and 6th volumes are preserved in Basel, Solothurn, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. This indicates that at least the 3rd (May-June) and 6th (November-December) volumes of the legendary reached Basel, where both evidently were used as manuscript waste around 1580.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
Remnants of an Alcuin's Bible, written in Tours in the early 9th century; from the Dominican Monastery of Bern; around 1495 the remnants were used as pastedowns for various incunables by the bookbinder Johannes Vatter. After the secularization of the monastery in 1528, the host volumes by various paths reached the Municipal Library of Bern and various libraries in Solothurn. Around 1945, the fragments BBB Cod. 756.59 (1 leaf), Cod. 756.70 (8 leaves and 1 strip) as well as Cod. 756.71 (2 leaves) were removed from the host volumes by Johannes Lindt; today they can be found in the Burgerbibliothek Bern (BBB). Also in situ, i.e., in incunables from the University Library Bern (MUE), is a further leaf (MUE Inc. I.20) or smaller fragments (MUE Inc. IV.77). In addition, the Central Library of Solothurn holds: Cod. S 458 (pastedowns) as well as S II 151 (detached fragments).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Two successive bifolia of a Fulda manuscript from the 2nd third of the 9th century with the so-called Collectio Veronensis of the acts of the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431. The codex was obviously used as waste paper in modern times in Switzerland. When and by what route it reached Switzerland from Fulda cannot be determined; however, it may have arrived there, like a number of other Fulda manuscripts, in the first half of the 16th century as a potential text source for prints by Basel print shops.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This manuscript consists of four codicological units; it was written around 1505 by the two Dominican nuns Cordula von Schönau (Constance, previously St. Gall) and Regina Sattler (St. Gall) at and for the Cloister of the Dominican Nuns of Zoffingen in Constance. For this codex, the two sisters copied the poems in dialogue form Kreuztragende Minne and Christus und die minnende Seele, the prose dialogue Disput zwischen der minnenden Seele und unserem Herrn, Henry Suso's Exemplar (without the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit) as well as 15 of his open letters, the Tösser Schwesternbuch, the legends of Elizabeth of Hungary, Margaret of Hungary, and Louis of Toulouse, the Vierzig Myrrhenbüschel vom Leiden Christi , the story of the founding of the Cloister of the Dominican Nuns St. Katharinental near Diessenhofen, and the St. Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The Eidgenössische Chronik by Werner Schodoler (1490-1541) is in chronological order the last of the illustrated Swiss Chronicles of the late Middle Ages. It was written by private initiative between 1510 and 1535 and took as its model primarily the Official Bernese Chronicle - Amtliche Berner Chronik - by Diebold Schilling and the Chronicle - Kronica - by Petermann Etterlin. This volume, the first of the three volumes of the chronicle, covers the history from the legendary origin of Zurich and Lucerne up to Antipope John XXIII's flight from Constance (1415). Although space was left for illustrations, they were not realized (except those of 12v). Today the three volumes are held in different libraries: the first volume is in the Leopold-Sophien-Bibliothek in Überlingen, the second in the City Archives in Bremgarten, and the third in the Cantonal Library of Aargau.
Online Since: 12/20/2012