This manuscript contains the Venerable Bede's homilies on the Gospels, which are listed in a chapter-index on 2r-vv and 65v-66r. A full-page colour illumination on 1v shows the author writing this work, framed by the attributes of the Evangelists. Rubricated initials, incipits and explicits divide the text, itself prepared in a light- to dark-brown ink; at the beginning, when the name of Mary, the patron-saint of the monastery of Engelberg, appears in the text, it is slightly emphasized through the use of majuscule or rubrication. 3r and 11v contain large multicolour decorative initials. Holes and tears in the parchment have been mended in a particularly artistic manner. On 1r a two-line verse states that the copy was made during the abbacy of Frowin (1143-1178).
Online Since: 06/09/2011
Engelberg 52 is a late eleventh-century handbook of canon law from the circle of Bernold of Constance († 1100), an ardent champion of Pope Gregory VII. It comprises various canonistic compilations: the 'Collection in Seventy-Four Titles' (Collectio 74 titulorum with the so-called 'Swabian Appendix' (Appendix svevica; two short collections 'On Churches' (De ecclesiis) and 'On Illicit Unions' (De illicitis coniunctionibus); the Pseudo-Gelasian decretal 'On Books to be Received and not to be Received' (De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis); the 'Canons of the Four Principal Councils' prefaced by 'Adnotation I' (Adnotatio I; and the Epitome Hadriani prefaced by 'Adnotation II' (Adnotatio II). All of these items can also be found in two closely related manuscripts (St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 676, and Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, HB.VI.107); but several appear here in shorter, possibly less developed forms. Prefixed to the whole is a catalogue of popes extending from Peter I to Leo IX with the addition of Victor II. Though it acknowledges Henry III's role in the appointment of four popes (from Clement II to Victor II), it was possibly the source of the papal catalogue that Bernold attached to his Chronicle (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 432, fols. 10r–12r).
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This manuscript, which consists of only 28 leaves and which contains a part of a missal for the Ambrosian Rite, comes from the Oratory of St. Bernardino in Faido (Ticino); under the patronage of the Varesi family, this chapel was newly consecrated in the 15th century (probably 1459). The manuscript was donated to the Oratory by the Varesi family, possibly for this occasion, in order to allow the celebration of the Holy Mass. A quire containing the mass for the patron saint St. Bernardino (20-25) was added to the first quires (1-12, 16-19), as well as the loose leaf with two miniatures representing the Maiestas domini and the crucifixion. The script, a Gothic rotunda of the Italian type, contrasts with the miniatures which show a certain relationship to contemporaneous colored engravings of German origin.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The Burgau Offnung of 1469 is a medieval law book. It governs the relations of associates in the law courts, at the princely court, and in communal landholdings within a court district (here the lower court of Burgau near Flawil) with the lord of that court, the "Vogt" (reeve). At the time this was Rudolf IX Giel of Glattburg, a ministry official of the abbot of St. Gall Abbey. Originally the Burgau Offnung was part of a single volume together with those of Flawil, Gebhartschwil, Uffhoven and Rudlen. The Flawil Offnung (up to page 17) was removed and bound separately. Preceding the text of the Burgau Offnung on pp. 18-28 were those of the Offnung of gebhartschwil, uffhoven und rudeln. The book was entrusted to the respective “Ammann” (head of the district council) of Burgau of the time. After 1798, following the dissolution of the lower court, the book transferred to the village corporation of Burgau. After consolidation of Burgau with Flawil, the book came into the custody of the municipality of Flawil.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
The Frauenfeld history Bible (“Historienbibel”) was completed in about 1450 in the atelier of Diebold Lauber at Hagenau (Alsace) and revised somewhat later. It contains 80 illustrations, each showing the work of three separate hands. It was probably in the possession of the Cloister of Augustinian Canons at Kreuzlingen beginning in the 16th century.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This single-column manuscript, created in the second half of the 15th century, was very carefully written by a scribe in a humanistic minuscule. The work contains two texts by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), Cribratio Alcorani (ff. 1r-70r) and Contra Bohemos (ff. 70v-90r). With Cribratio Alcorani he attempted a precise philological and historical investigation of the Koran, and in Contra Bohemos he dealt with Hussitism. The title page (f. 1r) is decorated with bianchi girari (white vine scrolls). Two medallions with coats of arms are integrated in the border. The coats of arms show a white lion on a blue background and are crowned with the papal insignia. The coat of arms can be attributed to Pope Paul II. (Pietro Barbo, 1464-1471), which shows that the manuscript was made by order of the pope or at least during his papacy. Initials at the beginning of each chapter are golden with a background in blue and green. Individual initials are emphasized more strongly and one is decorated with white vine scroll, corresponding to the title page. The binding of the manuscript, richly decorated with plant ornaments, medallions and depictions of saints, dates from the 16th century. The central medallion on the front shows Mary with the infant Jesus.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
Chronicle of Einsiedeln Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). The description of the abbots from Eberhard (934-958) to Plazidus (1629-1670) is preceded by a pen and ink drawing of the patron saints of the church and a fold-out map of the monastery complex. The chronicle contains copies, written by Murer, of deeds of donation and confirmation that relate to Einsiedeln Abbey.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of Fischingen Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk at the Carthusian monastery of Ittingen from 1614), which is probably based on the Chronicle of Jakob Bucher, also a monk at the Ittingen monastary, whose Chronicle of the abbey of Fischingen was completed between September 15, 1627 and September 14, 1628.
Online Since: 10/15/2007
Chronicle of St. John abbey in the Thurtal by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a member of the Carthusian community at Ittingen from 1614). Murer bases his work on information of his own as well as on the writings of St. Gall community member, legal expert and abbey librarian Jodocus Metzler, among others.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Chronicle of the cloisters of St. Katharinental, Töss and Berenberg as set down by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk in the Carthusian monastary of Ittingen from 1614). Embedded within this volume is the "St.Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch" (St. Katharinental Book of Sisters), in a hand from the end of the 17th century, which presents a version of the famous Book of Sisters from the 15th century that is extremely faithful to the original. An equally faithful version of the "Tösser Schwesternbuch" (Töss Book of Sisters by Elisabeth Stagel is rendered in the same hand. The twelve lives from the "St.Katharinentaler Schwesternbuch" found in the above mentioned chronicles are derived from those of Heinrich Murer, as demonstrated by a comparison with the "Helvetia Sancta" by Heinrich Murer.
Online Since: 04/14/2008
The Chronicle of Eschenbach cloister by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen) has two vedute of the monastery from 1625 and 1629, both probable from Heinrich Murer.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
A list of Swiss saints in chronological order, from St. Beatus to Nicolaus Rusca and the Capuchin Fidelis. Decorated with pen and ink drawings with blue wash by the painter Hans Asper of Constance. Murer's model for the Helvetia Sancta most likely was the Bavaria Sancta by Matthäus Rader, published in Munich in 1615.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Chronicle of the Cloister of Reichenau by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk at the Carthusian monastery ofIttingen beginning in 1614), based on the Chronicle of Gallus Oeheim, Priest and Chaplain of the Cloister of Reichenau († 1511).
Online Since: 07/25/2006
Chronicle of the Cloister of Wettingen by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, member of the Carthusian convent at Ittingen beginning 1614).
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the Fraumünster, the Peterskirche, and the Wasserkirche in Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638). Murer cites the Tigurinerchronik of Heinrich Bullinger as the source of his Chronicle of the Peterskirche and both the Tigurinerchronik and the Schweizer Chronik of Johannes Stumpf as sources for the Chronicle of the Chapel “auf dem Hof”.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
In 1646 the Petit Conseil or Executive Council of Fribourg commissioned Pierre Crolot, an artist from the Free County of Burgundy, with the task of illustrating the flags and banners that were carried by Fribourg troops on campaigns in the Sundgau, Burgundy, and Italy (at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century) and where then displayed in the church of St. Nicholas. These objects themselves disappeared without a trace in 1822, with the exception of three ceremonial robs of the Order of the Golden Fleece (which are now on display in the castle of Gruyère). The book contains 42 illustrations: 3 frontispieces show the coats of arms of the city, its bailiwicks, and the coats of arms of the members of the Executive Council; 30 illustrations reproduce the banners and 9 illustrations portray Burgundian clothing items and tapestries. The “Book of Flags” is an art object, valuable as a record of objects that have been lost, as well as a witness to the fame of the Fribourg troops in the late Middle Ages.
Online Since: 07/04/2012
The “Katharinenbuch” contains the regulations for a secondary school, as it was to be founded in Fribourg at the time of the Catholic reform on the model of the reformed schools. Peter Schneuwly (1540-1597) can be considered the author; he himself probably went to school in Fribourg. From 1557 on, he studied in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he attained a Magister artium. From 1564 on, he was a member of the clergy of the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Fribourg, in 1565 he became a canon, and in 1566 a preacher in the city. At this time, the first preparatory works for the “Katharinenbuch” took shape. In the years 1577-1597, Schneuwly was vicar general of the Diocese of Lausanne, from 1578-1587 also provost of St. Nicholas. The “Katharinenbuch” also constitutes the charter of the “Scholarchenkammer” (chamber of scholarchs) of the city of Fribourg, in whose possession it remained until the 19th century. The school reform sought by Schneuwly never went into effect because in 1580, also on Schneuwly's initiative, the Jesuits were called to Fribourg and were entrusted with secondary education.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
This small but extensive (198 ff.) prayer book is written in a variant of North German (Middle Low German). In accordance with the female form in many of the prayers, it was intended for a woman. With the exception of one full-page miniature depicting Christ as the gardener before Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), all illuminations have been removed. An ex-libris on the front pastedown informs us that this small manuscript was a gift to the Fribourg Library in 1891 from Franz Xaver Karker, canon of Wroclaw Cathedral.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This document contains the cartulary and the tribute register of the Cluniac priory of Rüeggisberg in the canton of Bern, which was the first Cluniac priory in the German-speaking area and probably the oldest monastery in the Bernese area. The manuscript consists of two different parts, which were probably joined together in Bern at the beginning of the 16th century, or in 1484, when the priory was abolished and its assets were incorporated into the newly founded St. Vincent monastery of Bern. The first part (ff. 1-200 and 261-267) contains transcriptions made between 1425-1428 of various documents and bulls, and of the priory's register of tributes, which in turn had been copied from even older cartularies. The second part (ff. 201-260) contains documents copied from the collegiate monastery of St. Vincent in Bern.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This richly decorated book of hours was illuminated in Tours in about 1500, for an owner from Toulouse. In the 15th century, the city of Tours and the Loire valley region were home to the court of the kings of France. This manuscript is closely connected to that glorious past era. The name of court painter Jean Bourdichon (ca. 1457-1521) is associated with two of the miniatures in this book of hours. The other 35 miniatures were painted by three book painters from the atelier of Jean Poyer (+ before 1504), also well-established in Tours.
Online Since: 07/04/2012
The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories. The first volume contains the first three books, i.e., the history of Greece, of Troy and of the Trojans who escaped the destruction of their town. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories.The second volume contains the last three books, i.e., the history of the Assyrians, of the Macedonians, and of Alexander and the Maccabees. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
At the request of Charles the Bold, in 1470 Vasco de Lucena translated Xenophon's Cyropaedia from the Latin translation by Poggio Bracciolini (Institutio Cyri, 1445) and titled it “ Traitté des faiz et haultes prouesses de Cyrus”. The manuscript was illuminated by the “Maitre des prières de 1500” and contains seven miniatures that tell the story of Cyrus and that inspired the Duke of Burgundy in his political and military actions.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
Vasco de Lucena translated Quintus Curtius' history of Alexander into French at the request of Isabella of Portugal, the wife of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. The translator drew on texts by Plutarch and Justin in order to complete the Roman writer's text which contains gaps. The translation, completed in 1468, presents Alexander as conqueror, devoid of all legends transmitted through courtly literature; it is dedicated to Charles the Bold, the son of Isabella. This copy from the Bibliothèque de Genève was illustrated by a Flemish artist, Maître d'Edouard IV, who was active in Bruges around the end of the 15th century, as well as by a second hand not yet definitively identified.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
Le Mignon is a collection of various historical narratives and moral or philosophical texts. Henri Romain is the author of the summary of the three decades of Titus Livius and the Compendium historial, a compilation of ancient stories. Laurent de Premierfait is the translator of De la vieillesse by Cicero, and Jean Courtecuisse translated Des Quatre vertus cardinales by Seneca. This manuscript from the studio of Maître François presents seven beautiful frontispiece illuminations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
At the behest of King Philip III the Bold, the Dominican Laurent d'Orléans wrote a book on religious instruction for lay people. He was inspired by the Miroir du monde in the 3rd and 4th tract (f. 6r-33r) compiling two treatises about this 13th century work, that was widely read throughout the realm. The fifth treatise on the virtues (f. 33r-99r) is the only part originally by Brother Laurent. The illuminator who created the 8 miniatures is not identified, but probably was active in Northern France.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Pierre le Fruitier, called Salmon, secretary to Charles VI and someone who influenced John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1409 wrote a composite text that is simultaneously a mirror for princes, a collection of letters, and an autobiography. Salmon presents the qualities a sovereign needs in order to rule well (see Paris, BnF, fr. 23279). After his withdrawal from court in 1411 and after the change in royal politics towards John the Fearless, around 1412-1415 he presented a second version of the text; today this version is held in Geneva. With an image depicting Charles VI on a blue bed decorated with lilies, in discussion with his secretary, this manuscript is one of the showpieces of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This parchment manuscript contains the mystic text of the Kabbala in cursive script, illustrated with numerous highly colorful drawings with allegorical, cosmological, and liturgical themes.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
Philippe Prevost, Lord of Plessis-Sohier-lez-Tours, advisor and Grand Master of King Henry IV, is the author and scribe of this text on the art of war, which is introduced by a dedication to King Henry IV (1591) and a letter to the same monarch. The text is also accompanied by several sonnets and a short treatise on fortifications. In addition, the autograph manuscript contains a short printed text by Philippe Prevost, Himne de la guerre et de la paix, which was published in Tours in 1590. A series of drawings, probably from engravings, and several battle plans illustrate the text of Le Mars. This text was never published, although it seems to have been prepared for this purpose, as attested by numerous erasures, additions and annotations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
In 1511, the Benedictine Jean d'Auton (around 1466-1528), chronicler at the court of Louis XII, initiated a contest to write fictional letters to the king. For this contest, he wrote the Epistre d'Hector au roy, which was answered, among others, by Jean Lemaire de Belges with his Epistre du roy Loys à Hector. This Geneva manuscript begins with a full-page illustration, executed by an artist named Maître des Entrées, active in Lyon. It depicts Hector presenting a book to a satyr in front of an army of soldiers in armor, some of whom are crowned with the poets' laurel wreath. The numerous references to antiquity, textual as well as visual, are typical for the humanist milieu of Lyon, which included the owner of this manuscript, Jean Sala, half-brother of the famous author and antiquities enthusiast Pierre Sala.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Christine de Pisan, a writer and poet of great renoun, was the author of numerous works and was personally involved in the design and production of manuscripts of her works. This hold true for this codex, which contains an account of the building of a utopian city by and for women.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, wife of King René I. of Anjou, a cleric from Angers completed a prose adaptation of the first version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine by Guillaume de Deguileville in 1465. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. It is followed by the Danse aux aveugles (before 1465) by Pierre Michault. The two texts were richly illuminated by the Maître d'Antoine Rolin, however the decoration was never entirely completed.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This remarkable manuscript, created in the 9th century in the Rhineland, contains the text of the four Gospels in their Latin version, written in Carolingian minuscule. The manuscript is decorated with, among others, two initials embellished with interlace and with canonical tables presented in arcades in vivid colors.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
Urbain Bonivard, prior of Saint-Victor in Geneva from 1458 to 1483, produced this missal in 1460. The missal follows the liturgical practices of Cluny; the miniatures are the work of Janin Luysel and Guillaume Coquin. During the Reformation the manuscript disappeared from Geneva and only came to light again in 1912 when the city of Geneva bought it at an auction in Munich.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
In addition to the usual services, this small-format book of hours following the practice of Paris contains several texts in French (a prayer to St. Roch, Les quinze joies de Notre-Dame and Les sept requêtes à Notre Seigneur). It is richly illuminated with full-page as well as smaller miniatures attributed (Gagnebin, 1976) to the workshop of the Coëtivy Master (now identified as Colin d'Amiens). Although some illuminations are slightly damaged, they attest to the high quality of their execution, especially in the intercession of the saints (ff. 201r-220v). This book of hours was meant for a man (the prayers are addressed in the masculine, f. 21r and 25v), perhaps for a certain Jean Novelli, whose name, together with the date 1460, is mentioned on the 18th century binding.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This 15th century Book of Hours following the custom of Paris also contains a complete biblical Psalter. The miniatures are attributed to the final period of the workshop of the Duke of Bedford (around 1435-1460). Each month in the calendar is preceded by a Latin verse in hexameter listing the two unlucky days of the month (January 1 and 25, February 4 and 26, March 1 and 28, April 10 and 20, May 3 and 25, June 10 and 16, July 13 and 22, August 1 and 30, September 3 and 21, October 3 and 22, November 5 and 28, December 7 and 22). This manuscript was part of the "collection Petau," founded by two counselors of the parliament of Paris, Paul Petau († 1614) and his son Alexandre Petau († 1672); in 1720 the volume was bought by Ami Lullin (1695-1756) from Geneva, who, after his death, bequeathed it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
This book of hours in the Parisian fashion is richly illuminated and was made for the diocese of Nantes in the third quarter of the 15th century. It was owned by the Petau family during the 17th century. In 1720 it was purchased by Ami Lullin of Geneva and donated to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This manuscript from the second half of the 15th century is a book of hours for use in the Abbey of St. Martin of Tours. Six large miniatures remain, of which two pertain to the life of Christ, two are dedicated to the Annunciation, one to St. Joseph, and the last to St. Barbara. The calendar indicates the thirteen unlucky days (dies eger) of the year. With its old crimson velvet binding, its painted decorations and careful script, this manuscript had enriched the collection of the Petau family before it came to Geneva.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This small, elegant, illuminated book of hours for the use of Rome was probably produced in the workshop of Jean Colombe, the famous book illustrator from Bourges, who was active in the last third of the 15th century. Some of the 14 miniatures that decorate the manuscript can in fact also be found in other books of hours that were illuminated by the master of Bourges, such as the cord situated in the ornate margins that frame the miniatures (Paris, BnF, n.a. lat. 3181). This motif has been interpreted in different ways, either as a sign of belonging to the Third Order of Franciscans, or as a sign of widowhood, in which case the addressee would have been a woman – but this is contradicted by the masculine forms of address in the prayers. The manuscript later became the property of Paul Petau, and in 1756 it became part of the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève as part of the bequest of Ami Lullin.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This sumptuous manuscript contains the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea translated by St. Jerome and presented in columns, together with continuations by Jerome and Prosper of Aquitaine. It was produced in about 1480 in Padua or Venice and was illuminated by Petrus V…, who created a masterful full-page illustration on Fol. 10r. A binding error unfortunately reduces the overall esthetic appeal of the volume: the first and second fascicles have been placed in inverse order.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
‘Venerable' is the term that comes to mind for describing this manuscript. In fact, it can be considered ‘venerable' due to its age since it is dated circa 825. Furthermore, the author of the main texts copied herein is Beda Venerabilis or the Venerable Bede (672/674, † 735), who was a monk at Jarrow Abbey in England. Copied in the Benedictine Abbey of Massay (France, Cher, near Bourges), the manuscript contains several of the Venerable Bede's scientific works such as the Easter cycle, also known as Bede's cycle, the De natura rerum, the De temporibus and the De temporum ratione. Various other texts were also inserted: the Annales Petaviani and the annals of the Abbey of Massay, calendar, fragments on the computus, letters.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript contains the Latin translation of the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, prepared in 1287 by Guido de Columnis. The text is divided into 35 books, of which only 9 are introduced by miniatures, most of them whole-page miniatures (f. 1r, 5v, 16v, 46r, 72v, 83v, 89v, 107v, 124v). Set in Renaissance-style frames, the paintings illustrate various important moments in the destruction of Troy. This manuscript was part of the collection of Paul and Alexandre Petau before it became the property of Ami Lullin, pastor and theologist in Geneva, who donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1756.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This manuscript was produced in a Parisian workshop around the end of the 13th century. It contains the Latin version of thirteen critiques written by, or generally thought to have been written by, Aristotle. The book ends with a fragment of De uno deo benedicto by Moses Maimonides. Forty decorated initials adorn the text, and a large drawing of Christ on the cross with Mary and John has been added on the last folio.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
This portolan by Andrea Benincasa is signed and dated 1476 on the last chart, which is glued to the inside back cover. The five nautical charts, each occupying a double page of the atlas, describe the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea (chart 1), the coasts between Sicily and the Aegean Sea (chart 2), the Mediterranean Sea from Gibraltar to Rome with Corsica and Sardinia (chart 3), the coasts of the Atlantic between England and Ireland to the Strait of Gibraltar (chart 4), and finally the coasts between Gibraltar and Cape Bojador, including the Canary Islands and other islands (chart 5). The star-shaped rhumb lines with wind roses indicate the compass directions, while the scales, here marked in the corners of the leaves, make it possible to estimate distances. The precise course of the coasts highlighted with color and the elegant script of the toponyms are characteristic of maps from the Benincasa studio, which were intended as objects for book lovers, but not for navigation. Among the numerous inscriptions on these maps, those on the Atlantic islands are the most surprising, as they seem to anticipate the discovery of the American archipelago like “Antilia,” or the island of “Brazil”; these names were adopted by Christopher Columbus and his successors to name certain territories in the New World.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Cicero's De officiis of is a political work on ethics, used throughout the Middle Ages, from Augustine, to the compilers of his moral sequences, to Christine de Pizan in her Chemin de long estude. Numerous commentaries have been written on this work, as attested by this 15th century paper manuscript. On the last double page (f. 120v-121r) the ethical theme of the Ciceronian text is continued as a schema of virtues. This manuscript was in the possession of the regent of the Collège de Genève, Hugues Lejeune (1634-1707), who donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Philibert de Viry's manuscript is one of the rare Books of Hours for use in the Diocese of Geneva to have survived until today. Illuminated in Lyon by the Maître de l'Entrée de François I, it contains miniatures directly inspired by Albrecht Dürer's (1511) woodcuts Petite Passion. This is an early witness of the reception of this series of images in France and an example of the often unsuspected influence of engraving on book decoration.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
The De Divina Proportione is a mathematical treatise by the Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli (1445-1517). The Italian text is followed by sixty polyhedra, drawn filled or empty, and influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. Of the three copies written during the author's lifetime, only two remain. This copy, held by the Bibliothèque de Genève, is the presentation copy of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, whose coat of arms and motto adorn the manuscript (fol. Ir and LXIIv).
Online Since: 02/27/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
Composite manuscript with the following content: 1. collection of autographs by the Florentine poet Gabriele Simeoni (Florence, 1509 - Lyon, 1577?), dedicated to Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, with poems in Italian and Latin and illustrated by the author; 2. collection of poems, partly autographs, by Giovan Battista Strozzi (1489-1538), containing his madrigals as well as some compositions by Leonardo Giustiniani (1388-1446) and by Anton Francesco Grazzini (1505-1584).
Online Since: 12/12/2019
This manuscript contains texts for the Liturgy of the Hours. It was probably created at Muri Abbey and was meant for the Hermetschwil nuns' convent. Fol. 125v shows one of the few remaining prints of the “Teigdruck” (paste print) technique: Barbara with a palm branch and a tower.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This manuscript contains the prayers and instructions for the Liturgy of the Hours. It was made for the nuns of the double monastery of Muri; the manuscript came to Hermetschwil when the convent of nuns relocated there.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This psalter from the 12th century is part of a collection formerly owned by the library of the double abbey of Muri. It was later transferred to the monastery at Hermetschwil. The cycle of miniatures is incomplete; the calendar includes a series of necrological records.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This book of hours of Savoyard or western Swiss origin, produced in about 1490, was originally the property of the Bern patrician Thomas Schöni and his wife Jeanne d'Arbignon. The miniatures were ascribed to the Meister of the breviary of Jost von Silenen.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
A total of eight manuscripts, written and illuminated in St. Gall in the period between 1022 and 1036 for Sigebert, Bishop of Minden (1022-1036), have survived until today. They are a complete group of liturgical manuscripts consisting of a sacramentary, an epistolary, an evangeliary, a gradual, a tropary-sequentiary, a gradual-hymnal, a hymnal and the Ordo missae. The present copy is very similar to the one from Einsiedeln, Cod. 40(481) (before 950). Unfortunately the precious binding with gold, gems and an ivory tablet, which had been described in the 15th century, has been lost. In 1683 the manuscript became part of the library of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and later of the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek). Along with other manuscripts (among others the tropary-sequentiary), it was evacuated to safety during World War II and today is held as a deposit in Krakow.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
A total of eight manuscripts, written and illuminated in St. Gall in the period between 1022 and 1036 for Sigebert, Bishop of Minden (1022-1036), have survived until today. They are a complete group of liturgical manuscripts consisting of a sacramentary, an epistolary, an evangeliary, a gradual, a tropary-sequentiary, a gradual-hymnal, a hymnal and the Ordo missae. This tropary-sequentiary contains a drawing of the author Notker Balbulus (about 840-912) in the sequentiary part on f. 144r. He is depicted as the writer of his sequence Sancti Spiritus Assit nobis gratia and is represented with a saint's halo. In 1683 the manuscript became part of the library of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and later of the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek). Along with other manuscripts (among others the Epistolary), it was evacuated to safety during World War II and today is held as a deposit in Krakow.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Othon de Grandson, knight and poet, distinguished himself both through his verses and through his heroic deeds during the Hundred Years War. He was an adviser to Count Amadeus VII of Savoy. After the death of the count, he fled to England. After his return to the land of Vaud he died in an ordeal by battle in the form of a duel in Bourg-en-Bresse in the year 1397. In addition, Othon de Grandson's poetry introduced Valentine's Day to a broader public; it had previously been celebrated primarily in Anglo-Saxon regions.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
Othon de Grandson, knight and poet, distinguished himself both through his verses and through his heroic deeds during the Hundred Years War. He was an adviser to Count Amadeus VII of Savoy. After the death of the count, he fled to England. After his return to the land of Vaud he died in an ordeal by battle in the form of a duel in Bourg-en-Bresse in the year 1397. Othon de Grandson probably wrote his poetic works between 1366 and 1372. This collection volume also contains ballads by thirteen different authors.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This prayer book is either from the Cologne area, as indicated by the selection of prayer texts and calendars, or from the “Stift Münstereifel”, as the saints Daria and Chrysanthus, who are venerated there, are explicitly mentioned on 218r and 219r. Via Catharina von Wrede (front paste-down), the prayer book reached the Bibliothèque des Cèdres, which became part of the holdings of the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire - Lausanne in 1966. This small-format volume, illustrated with 18 miniatures, contains a cycle of prayers on the life and passion of Christ, prayers on the truths of the faith, and on various saints. The miniatures and the beginnings of the texts are surrounded by borders with leaf scroll and interlace ornamentation; additional decoration consists of 35 initials in gold, as well as pen flourishes and blue, red and gold Lombard initials in the margins.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This chronicle, completed in 1513, tells the early history of Lucerne and, beginning with the Battle of Sempach (1386), it tells the history of the Swiss Confederation from the point of view of followers of the Holy Roman Emperor. The 450 illustrations by two different hands, due to their vividness and to the richness of their subjects and details, constitute a unique source of information about late medieval life.
Online Since: 03/19/2015
The Sworn Letter (“Geschworener Brief”), drawn up for the first time in 1252, consists mainly of provisions of criminal law for the sake of maintaining internal peace. It soon attained the status of a social contract that was periodically revised, and the town assembly was sworn into office each year with an oath on this document. COD 1075 presents the last version in a special form: The text was elaborately arranged in calligraphy by chancery clerk Josef Corneli Mahler; the articles are introduced by artistic initials and are accompanied by figures (which bear no reference to the themes of the text). For the binding, the wooden boards are covered in blue and white velvet and have protective book corners, clasps and bosses made of silver.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
By his own account, Hans von Hinwil, lord of Elgg castle (1498-1544), wrote his family book in the year 1541. An introduction to the history of the family is followed by the coats of arms of his ancestors in chronological order. This manuscript can be compared with other well-known family books such as those of the lords of Eptingen or the lords of Hallwyl; however, for Eastern Switzerland it constitutes a unique example among the nobility of the formation of tradition in words and in images.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
Commentaries by the Franciscan monk Nicholas of Lyra (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel (I and II Kingdoms), with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
The commentary of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Contains the commentary of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Genesis, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This 10th century Latin manuscript originated in the St. Gall scriptorium. It belonged to the Bishop of Strasbourg Erchembald (965-991) and was kept in the Cathedral of Strasbourg. The humanist Wimpheling mentions consulting it in Strasbourg in the early years of the 16th century. This manuscript appeared in the sales catalog of the Ambroise Firmin-Didot collection and was bought by the Mulhouse alderman Armand Weiss (1821-1892); after his death, he left it to the Industrial Society of Mulhouse. The Carolingian Gospel Book was written on vellum and contains 300 initials decorated with gold and silver. The beginning and end of the manuscript contain historical annotations. The original binding no longer exists; it was replaced with a contemporary binding during restoration at the Bibliothèque Nationale around 1970.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
Register of ownership compiled in 1394, at the behest of Abbess Luzia I, by the notary Jakob von Schluderns; a fair copy was written on parchment by his son Peter. The register records 517 leaseholds in 36 localities. The ornamentation is simple, but beautifully executed. Important are two large figures in color, representing John the Baptist as patron and Charlemagne as founder of the monastery. Valuable from the point of view of historical linguistics is a passage in the vernacular that is copied in the urbarium as part of a Latin document from 1389. This is the oldest testimony of the Romansh language of the Engadine, or rather of the Val Müstair.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
A book of hours following the liturgical usage of Rome, richly illustrated with full-page miniatures, borders, and initials, written in cursive script (bastarda) which can be dated to about 1500, with texts in Latin, French, and Flemish. The style of the miniatures, especially that of the naturalistic borders with flowers and insects, but also with complete scenes, seems typical of the Ghent-Bruges school.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
15th century parchment missal, made for Bishop Johann von Venningen (1458-1478). The expenditure records of Bishop Johann von Venningen permit tracing the individual stages of the making of this missal. This manuscript was created at the same time as ms. 2 and ms. 3. In 1462/1463, the final touches were added to the almost completed manuscript, the illumination, the initials, the fleuronné initials, and especially the attachment of the cover. For convenience, the order of the Ordo and the Canon was changed. Originally meant to be at the beginning of the manuscript, they were finally placed in the middle.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Missal following the liturgical custom of the Diocese of Basel, datable to around 1300. In the 15th century, a part containing the Ordo Missae was added, preceded by a Crucifixion miniature. The binding was restored in 1992 and replaces the unpreserved original binding.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
15th century Pontifical. The ceremonies are represented as full page miniatures with ornamental initials, marginal decorations and several lines of text on the model of books of hours; in the text there are many colorful borders and ornamental initials, often with depictions of the liturgical objects mentioned in the text. In addition to the frequently recurring coat of arms of Melchior von Lichtenfels, Archbishop of Basel (1554-1575), there is the coat of arms of Charles de Neufchâtel, Archbishop of Besançon (1463-1498; visible on f. 1r), which gives an indication of the manuscript's date of origin. As many other manuscripts from religious institutions, this manuscript came into the possession of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy during the French Revolution, until in the 20th century it became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
A 9th century volume containing the Gospels, originally from Saint-Ursanne.
Online Since: 03/24/2006
Begun in 1620 by Jean Henri Vest when he was living in Freiburg-im-Breisgau (p. 1), this collection was originally conceived as a Stammbuch (family book) recording the genealogy and the marriages of the Vest family, with corresponding coats of arms. The enlarged coat of arms granted honorifically by Emperor Rudolph II in 1582 to the Count Palatine Jean Vest, father of Jean Henri, is repeated many times. Humbert Henri Vest brought the collection to Porrentruy in 1667; after the marriage of his daughter, Marie Hélène Vest (1693-1761), the last member of the local branch of the family, to Fréderic François Ignace Xavier Grandvillers (1690-1727) in 1716, the collection passed into the hands of the Grandvillers family. The Grandvillers added their coat of arms and those of related families (pp. 51-85 and 138-139, etc.). Born and died in Delémont, the lawyer Conrad de Grandvillers (1813-1880), great-great-grandson of Marie Hélène Vest, and the last to carry the name, was the last of his family to possess this volume, as the signature “de Grandvillers avocat” indicates (p. 1). Perhaps he is the one who, in the nineteenth century, added some other coats of arms without a family connection (pp. 277-281), possibly with the idea of transforming the volume into a liber amicorum or, more broadly, into an Armorial jurassien, as stated in the title added on the binding, probably in the nineteenth century. The fact that some coats-of-arms connected to the Vest family have been cut out and glued on other pages (pp. 89-95) suggests a major working of the volume at an unknown date.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
Louis Philippe, a painter and upholsterer in Delémont, produced two versions of the same project for an Armorial de l'ancien évêché de Bâle, both of which are preserved in the Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, namely this one here and a second, later armorial (N.C.6). In both cases, the volume is primarily composed of coats of arms painted by the author. This copy was originally supposed to be divided into large books, the first three of which were to have been dedicated to bishops, to states, and to the feudal nobility. In any case, the volume quickly loses its coherence with the passing of the pages and the additions of coats of arms, most of which are glued by the author according to the sources to which he has access (see f. 176v) and to the space available. He also inserted photographs, rubbings, and even signatures and original seals taken from archival or printed documents. Clearly, the composite appearance of the collection led Philippe to prepare a second, more coherent, collection (N.C.6).
Online Since: 09/06/2023
Retired for health reasons in 1905, Abbé Daucourt (1849-1926), living in Delémont, began that same year an Armorial de Porrentruy. Completed in 1907, the volume was intended for the library of the town, of which he was a bourgeois. Painted throughout, this 118-plate volume is a compilation of coats of arms, primarily of the nobility, connected with local history. It also includes reproductions of seals, flags, and signatures. Scientifically unreliable, this armorial attests above all to the renewed interest for heraldry that marked the twentieth century, in the specific context of the affirmation of the Jura identity, in which Abbé Daucourt participated.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
This volume is the result of an organized selection of material gathered in the previous version (A3754). It consists of coats of arms, mostly carefully painted directly in the volume or glued in, supplemented by reproductions obtained through different procedures (photographs, lithographs, rubbings…), and even some originals (signatures). The armorial was originally conceived to be divided into several books: bishops (2r-29v), states (30r-35v), the feudal nobility (from f. 36r). Starting with f. 103r, however, the coherence begins to dissolve with the addition of coats of arms of bourgeois families of Delémont, then religious coats of arms connected to the abbey of Bellelay (117r-122v) and Lucelle (123r-127v). From f. 134r, the armorial concerns seals: bishops (134r-143v), clerics (144r-146v), towns and seigneuries (148r-151v and 155r), and nobility (152r-154v), to which are added coins and medals (156r-157v). The volume ends with a series of notes (162r-198v), including comments on the documents reproduced in the preceding sections.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
This small 12th century prayer book, the oldest in the German language, was written for a woman. It contains various prayers in German and Latin, including the famous "Mary Sequence of Muri" ("Mariensequenz aus Muri"), the oldest known German language version of the Latin sequence model, the Ave preclara maris stella. During the 19th century the manuscript was linked to Queen Agnes (ca. 1281-1364), who had lived in the Cloister of Königsfeld. It is listed in the manuscript catalog of the monastery of Muri as of 1790.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This cycle of miniatures from the first half of the 12th century is the work of two artists. The cycle was bound after having already been cut to create a volume; it is likely that it originally preceded a psalter.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This leather-bound album contains about 35 dedications and drawings by people with whom the coppersmith and wine merchant Christoph Fischer (1691-1770) from Schaffhausen was in touch during his lifetime. Based on the entries in Latin, German, French and English, it is possible to reconstruct two trips that Fisher took to London, during which most of the dedications occurred: 1747-1750 via Geneva, Lyon, Paris to London and 1758 via Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam to London. Several entries are by members of the Schalch family of Schaffhausen, who were relatives of Fischer; among these is an undated watercolor by the artist Johann Jakob Schalch (1723-1789) (p. 122), who lived in London and Den Haag from 1754-1773. After Fischer's death, the album was continued: entries from 1773 (p. 65) and 1820 (p. 215). Several pages of parchment (pp. 1-2, 19-20, 47-48, 115-116, 181-182) are bound into the paper manuscript, and several pages of paper were added later (pp. 39a-b, 55a-b, 147a-b) or were covered with pasted-on illustrations (p. 43, p. 125, p. 127). The entries are not in chronological order and alternate with numerous blank pages.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This leather-bound paper manuscript with gold embossing (digits of the year 1791 in each of the four corners of the book) is the memory album of Johann Conrad Fischer (1773-1854), coppersmith, metallurgist, entrepreneur and politician from Schaffhausen. His cast steel factory, founded in 1802, developed into the current Georg Fischer Ltd. The album contains dedications and illustrations by about 70 people with whom Fischer was in touch during his lifetime, among them his math teacher Melchior Hurter (1735-1811) (p. 1), Professor Johann Georg Müller (1759-1819) (p. 49), the physician Johann Balthasar Zwingli from Zurich (1764-1817) (p. 164), the writer Heinrich Zschokke (1771-1848) (p. 175), Fischer's great–uncle Lorenz Spengler (1720-1807), head of the Royal Art Chamber in Copenhagen (p. 43), and his son Johann Conrad Spengler (1767-1839) (p. 105). The majority of the entries are in German, French, English and Danish and date from his years of travel as a journeyman coppersmith in 1792-1795, when he traveled via Frankfurt, Chemnitz, Dresden to Copenhagen and on to London. Occasional further entries continue until 1841. The entries are not in chronological order and alternate with pasted-in pages (pp. 3a-b, 48a, 111a-d) and numerous blank pages. The numbering of the pages is from the time of the creation of the album.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This paper manuscript bound in green leather is the memory album of Eduard Fischer (1801-1859) of Schaffhausen; it contains notes from family and friends. Eduard Fischer was the son of the metallurgist and entrepreneur Johann Conrad Fischer (1773-1854) of Schaffhausen. The book contains entries from 1818 until 1920. The very first entry is from the hand of his father, Johann Conrad Fischer: „Experientia est optima Magistra! […] Zum Andenken von deinem dich liebenden Vatter Johann Conrad Fischer, Oberst Lieut: der Art: und Mitglied der helv: Gesellschaft für die gesamten Naturwissenschaften. Schaffhausen, dem 21ten Märtz 1819.“ [p. 3]. Further entries in German, Latin and Ancient Greek are concentrated on pages 13-91 with many blank pages in between. Among the entries are notes by his brothers Georg Fischer (1804-1888) [p. 44] and Berthold Fischer (1807-1879) [p. 73], as well as by his sister C. Fischer [p. 59]. The entries are not in chronological order. Pages 92 to 175 are blank.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
Part of a four-volume Latin Bible in parchment, produced in the scriptorium of Allerheiligen monastery in Schaffhausen shortly after 1080. The codex has numerous initials with scroll ornaments, a page decorated with colours and gold featuring an initial V (the vision of Isaiah), and a historiated inital with scroll ornaments (the calling of Jeremiah), in which the influence of manuscripts from Reichenau can be recognized. Along with Min. 18, Min. 4 is one of the most important codices from the prime of Allerheiligen, when the monastery, founded in 1049, supported, under Abbot Siegfried (d. 1096), the reforms of Hirsau and, for this purpose established a library.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
A complete Latin Bible in fine, extremely white parchment, copied and illuminated in the region of Lake Constance in the first half of the fourteenth century. Two- to eight-line framed, mostly figurated initials in colors and gold introduce the prologue and the Biblical books. At the beginning there are two illuminated pages, each with six medallions (colored pen-drawings) in which are depicted episodes from the history of Creation up to the expulsion from Eden, Noah's ark and the sacrifice of Isaac. The manuscript is attested in Schaffhausen from the fifteenth century. Min. 6 is one of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Ministerial Library, and present a unity of parchment, script and book decoration.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This copy of Augustine's Enarrationes in psalmos 51-100, written in two columns, is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); together with Min. 15, it completes the older Min. 17. Beautiful parchment, the same layout with large margins as in Min. 15, several hands. The I on the incipit page (f. 1r) and the Q on the page with the decorative initial (f. 3v) are executed in gold and opaque paint and are protected by sewed-on fabric. The 12th century binding was redone and historiated in the 19th century.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
A parchment copy of Augustine's treatise on the Gospel of John, which was produced shortly after 1080 in the scriptorium of the monastery of Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen. The manuscript contains numerous initials with scroll ornaments, a decorated page in colors and gold with an initial I in the margin and a historiated C (Last Supper) in gold, in which the influence of the manuscripts of Reichenau can be observed. Along with Min. 4, Min. 18 is one of the most important codices from the prime of Allerheiligen, when the monastery, founded in 1049, supported, under Abbot Siegfried (d. 1096), the reforms of Hirsau and, for this purpose established a library.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
This copy of Augustine's De civitate Dei, written in two columns and executed by several hands, has numerous corrections, variants and Nota monograms in the margins; it is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The volume opens with an incipit page and an ornate decorative page with the initial E in a red pen and ink drawing on a light green background. Red initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 10-12 lines mark the beginning of individual books. A quire was lost between f. 137/138 and between f. 193/194, before this codex, like many others, received a new binding in the 15th century with metal bosses, two clasps and the title written on the front cover; as with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40, Min. 53, Min. 55 and Min. 104, fragments from a 14th century necrology of Allerheiligen Abbey were used as back flyleaf and pastedown (f. 292, 293).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript, listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v), consists of two parts. The first part contains a careful copy of Gregory's Dialogues in a single-column, which is also transmitted in Min. 47; it has a page with a decorative initial (f 1r) and a portrait of the author (f 1v). Especially remarkable are the life of Benedict in Book 2 (f 23r) and the beginnings of Book 3 (38r) and 4 (69r), which exhibit large initials with scroll ornamentation. The binding is Romanesque; it is not clear whether quire V between f 32v and f 33r was missing from the start or whether it was lost during a modern restoration. The second part (from f 104r, quires XV to XVIII) contains a mostly undecorated copy of the life of John Eleymon by Leontios of Neapolis.
Online Since: 10/13/2016