This composite manuscript, property of the scholar and Carthusian monk Johannes Heynlin from Basel, consists of various handwritten and printed pieces of theological content: among them the treatise De saecularium religionibus by the Dominican and church reformer Johannes Nider, written in 1465 by a French scribe and annotated in the margin by Heynlin; or the text De miseria humanae conditionis by Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini, one of the most important humanists of the Italian Renaissance. After Heynlin's death, the volume became part of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

The Legenda aurea by the Dominican Jacobus de Voragine (about 1228-1298) is one of the most widely known spiritual collections of the Middle Ages. This 14th century manuscript from Bologna preserves it along with further legends of the saints. The codex is written in a regular Italian Gothic script and, as a matter of routine, is carefully decorated; a large lacuna in chapter 45 (legend of St. Michael) was augmented by a 15th century hand. The volume belongs to the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. (flr)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

The first part of this composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains Aristotle's writing on the soul, De anima, in William of Moerbeke's translation, copied in Paris in 1459 by the scholar Johannes Heynlin. The main text, decorated with artistic initials with gold leaf as well as fleuronné initials, is closely surrounded by commentary in marginal and interlinear glosses, written in a small, compact semi-Gothic script. Bound into this volume as the second part is Aristotle's De animalibus, printed in Venice in 1476; this text's uncharacteristic lack of decoration at least raises the question of whether it was also part of Heynlin's library. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This composite manuscript comes from the library of the Carthusian monastery of Basel and contains school texts on the ancient comic poet Publius Terentius Afer (Terence) (ca. 195 - ca. 159 B.C.), such as Comoediae cum didascaliis, as well as various Rhetoricae, or teachings on the art of speech making and letter writing. The first part of the manuscript was written by the later Prior Jacob Lauber while he was still a student in 1471 and 1472. (flr)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This French manuscript from the third quarter of the 15th century contains two works from ancient times. Nonius Marcellus (4th/5th century) offers linguistic and factual explanations on Latin authors mainly from the time of the Republic, partly in alphabetically-ordered lemmas; M. Terentius Varro († 27 BC) addresses linguistic questions concerning the Latin language. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript contains exercises and Quaestiones on Aristotle's works De anima and De physica by the reform theologian Johann von Wesel (1425-1481). This volume is from the Carthusian monastery of Basel; based on a comparative study of the script, it can be assumed that the scribe of the first part is Jakob Louber. Numerous annotations in the margins and on slips of paper attest that the manuscript was heavily used. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

Composite manuscript of philosophical content, owned by Jakob Lauber and even partially written by him. Jakob Lauber from Lindau studied at the then newly founded University of Basel from 1466 until 1475, first in the Faculty of Arts, then canon law in the Faculty of Law. After serving as rector for a short period, he entered the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in 1477; as its prior from 1480 on, he expanded it significantly and reorganized its library. When he entered the monastery, Lauber's library became the property of the monastery. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015