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. (iss)

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). (iss)

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. (iss)

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). (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (iss)

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. (wal)

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. (ste)

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. (ste)

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. (ste)

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. (ste)

"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. (flu)