e-codices Newsletter

Issue n^o 47 - 22 June 2020

In this issue:

1. Manuscripts from the Cistercian Monastery of Hauterive
2. Virgil-manuscript by Johannes Heynlin
3. Who’s who in St Gall Abbey

The e-codices newsletter provides information about the latest updates, highlights, and activities of our project. We are delighted to count you among our readers!

The e-codices team

Find us on Facebook

1. Manuscripts from the Cistercian Monastery of Hauterive

The Cistercian Monastery of Hauterive is located 7 kilometers from Fribourg, which is also the home of e-codices. The monastery was founded in 1138. Although the monastery still exists, almost all the medieval manuscripts from Hauterive were transferred to the Fribourg Cantonal and University Library in 1848, the year this library then called Bibliothèque cantonale fribourgeoise was founded, and the abbey was (temporarily) dissolved by the cantonal authorities. This collection owns a total of 74 manuscripts; another 18 manuscripts are located elsewhere, including at the Franciscan monastery in Fribourg (e.g. Ms. 10). With 92 medieval manuscripts, this beautiful collection contains the only comprehensive monastic fund in French-speaking Switzerland. The new update provides access to manuscripts L 55 (Jacobus de Voragine, Sermones), L 77 (Rabbi Samuel), and L 310 (Agravain), all of which were owned by the monastery, but were not created there.

2. Virgil-manuscript by Johannes Heynlin

Johannes Heynlin de Lapide was an outstanding scholar in the second half of the 15th century. He was a book collector, copyist, printing pioneer, preacher and early humanist with a special connection to Basel: Early on he learned about the printing press in Basel, and later in 1470, he, together with Guillaume Fichet, produced the first book printed in Paris. In 1474 he returned to Basel as a preacher and finally joined the Carthusian monastery of St. Margarethenthal in 1487. His large library contained 283 volumes, all of which he bequeathed to the monastery. The Universitätsbibliothek Basel holds 15 manuscripts and 6 manuscript parts in his own hand, as well as numerous manuscripts and prints which he annotated himself. Among these the Virgil manuscript (Basel, UB, F III 3) stands out, which Heynlin copied in an elegant humanistic book hand in Paris between 1469 and 1471, i.e. in the same period during which he, together with Fichet, initiated printing in Paris. The book decoration is from a Parisian workshop, but the binding was probably made in Basel.

3. Who’s who in St Gall Abbey

The Abbey Library is renowned for its old manuscripts, dating from the 8th to the 11th century. Naturally e-codices initially focused on these manuscripts; by now, all manuscripts from this period have been made accessible online by e-codices.

Less famous are the modern manuscripts from the period up to the end of the 18th century (see also St. Gall Abbey – 1000 years of manuscript production). An example from this update is a manuscript (Cod. Sang. 1425) which lists the monks of St. Gall Abbey from the time of its foundation, along with their respective biographies. This is an invaluable historical source about the organization of the monastery over a very long period of time.