| Country | Location, Library | Manuscripts |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Überlingen, Leopold-Sophien-Bibliothek | 1 |
| Austria | St. Paul in Kärnten, Stiftsbibliothek St. Paul im Lavanttal | 1 |
| Country | Location, Library | Manuscripts |
|---|---|---|
| France | Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France | 1 |
| United States of America | Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art | 1 |
| Russia | St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia | 1 |
Number of manuscripts: 981, displayed: 41 – 60
Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Mss.h.h.I.16
Paper · 407 ff. · 37 x 26 cm · Bern · 1484/85
The Spiezer Chronik by chronicler Diebold Schilling, named after its longtime home city of Spiez, is also known, because it was privately commissioned by Rudolph von Erlach, as the Privater Schilling. It contains the early history of Bern from the founding of the city to events that took place in the mid-15th century. Unlike Schilling’s three-volume official chronicle, the Amtliche Berner Chronik (Bern, Burgerbibliothek Mss.h.h.I.1-3), it remains incomplete (the Burgundian wars are not included).
Beromünster, Stiftskirche St. Michael, Cantatorium
Parchment · 72 ff. · 25.9 x 15.5 cm · 13th century
The Beromünster Cantatorium contains the solo sung parts of the mass with notation, and some tropes added during the 14th century. Among these are the Kyrie tropes Kyrie fons bonitatis and Cunctipotens. The version of Conductus is interesting. The codex is bound in a wooden case with two ivory panels from the 8th or 9th century.
Beromünster, Stiftskirche St. Michael, Epistolar
Parchment · 129 ff. · 23.5 x 17.2 cm · first half of the 11th century
The Epistolary is the oldest manuscript in the library at Beromunster; according to local tradition it was presented by a member of the patron family of Lenzburg, Count Ulrich († before 1050). The front cover, added later, is an ivory panel dating from the second half of, perhaps the end of, the 13th century.
Bremgarten, Stadtarchiv Bremgarten, Bücherarchiv Nr. 2
Paper · 202 ff. · 40.5 x 29 cm · Bremgarten · [1514-1532]
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 second of the three volumes of the chronicle, consists primarily of an account of the Old Zurich War and is illustrated with 130 colored pen sketches. 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 Archive in Bremgarten, and the third in the Cantonal Library of Aargau.
Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1955.74
Parchment · 1 f. · ca. 27 x 20 cm · Engelberg · 1143-1178
The upper half of the illustrated side contains a naked Job and his three friends, the lower half shows the author, Gregory the Great, inspired by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and a Benedictine monk, portrayed in the usual manner of Petrus Diaconus, the latter probably drawn by a different artist. On the back is a Leonine couplet, which attributes the leaf unambiguously to Engelberg. The leaf is, according to P. Karl Stadler’s 1787 description, the original opening of the first volume of the Moralia Iob by Gregory the Great (Engelberg, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 20, here immediately before f. 1). In the mid-19th century it was owned by Jacob Heinrich von Hefner-Alteneck (1811-1903) and was faithfully reproduced in his book Trachten des Mittelalters (1840-54, Vol. 1, Plate 57, p. 76f). In November 1953 the leaf was purchased from the J.H. Wade Fund for the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 3
Paper · 55 ff. · 21 x 14.3 cm · end of the 15th century
The prolific poet Aeschylus dominates the history of Greek tragedy. His artistry reaches its high point in the writing of Persae (5th century BC). This piece, which has served to pass on its author's name for posterity, is the oldest known surviving text.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 5
Paper · 96 ff. · 21.0 x 15.4/15.6 cm · ca. 1491
Although the Aesopian tradition enjoyed great popularity during the middle ages, thanks to the dissemination of Latin translations, the Greek text of the fabulist was first rediscovered during the Renaissance. CB 5, which was written on paper near the end of the 15th century, is a collection of some 150 fables ascribed to the poet, which served as an inspiration for La Fontaine. Following are, among other things, the Delphic prophecies of Pseudo-Pythagoras, which transmit the well-known aphorism "Know thyself!", and The Clouds, the comedy that made the Athenian writer Aristophanes famous.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 6
Parchment · 48 ff. · 28.8 x 18 cm · England? · 14th-15th century
The Historiae de preliis Alexandri Magni forms a part of the vast body of Latin literature devoted to Alexander the Great during the middle ages in the occident. This manuscript, written on parchment during the 14th or 15th century (perhaps around 1400), is most likely of English origin, judging by its extremely rounded Gothic script. The titles are rubricated, and contemporaneous glosses and corrections have been added in the margins.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 7
Parchment · 59 ff. · 20.8 x 14.2 cm · Italy, Naples · 15th century
This Latin manuscript on astronomical topics includes works by Germanicus, Pliny the Elder and Hyginus. The codex features numerous pen and ink drawings, including a planisphere (rotatable star chart) consisting of five golden concentric circles containing constellations portrayed as people or animals. These drawings, dating from the 15th century, have been attributed to Antonio di Mario of the Neapolitan region.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 8
Paper · 247 ff. · 33.0 x 22.4 cm · ca 1541
Multiple treatises by Archimedes are brought together in Codex Bodmer 8, notably On the Sphere and Cylinder and The quadrature of the Parabola. This manuscript, which was written in about 1541 on paper, also includes commentaries on the work of the celebrated mathematician by the geometer Eutocius, followed by a treatise on instruments of measurement by Heron of Alexandria.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 9
Parchment · I + 81 ff. · 19.8 x 12.3 cm · [France] · 11th/12th century and 12th century
During the entire middle ages in the occident, the texts of Aristotle and Boethius were well circulated and inspired a large number of thinkers. These two great philosophers are brought together in this volume, written in a variety of different hands. The first portion, which can be dated sometime in the 11th or 12th century, contains the works of Aristotle. It also includes an extremely interesting schema (fol. 27) and initials accented in green and decorated with scrollwork. The text of Boethius, which is dated somewhat later, was copied during the 12th century. In this text one also finds some contemporaneous corrections as well as glosses from the 14th century.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 10
Parchment · 251 ff. · 26.6 x 19.3 cm · France · 13th century
Manuscript CB 10 was probably intended for educational use, it contains works of Aristotle, Avicenna, Nicolaus Damascenus, Qusta Ibn-Luca and Alexander Aphrodisiensis. This manuscript, written on parchment during the 13th century, presumably belonged to a student of the Faculty of Arts in Leipzig, as may be concluded from a list of lectures attended during the year 1439 which is included in the codex. The list contains the names of the professors, titles of the texts covered, lecturers' fees, and starting and ending dates for the lecture periods.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 11
Parchment · 80 ff. · 26.3 x 18.0 cm · 13th century
The Estoire de la guerre sainte, attributed to Ambroise d’Evreux, informs us that the Chanson d’Aspremont was read aloud during the winter of 1190 to entertain the soldiers of Richard the Lionhearted and Philip Augustus, who were stationed in Sicily. This heroic epic (chanson de geste) in rhymed decimeter and Alexandrines tells of the campaign of Charlemagne in Italy against the pagan king Agolant and his son Helmont. The Anglo-Norman manuscript held by the Fondation Martin Bodmer was produced in the 13th century and contains interlinear and marginal corrections, added in a second hand at a slightly later date than that in which the text was written. Because the additions were doubtless made with the help of a proofing manuscript, we can thus measure the complex effort that was required for the dissemination of this text.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 14
Parchment · 263 ff. · 43.5 x 27.2 cm · Italy, Bologna (?) · 14th century
This Latin parchment manuscript from the 14th century contains a comprehensive commentary by jurists of Bologna on the "Corpus Iuris Civilis" as well as on others, such as the "Codex Justinianus" and the "Digests".
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 18
Parchment · II + 268 + II ff. · 30.0 x 20.0 cm · Abbey of Tongerloo, Diocese of Cambrai, Deanery of Antwerp · end of the 13th century
In the middle of the 12th century the Latin works of Statius and Virgil as well as adaptations of Homer were translated into the vernacular. At the same time these Latin texts were being brought into the "romance" language (French), the first examples of the French poetic form called the "Roman" or Romance were being written. CB 18, a parchment manuscript, contains two such works, the "Roman de Troie" by Benoît de Sainte-Maure and the anonymously authored "Roman de Thèbes".
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 19
Parchment · 66 ff. · 10.6 x 8.0 cm · Cistercian Abbey of Maulbronn (Diocese of Speyer, Württemberg) · 1480
This manuscript, produced in 1480 at the Cistercian Abbey of Maulbronn (Diocese of Speyer, Württemberg, cf. f. 44r), contains texts written by Ekbert of Schönau, the brother of St. Elizabeth of Schönau, as well as prayers to Mary written in another hand.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 21
Parchment · 347 ff. · 28 x 23.5 cm · Spain (?) · 13th century
The Hebrew text of the Old Testament in CB 21 originated in Moorish Spain: Al-Andalus. Unlike most similar surviving manuscripts, it does not belong to the Ashkenazic tradition, but rather is an artifact of the Sephardic book culture of the 13th century. The decoration is strongly influenced by calligraphic art.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 25
Parchment · (2) 196+23 bis (2) ff. · 31.9 x 24.8 cm · Constantinople and Smyrna · end of the 10th century
A remarkable manuscript from the end of the 10th century, undoubtedly produced in either Constantinople or Smyrna, CB 25 presents all four Gospels together in Greek. The biblical text is accompanied by commentaries by Peter of Laodiceia (an exegetical chain) written in cursive. The volume is decorated with two valuable full-page miniatures representing Luke and Mark against gold backgrounds.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 28
Parchment · 416 ff. · 35.7 x 25 cm · Northern France (?) · 13th century
Copied in the 13th century, probably in the north of France, this Latin Bible unifies in one volume the books of the Old- and New Testaments, most of them preceded by prologues. It transmits the standard Vulgate text, called the Paris version, with the chapter divisions attributed to Stephen Langton, and its last thirty pages provide a glossary of Hebrew names. Historiated initials open the various biblical books and give the volume its structure. A smaller script than usual in this volume has been used on fol. 1 for the Commentary on the Tree of Consanguinity, a text usually transmitted in juridical works, augmented here by an illustration of such a tree.
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 30
Parchment · 163 + 16 ff. · 22.7 x 15.7 cm · Southern Germany · about 1200 and 13th/14th centuries
This codex from southern Germany is composed of two parts bound together in one German binding in 1569. The first part of the manuscript contains about a hundred leaves from the 12th and 13th centuries. It begins with a calendar featuring numerous constellations and full page illustrations. Following are prayers and liturgical songs. The second part consists of thirty leaves containing a series of Latin prayers in carefully wrought late 14th century Gothic script.