The Samaritan Pentateuch contained in this manuscript is incomplete – it begins with Gn 11:17 (f. 1r) and ends with Dt 24:15 (f. 266v) – and it is also out of order – f. 2r/v with Dt 18:15–19:8 should be between f. 259 and f. 260.The two-language manuscript is copied in Samaritan-Hebrew characters in two columns (ff. 1r-237r), with the Hebrew text on the right and the Arabic translation on the left, and then in four columns with the same alternation of languages (ff. 237v-266v). The main part of this volume was copied by the scribe Ab Nēṣāna ban Ṣidqa ban Yāqob (fl. 1468-1502), known for producing eight other copies of the Pentateuch, some of which have been dated to between 873 and 890 AH, or between 1468/1469 and 1485 CE (cf. Evelyn Burkhardt, Katalog samaritanischer Pentateuchhandschriften). Thus, while the Bodmer Pentateuch does not have a date, its production can be dated to the second half of the fifteenth century. Two other scribes worked on this copy. The first completed the missing parts of the manuscript: two leaves from the book of Numbers (ff. 219r-220v), as well as the text from Dt 4:21 onwards (f. 232r). The last scribe copied, later and on paper, parts of Exodus (f. 66r/v, 78r/v). Concerning this Pentateuch's provenance, an acquisition note placed at the end of Numbers (f. 224r) states that it was sold in 1532. It appeared in Nablus in 1861, when it was bought by a London antiquities merchant, Mr. Grove, who resold it that same year to the count of Paris, Philippe d'Orléans, as his stamp attests (e.g., f. 38r, 52r, 67r). In 1960, Martin Bodmer bought it at auction at Sotheby's in London.
Online Since: 09/26/2024
This volume of 25 leaves was produced between 1910-1916 to preserve eight fragments from five Greek parchment manuscripts. The fragments, almost all palimpsests, had been found around 1896 in the binding of an unidentified Syrian gospel from Harput (Anatolia). A: Fragm. 1-2 (4th century ex / 7th century in): parts of ch. 15 of Didascalia apostolorum; B: Fragm. 3-4 (6th century): parts of ch. 3-4 of First Epistle of Paul to Timothy; C: Fragm. 5, in extremely poor state of preservation: contents and dating unknown; D: Fragm. 6 (7th century): parts of the prologue and the beginning of the scholia on book 24 of the Iliad; E: Fragm. 7-8 (7th century): parts of Psalms 108, 114 and 115. The content of the writing on the lower parts of the palimpsests is neither known nor dated.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
The two texts brought together in this manuscript, De rebus bellicis (ff. 5r-17v) and Notitia dignitatum (ff. 19r-94r), date back to antiquity. The first work presents war machines used by the Roman army, while the second text depicts the late Roman military organization in both the Western and Eastern Empires. From the outset, that is between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century, these texts were designed with illustrations, the oldest known copy of which, dating back to the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century, was held in the library of Speyer Cathedral (today only a single leaf remains of that copy). The Speyer copy was borrowed by Cardinal Pietro Donato in 1436, when he was at the Council of Basel, where at least two copies were made and illuminated by Péronet Lamy (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Canon. Misc. 378; Paris, BnF, lat. 9661). The Fondation Bodmer's manuscript is a more recent copy of these, made less than a century later. It may have been used for the edition of these two texts (including the images), which was undertaken by Sigismundus Gelenius and published in 1552 by Froben in Basel.
Online Since: 12/10/2020
These fragments of Ovid's Fasti were discovered around 1700 in the monastery school of Ilfeld and have since been known as "Fragmentum Ilfeldense". In 1956 they became part of the collection of Martin Bodmer, after they had been used as endpapers or in a book binding. The Fasti is a poem in elegiac couplets, the theme of which is the Roman calendar – only the first six months – as well as the changes introduced at the beginning of the Empire with the feast days in memory of Augustus.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The historical-biblical compilation by Peter of Poitiers (around 1130-1205), the Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi, was very widely used during the last centuries of the Middle Ages. Like many other examplars of this text, this copy was written on a parchment scroll, but at an unknown date it was cut into 7 parts. Figurative medallions and schemata, most of them genealogical, cover the entire work and thus represent a continuous line of world history, from the Fall of Man (f. 1) to the Christmas story (f. 5).
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This manuscript fragment, which was used as binding for an edition of the De quattuor virtutibus by Domenico Mancini (London, R. Dexter, 1601), contains an excerpt from a sermon by Aelfric (around 950 - around 1010), who was one of the most important Anglo-Saxon authors of the High Middle Ages. The section of this sermon, which is intended for Septuagesima Sunday and which has survived in full in 9 manuscripts, contains Aelfric's almost complete English translation of the parable of the sower (Matthew 20:1-16), followed by a few lines of explanation. According to N. Ker, this fragment, which can be dated to the 2nd half of the 11th century, presents various interesting linguistic variations on the original text by Aelfric. It is the oldest Anglo-Saxon manuscript owned by the Fondation Martin Bodmer.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
John Lydgate, Troy Book, written c. 1412-1420 at the request of Henry V when still Prince of Wales. It is composed in couplets, with a prologue, five books, an epilogue, and an address to Henry V (thirteen stanzas rhyme royal=7-line stanzas ababbcc), and envoy, titled ‘Verba auctoris' (two 8-line stanzas). Lydgate translated the story of the Trojan War into English, not directly from Homer but through the re-workings by Benoit de Ste Maure, Roman de Troie (1165) and Guido delle Colonna, Historia Destructionis Troiae (1287).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
The verse narrative Willehalm by Wolfram von Eschenbach - one of the most important German authors of the Middle Ages - is a historical-legendary novel based on French heroic poems ("chansons de geste"). It tells the love story of Willehalm, Count of Toulouse, and Arabel, daughter of a Muslim king, and reflects the history of the conflict between these two medieval cultures. Since the 1360s it has been integrated into a unique cycle, together with the Arabel by Ulrich von dem Türlin, which tells the backstory, and the Rennewart, which tells the continuation. More than ten manuscripts and numerous fragments of this cycle have survived.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Boethius' De consolatione Philosophiae knew continuous success during the Middle Ages. This 14th century manuscript offers a complete copy of the Latin text with some interlinear glosses. The book decoration consists of a historiated initial with a half-length frontal portrait of the author as he points to his book (f. 1). From this initial sprouts a short leaf scroll. In addition there are very beautiful decorated initials placed at the beginning of the various books of the Consolatione (f. 8, 17, 30 and 41). Their style indicates that the manuscript was made in northern Italy, perhaps Bologna.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
These two illuminated maps probably were part of an atlas of nautical charts of the Mediterranean, also called Portolan. The first map is north-facing and shows a part of the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and of the Mediterranean on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar, between the Canary Islands and northern Italy. The second map is western-facing and shows the islands of the Aegean Sea between Crete (Candia) and Thessaloniki, Greece and Asia Minor, with Troy and Constantinople sketched in anachronistically. A scale for the latitudes on the first map, graduated distance scales near the margins, rhumb lines, and wind roses decorated with fleurs-de-lis accompany the red and black coastal toponyms written perpendicular to the coasts. Their very stylized arrangement emphasizes the headlands and estuaries, and the cartographer also depicted some rivers, albeit without great precision. In the interior and rather vaguely placed are miniature pictures of cities with banners, mountains, and trees. At sea, a few ships and a marine animal appear on both maps. The names of the regions are written on banners or in larger letters. The particular style of the design of the cities, the decorations, and the writing refers back to the work of Giovanni Battista Cavallini or his successor Pietro Cavallini, who worked in Livorno between 1636 and 1688.
Online Since: 12/12/2019
The first part (4r-121r) of this paper manuscript contains a series of alliances made by the (Swiss) confederates, and the second part (130r-290r) contains the burgage (“Burgrecht”) alliances and contracts of the city of Bern. In the last part (300v-336r), the texts of alliances made in the 16th and 17th century by the confederates or by the individual cantons with Venice, Savoy and France were added at a later time and by a different scribe. Based on the kind of paper as well as on the script, this manuscript seems to have been produced around 1616 in Bern or in a territory under Bernese rule. The inside front cover holds the bookplate Baggrave Library, perhaps the library of the country house Baggrave Hall (Leicestershire), seat of the Burnaby family, including John Burnaby (1701-74), the English ambassador in Bern (1743-49). In 1970, the manuscript was purchased by Martin Bodmer.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
During the Middle Ages, Seneca was the most popular and most read of the ancient playwrights. The manuscripts of his tragedies, of which almost 400 copies are known today, are mostly from the 14th and 15th century, as is this copy, owned by the Fondation Bodmer. At the beginning of each of Seneca's dramas, this version has a historiated initial that summarizes the plot of the drama, such as the suicide of Jocasta and the blinding of Oedipus at the beginning of the eponymous drama (f. 46v). The rather modest execution of these initials was most likely carried out in Northern Italy, where most of the illuminated copies of this text (about 50) were produced.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
The plays of Terence were highly appreciated throughout the entire Middle Ages, as attested by this 11th century manuscript written in Carolingian script, which preserves fragments from two of his six comedies, Andria and Eunuchus. The fragments are of different sizes; between the 15th and 16th century, they were used as binding for registers, as evidenced by certain signs of use and of folds, as well as by dates written beside invocations of the Virgin, of Christ or of St. Thomas.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
At an unknown date, this late 12th century parchment bifolium was used as binding, as attested by traces of folding in the lower margin. It contains an excerpt of the Tristia, a collection of letters in elegiac couplets written by Ovid during his exile. The text is continuous, which indicates that the bifolium came from the middle of a quire; only a few verses are missing due to a cut in the upper part of the leaf. It was purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1958 from the bookseller Kraus in New York.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The larger part of this manuscript contains works by Marquart von Stadtkyll – Chirurgie (5r-50r) and Von den Zeichen des Todes (50v-58v) – or works attributed to him (59r-109r, various recipes for plasters, ointments, powders, baths, etc.). The rest of the manuscript (1v-4v, 109r-139r) contains transcriptions of 150 medical recipes by various scribes from between the 15th and the 16th century. The type of script and the dialect used indicate an origin in Southwestern Germany. In the 19th century, this manuscript was the property of the family of Hegwein von Herrnsheim (Lower Franconia); family members left their names and various dates in the manuscript. In 1969, it was purchased by Martin Bodmer at the William H. Schab Gallery in New York.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The Chronique de Bertrand du Guesclin (Version B) is one of the two prose versions of Cuvelier's epic poem Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin. This work recounts the life of the Constable for Charles V, from his childhood to his death.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
Early 16th century Esther scroll from Ashkenaz, for private use with intricate floral and animal type ink drawings located over some of the monumental letters in the list of Haman's sons.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The twenty comedies by Plautus contained in this manuscript were written in the course of the second half of the 15th century in a very careful humanist script. Each comedy begins with a golden initial with bianchi girari. The first page is also decorated with a frame of floral interlace, which is interrupted in the lower part by a laurel crown flanked by two putti; the inside of the frame was left blank and must have been meant to contain the owner's coat of arms. According to a shelfmark on the front pastedown, in the 17th century this manuscript belonged to the Maurist library in Rome.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This manuscript contains the transcription of a series of documents that relate directly or indirectly to the bailiwick of Neuamt in the Canton of Zurich. The manuscript consists of three parts – one of parchment (ff. 1-27) and two of paper (ff. 28-39 and 40-47) – which were bound together probably in 1548, as indicated by the date printed on the front cover. The texts collected here are from the period between 1538 and 1604 (additions), with the exception of one document from 1461 (ff. 36-38v).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This manuscript was written on paper in Northern Italy. It contains two ancient historical texts that were copied independently of one another: the Epitome of Roman History by Florus and the History Against the Pagans by Paulus Orosius. These texts enjoyed great success during the entire Middle Ages and would be found in any library of even minor importance. According to the 15th century ex-libris (f. 147r), this copy was the property of the Abbey of the Augustinian Hermits of San Pier d'Arena near Genoa.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This early 14th century manuscript was copied in Italy; it brings together Ovid's Ars amatoria (The Art of Love), two books of Priscian's grammar, excerpts from the Secretum secretorum, an incomplete book on physiognomy by an unknown author, as well as a series of hymns attributed to, among others, Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose or Sedulius. The manuscript, which is missing two leaves at the beginning, shows old signs of use, with commentaries and maniculae added in the margins. This copy has no decoration with the exception of several red and mauve pen-flourish initials, highlighted in gold and framed.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This manuscript contains the Satires by the Roman poet Persius – Aulus Persius Flaccus (34-62). Except for the prologue, the satires are written in hexameter; there are a modest number of verses (about 650). The satires were very popular in the Middle Ages and beyond, as even Jean-Jacques Rousseau borrowed some words from them - intus et in cute (Satire III, v. 30 - fol. 5v) - to place at the beginning of his Confessions. The addition of a paragraph in French from the Gospel of Luke on the last page of the manuscript suggests that this copy of the Satires, which goes back to the 12th century, might have been copied in France.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This dated paper manuscript contains the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit by the German mystic and Dominican Henry Suso (1295-1366), which was in wide use during the Middle Ages, as well as the allegorical treatise Die zwölf Lichter im Tempel der Seele, which originally might have been part of a sermon. The linguistic characteristics of the text (Bavarian dialect) suggest an origin in South Tyrol, while a later annotation on the flyleaf (18th-19th century) could be an inventory note stating that it belonged to the library of the St. Elisabeth Convent of the Poor Clares in Brixen.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This is a composite manuscript, written in Devanāgarī script bearing the influence of the Kashmiri style, bringing together a number of ritual texts dealing with the worship of Viṣṇu. 1. (ff. 1_1r-1_6r) preparatory texts and rituals (without a single name or title), starting with a likely Pāñcarātra-influenced set of ritual practices, namely, nyāsas, and dhyānas, i.e. assignment of deities, and syllables to various parts of the body and the visualisation of the main deity. 2. (ff. 1_6r-1_149v) Bhagavadgīta: the main text in this miscellaneous collection. The Bhagavadgītā ("Song of the Lord" - Viṣṇu/ Kṛṣṇa), which is a part of the Mahābhārata, book 6 from 18, is one of the most copied texts in the Hindu tradition, and this part of the Mahābhārata epic survives in a huge number of manuscripts. 3. (ff. 2_1r-2_107v) Copies of other parts of the Mahābhārata, Śāntiparvaṇ, which all are related to Viṣṇu. 4. (ff. 3_1r-6_31v) 2 parts of Pāñcarātrika Sanatkumārasaṃhitā, dealing with the praise of Viṣṇu, plus mantras including (ff. 4_1r-4_21r) Pāṇḍavagītāstotra, (ff. 5_1r-5_20v) Gopālapaṭala, (ff. 6_1r-6_23r) Gopālalaghupaddhati and other texts. 5. (ff. 7_1r-7_37v) Parts of the tantras, a. Saṃmohanatantra, dealing with the praise of Viṣṇu, i.e. Gopālasahasranāmastrotra; b. Gautamītantra, the part called Gopālastavarāja. 6. (ff. 8_1r-10_8r) Two different texts: 1. Niṃbarkakavaca, which is a production of the Nimbarka worship lineage of Vaiṣṇavas. 2. Part of ritual texts of Sāmaveda, dealing with the 5 saṃskāras, plus various vedic mantras, such as Gāyatrī, in its vaiṣṇava forms. 7. (ff. 11_1r-11_11v) Part of the Bhaviṣyotarapurāṇa dealing with the worship of the stones related to Viṣṇu from the Gaṇḍakī river (common name is shaligram). The manuscript contains 3 illuminated titles and 12 miniatures, most of which depict Kṛṣṇa. According to the colophon (ff. 11_11v-11_12r), the text was written in Kashmir, in a monastery called Ahalyamath, in 1833 Saṃvat, that is 1776 or 1777 CE, by a person called Gaṇeśa[bhaṭṭa?] Nandarāma. The second part of the colophon (partially missing), however, links the history of the manuscript to Vrindavan.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This paper manuscript contains the prose version of the heroic epic Fierabras by Jean Bagnyon (1412-1497). As a lawyer in Lausanne, he wrote this adaptation around 1465-1470 at the request of Henri Bolomier, Canon of that same city (f. 117v). Divided into three books, the work begins with an outline of the history of the kings of France up to Charlemagne (Book I: f. 7v-19r), followed by the history of the “merveilleux et terrible“ giant Fierabras (Book II: f. 19v-93v), and a story about the Spanish War according to Turpin (Book III: f. 94r-117v). This copy and the Bibliothèque de Genève's copy (Ms. fr. 188) are the only two handwritten witnesses of this text, which experienced great success in print from the 15th century onward (1st printed edition by Adam Steinschaber in Geneva in 1478).
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This manuscript, written in a humanistic script, contains the Epigrammata by Martial (ca. 40- ca. 102) in twelve books, followed by the usual two concluding texts, Xenia and Apophoreta. The first leaf of the manuscript is missing. Several epigrams were added, probably at the same time period, but by a hand different from that of the principal scribe (41v, 105v, 132r, 133v, 136v). In the absence of a title page, the decoration is limited to a series of initials, created by two different artists; one with bianchi girari, the other with interlace on a background of gold, sometimes referred to as “a cappio annodato.“ Each epigram begins with a simple initial in blue. Produced in Northern Italy in the middle of the 15th century, the manuscript was verifiably in France since the 18th century, in the hands of the Jarente de Sénas family; later it was owned by Ambroise Firmin-Didot. During the 19th century, ownership changed several times before the manuscript became part of the collection of Martin Bodmer.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This is a Panjabi adaptation of the 10th book of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, in Punjabi/Braj language, in Gurmukhī script. It is a collection of stories of the life of the god Kṛṣṇa, written in verse (caupaī, kabitā, soraṭhā and others). Contrary to the Sanskrit version, the text has no clear chapter structures and has a continuous numeration (880 verses). It is richly illustrated with scenes from the life of the god Kṛṣṇa (more than 200 miniatures), and it is a free verse rendering of the ancient Sanskrit text that was written in ślokas (shlokas), which was extremely popular in India.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
The manuscript, written in modern Devanāgarī script, contains a series of extracts of poems on Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa and on nāyikās and nāyakas (heroes and heroines), demonstrating various states and stages of erotic love. Two compositions mention in their colophons the authors or compilers, Rājānāgarī Dāsa (f. 55v) and the Venerable Kuvara Phakīra Siṃha - Kubar Fakīr Singh in hindi spelling (f. 58v). The manuscript is illustrated: five pictures feature Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa (f. 1v, 10r, 26v, 33r and 37v), and two others depict young people in love (f. 52r, 52v). The poems are of different forms, namely, copaī/caupaī, dohā, aralli, and soraṭha. Each of these has a fixed number of lines, syllables per line and other metric specifications. This style was very popular in Northwestern India from about the 18th century onwards. The manuscript was the property of Oliver Henry Perkins (front pastedown), before entering the Bodmer collection at an unknown date.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This manuscript comprises a collection of four different texts. The main text is the Bhagavadgītā ("Song of the Lord"), a part of the Mahābhārata epic, book 6, which consists of 18 chapters, written here in Devanāgarī in a Kashmiri-influenced style (f. 1v-165r). It is one of the most copied texts in the Hindu tradition and survives in a huge number of manuscripts. Painted portraits of Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna alternate in opening its 18 chapters. The Bhagavadgītā is preceded by the Prayāgatīrthasnānasaṃkalpa, apadoddhāraṇastotra (V2r-V4v),"a promise to take bath at Prayāga (Allahabad)", and followed by the Pañcavaktrahanumatkavaca (N1v-N7v), a protective mantra of Hanuman, and finally the Stavarāja (N8r-N8v), a "king of praises", serving also as a sort of colophon to the whole collection of these miscellaneous texts. These three subsidiary texts are all written in common Devanāgarī script. A partly readable note dated 29 August 1781 identifies the manuscript as a “prayer book of a bramin [i.e. brahmin]” given to the unidentified possessor of the manuscript “on his departure from India” (V1r).
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This unbound manuscript contains one of the most copied texts of the Śvetāmbara Jaina tradition, the Kalpasūtra, which was very popular all over India from the 14th century on. It is a collection of life stories of the great Tīrthaṅkāras. The present manuscript, written in Devanāgarī script, begins with the life of Mahāvīra Jīna, and continues with the biography of Pārśvanātha and Neminātha. The text is incomplete, missing folios 32, 85, 97, 103, and 125, which contained paintings that were sold separately. Their subject, however, can be restored through comparison with similar manuscripts. The paintings still in the manuscript (1v, 7r, 9v, 16v, 17v, 21r, 45v, 47v, 51r, 58r, 62v, 70r, 71v, 72v, 77v, 78r, 81v, 92r) depict the most important events of the lives of the Kalpasūtra's figures. Based on the painting style, the manuscript is close to the 15th century.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
The Comedia delle ninfe fiorentine or Ameto, an early work (around 1341) by Boccaccio, recounts the transformation of the rough shepherd Ameto into a virtuous man after overhearing the stories told by seven nymphs, allegories of the virtues. The text is written as a prosimetrum — alternating prose and verse — as is immediately obvious from the single column page-design of the manuscript. Copied on paper without watermark, the manuscript opens with a single initial in watercolor that contains the coats of arms of the Almerici family (f. 2r), the owner of this copy who probably also commissioned it.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript is one of four known textual witnesses (not counting a fragment) of the Roman de Jules César attributed to Jean de Thuin, a poem of about 9,500 alexandrines that is an adaptation of Lucan's epic poem the Pharsalia. The beginning and the end of the text of the Roman are missing in this manuscript, where the main divisions in the poem are signaled by alternating blue and red initials placed at the beginning of each stanza and accompanied by filigree in the opposite color.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This 13th century manuscript is from Italy and contains the first four books of the work De fide orthodoxa, written in Greek by John of Damascus. As the title (f. 1r) indicates, this text was translated into Latin at the request of Pope Eugene III (1145-1153) by the jurist and prolific translator Burgundio of Pisa. Numerous marginal glosses, for the most part contemporaneous with the creation of this copy of the manuscript, are sprinkled throughout the text.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This manuscript, which was copied in Norman Sicily, contains Origen's Commentary on the Song of Songs in the version translated from Greek into Latin by Rufinus of Aquileia (about 345-about 411). The text comprises the first four of the ten books of which Origen's original text must have consisted. It is preceded by a prologue by Jerome and is followed by short prayer by Gregory of Nazianzus, also translated into Latin by Rufinus of Aquileia. Origen's commentary, which presents Christ as the bridegroom and the Church, or also the individual soul, as the bride, influenced spiritual interpretations of the Song of Songs for centuries.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This is a text called Guhyaṣoḍhā written by Śrīyogarāja [this honorific title means « Glorious king of yoga », and is an honorific title rather than a proper name], and it is in part based on the very ancient tantric text called the Rudrayāmal. Guhya[kālī]ṣoḍhā / Guhyaṣoḍha means a text featuring a sequence of mantras that a tāntrika would need to recite in order to "purify" himself and the mantra that precedes the recitation of the root-mantra of the deity. This text traverses the religious space at the intersection of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
According to Beethoven, this is his “most accomplished work.” It celebrates the consecration of his student and sponsor, Archduke Rudolph, as Archbishop of Olomouc (Olmütz) in 1818. This mass was begun in 1818; it was completed three years after the ceremony and was presented to the cardinal and archbishop on 19 March 1823. This mass in D major seeks to express and communicate, in the words of the composer himself, a state of mind, a religious Stimmung. It is written for a large orchestra and consists of five movements (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) The sections of the Gloria, imposed by the meaning of the text, constitute a sonata: allegro in D major, Gratias in B flat and back to the allegro; then the larghetto and as a third movement the allegro, Quoniam, the fugue In gloria Dei Patris, with a cyclical return to the theme of the Gloria in the principal tone. The music comments on the text: royal acclamation, heartfelt gratitude, divine omnipotence; then, in contrast: prayers, shouts and murmurs of the supplicants of this world (miserere nobis). Purchased at Sotheby's, London, 4 February 1952.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This famous poem, probably written on 6 September 1835, is part of the composite manuscript Les chants du crépuscule that was published in the same year. Hugo movingly denounces the condition of prostitutes: he actually invites the reader to sympathize with rather than despise the “fallen women”. This symbolic vocabulary, usually denoting moral depravity, is used here not to convey a fault, but to express the courage of women who long struggled against the inevitability of the burden of misery before succumbing to it. Far from a moralizing Manicheism, Hugo assigns faults generally attributed to these women also to “à toi, riche ! à ton or”, pointing a finger at the injustice of a social system lacking any distribution of wealth as well as “à nous”, each citizen whose regard is not charitable enough. This manuscript presents a slight variation of the printed text since it reads: “s'y retenir longtemps de leurs mains épuisées” instead of “s'y cramponner longtemps”.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
The sixteen verses making up this passage are the sixth and last part of the poem "Dans l'église de ***”, included in the composite manuscript Les chants du crépuscule of 1835. Several themes are interwoven in this poem, which contrasts the probity of a woman praying in the middle of an abandoned church with the city's hedonists, nihilists hurling themselves "d'ivresses en ivresses”. Hugo surprises this pure soul in the midst of adversity, invoking the help of the Lord to save her from overwhelming sadness. In this last part (VI), the writer increases his Christian support (Votre âme qui bientôt fuira peut-être ailleurs / Vers les régions pures, / Et vous emportera plus loin que nos douleurs, Plus loin que nos murmures !) with an angelic and serene quatrain: Soyez comme l'oiseau, posé pour un instant / Sur des rameaux trop frêles, / Qui sent ployer la branche et qui chante pourtant, / Sachant qu'il a des ailes !
Online Since: 09/26/2017
In this letter to his young partner William H. Herndon (1818-1891), who had remained in Chicago as head of their joint law office, Lincoln, who is about to lose his seat in Congress as a Representative of the Whig Party, offers a lesson in political philosophy. Exhausted by months of political battles against the Mexican-American War and hurt by "exceedingly painful" statements by his friend (whom he describes as "a laborious, studious young man"), the future American President presents his "so Lincolnian" advice: "The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that any body wishes to hinder him."
Online Since: 09/26/2017
While Cardinal Richelieu was besieging La Rochelle by land and by sea from September 1627 on, the poet François de Malherbe, who was very close to the government, reported on the royal council's decisions and orientation in order to appease the concerns of his Norman cousin. In Malherbe's opinion, there is no cause for concern: the King of England is no more than a second-rate monarch, militarily not on a par with France and not able to support the Huguenots of La Rochelle. As to the threat posed by the Reformed, Malherbe judges them to be near the end: "la Huguenoterie court fortune par toute l'Europe d'estre voisine de sa fin."
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This autograph by Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) contains a fragment of a poem. Written on the recto side of a page are three sections numbered with Roman numerals from II to IV and, with the exception of the last one (IV), titled. Although the text is written in prose, the designation “sonnet” (II) could be due to the form of the excerpt in question, which is presented in 14 lines. The first section contains the sign +, which is difficult to interpret and which gives the impression that Rimbaud had planned to rework it. The numbering suggests that these three sections form a homogeneous whole together with the section Dimanche (I, BNF manuscript), thus constituting the poem Jeunesse. One can see inscriptions by other hands from after 1886: the annotation Illuminations in the upper left corner deliberately refers to the collection of poems with that same title, which was originally published in 1886. The poem Jeunesse, which consists of four stanzas, was first published by Vanier in 1895, after the Poésies complètes, as a complement to the Illuminations.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This is an 18th century manuscript of the text called Kedārakalpa, representing itself as a part of the Nandīpurāṇa. The manuscript describes and depicts in its 61 exquisite miniature paintings a religious pilgrimage in Himalayas, Kedarnath region, as done by a group of yogis. It is a śaiva text, i.e. main deity is god Śiva, and the main purpose of the text is to incite people to go on that sacred śaiva pilgrimage.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
The comedy The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro is a vivid satire of society during the Ancien Régime and of aristocratic privileges; it was first performed on April 27, 1784 and presaged the beginning of the French Revolution, which it doubtlessly helped bring about. After the fall of the monarchy in 1792, the comedy was again performed on several Parisian stages, albeit the concluding songs were modified by Beaumarchais. The final stanza of the stuttering judge Don Gusman Brid'oison, which in 1784 had concluded Tout fini-it par des chansons, was adapted to the difficulties of the period: Pour tromper sa maladie, / Il [the people] chantoit tout l'opera : / Dame ! il n'sait plus qu'ce p'tit air-là : / Ca ira, ça ira... However, after the fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian Reaction, these words roiled young Muscadins just as the previous ones had caused the Sansculottes to react. Since the performances were disrupted by such turbulent audiences, Beaumarchais entrusted La Rochelle, the actor who performed the role of Brid'Oison, with an alternative ending that could be recited en cas de bruit (in case of noise). This variant, which remained unpublished until recently, was a praise of freedom of speech and of the sang froid de la raison (the cold blood of reason) against the stratagème (wiles) of ideological cabals.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Despite visible erasures, this is the completed version of this untitled text, which consists of six paragraphs on two leaves, bound in red Morocco leather. At the earliest it was written by Flaubert during his voyage to the Orient (1849-1851) with his friend Maxime du Camp, although it seems more likely to date from his return to France in 1851, the moment he dedicated his life to writing. Later know by the title Le Chant de la Courtisane, this prose poem in a humorous tone was not published by Flaubert himself. Nonetheless, it sums up his challenges as a writer: the work shows the author's fascination with Oriental culture and landscape, which he hopes to to reproduce in a realistic manner. A journal of his voyage, which records his observations and sensations and directly feeds his fictional work. The vocabulary reveals a certain erudition and a concern for accuracy, procedures which herald Salammbô. This manuscript, from the collection of Paul Voute (who had published a facsimile thereof in 1928), was purchased by Martin Bodmer at the Blaizot bookstore.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Mentioned in his correspondence by Flaubert as an explanatory chapter to Salammbô, this manuscript consists of 28 leaves, which are all numbered, except for the last one that contains notes regarding the gods. The manuscript is in a folder on which Flaubert noted the work's title as well as a date, 1857, that corresponds with the beginning of the writing of Salammbô. This chapter, however, was written after 1857: it was actually conceived after an important documentation phase indispensable to the project and after a trip to Carthage. Upon his return in 1858, the writer worked on a chapter that would be “the topographical and picturesque description of the aforementioned city, with a portrayal of the people who inhabited it, including the traditional costume, government, religion, finances and commerce, etc." (Letter to J. Duplan, dated 1 July 1858). Despite a certain number of corrections and marginal additions, this is the completed version of the text, which ultimately was removed from the novel, even though information therefrom was scattered throughout the work. This chapter reveals the way the author works. He is distinguished by his encyclopedic erudition and his attention to detail, which shed light on the original challenges in the creation of Salammbô: that of reconstructing the then-lost city of Carthage. In November 1949, Martin Bodmer purchased this manuscript at the Blaizot bookstore.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Following enlightenment philosophers, liberal thinkers - which include Mill - considered freedom of speech a fundamental human right. In this small autograph, with embossed monogram "JSM", consisting of three folios intended for dispatch, the philosopher copies a passage of his famous "On Liberty" from 1869, taken from chapter II: "Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion." Mill emphasizes that humankind no more has the right to silence a single opinion than it has the right to silence all of humankind, if it had the power to do so. Before it became the property of Martin Bodmer, this letter had been purchased by the author Stefan Zweig in 1923.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
The Lettres écrites de la montagne are the last work that was published during Rousseau's lifetime. For the first time, the philosopher becomes directly involved in the affairs of Geneva. Beyond fundamental proposals, the letters contain further developed thoughts on the spirit of the Reformation as well as a defense of the Contrat Social. Letter VII, where this page comes from, supports the right of representation when it comes to correcting abuses of the Small Council, and it recommends that citizens convened in the General Council reject all new elections of magistrates if these should insist upon overstepping the rights given them by the Constitution. The Lettres were censored in Geneva as well as in Paris. This document is from the collection of Ch. Vellay (purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1926) and contains a draft of two passages from the Lettres. The first of these was published in the original edition (Amsterdam, M. M. Rey, 1764), the second in the edition of the Œuvres complètes of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This "paperolle" from the famous "Code Gonzague" (held in the Biblioteca Ariostea of Ferrara) is a working copy for a passage that was added to Tasso's great work, completed the previous year. The poet had submitted his original work to various humanists and high-ranking scholars, and he took into consideration certain critiques and suggestions when editing his verses during the summer of 1576. Several stanzas were profoundly revised or even completely rewritten. Stanza 42 was one of the most reworked, to the point that Tasso had to paste this small strip of paper with the definitive version of the text into the manuscript. The text describes the attitude and thoughts of the Muslim princess Armide, who gets ready to harangue the caliph and his armies and incite them to fight to the death with the crusaders and thus to take revenge on the Christian hero Rinaldo, who had abandoned her.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This elegant codex, written in humanistic script, was commissioned by Pope Leo X († 1521). The Medici coat of arms can be found in the middle of the original binding's cover, in a rich frieze on the frontispiece, and in the initials on f. 3v and f. 134v. The decoration is attributed to the famous Florentine illuminator Attavante degli Attavanti († 1525) or his circle. This codex is from the collection of Major J.R. Abbey.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This manuscript, probably of French origin, contains Eusebius of Caesarea's Historia ecclesiastica in the translation of Rufinus, as well as Books I-II of Rufinus' continuation thereof.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This manuscript of English origin contains the Historia regum Britannie by Geoffrey of Monmouth (ca. 1100-1154). At the end of the text (114v), the writer transcribed some annotations regarding the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, a note about Edward I, King of England, and about the defeat Edward II suffered at Bannockburn.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
The Roman de Fauvel is a French poem in verse, written in the 14th century by various authors, among them the cleric Gervais du Bus. It has survived in no more than 15 manuscripts. With the metaphor of a donkey that becomes its owner's lord, the poem presents a critique of the corruption of the church and of the political system. The manuscript is written in a bastarda script; the decoration remains incomplete.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This manuscript contains the German version of the Gesta Romanorum, a collection of anecdotes and tales originally in Latin that were compiled around the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century. It was very popular throughout the entire Middle Ages and was published repeatedly. This codex was written 1461 (f. 150vb) in Bavaria.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This codex from Italy contains Gregory the Great's Homiliae in Ezechielem. The anathema Quicumque eum vendiderit vel alienaverit vel hanc scripturam raserit anathema sit is on f. 1r, as well as a partially erased ex libris that mentions a Convent of St. Agnes. The codex was purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1962; earlier perhaps it belonged to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice and then to Abbot Celotti, to the library of Thomas Phillips, and to Sir Sydney Cocherell.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
Manuscript in three parts. The first part (f. 1r-20v) contains the oldest version of Gunzo's Epistola ad Augienses and can be dated to the 10th century. The second part (f. 21r-27v) probably is the original core of the codex, to which the other two pieces were added; it contains the autograph of Lambert of Hersfeld's Vita s. Lulli episcopi Moguntini and dates to the 11th century. The third part (f. 28r-43v) is from the 13th century and contains the transcripts of the Constitutiones of the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). This codex is from the Benedictine Tegernsee Abbey (the first part is mentioned in the monastery's library catalog); later it became part of the collection of the Princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein and in 1948 the antiquarian book dealers Rosenthal sold it to Martin Bodmer. The old guard-leaves are fragments of a liturgical manuscript from the Diocese of Freising.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
The book belongs to the category of nara ehon, a type of polychrome, illustrated narratives published from the Muromachi period though to the first half of the Edo period. The term nara ehon has been widely applied to all illustrated books from these periods since the Meiji era, but its origin is unclear. The format of nara ehon differs, depending on the period. Early examples from the Momoyama to the very early Edo period are tall, measuring about 30 cm in height, a vertical format similar to a European quarto. The examples produced from the Kanei era onwards, within the first half of the Edo period were more of a horizontal proportion. They were also generally based on the genre of otogizōshi, short stories that emerged from the Kamakura period onwards, a majority of them focusing on the Muromachi period. During the latter half of the 17th century, the topic shifted to stories about the aristocracy or the wealthy merchant class, before the popularity nara ehon began to decline. This example can possibly dated to the Keichō era (1596-1615).
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The book belongs to the category of nara ehon, a type of polychrome, illustrated narratives published from the Muromachi period though to the first half of the Edo period. The term nara ehon has been widely applied to all illustrated books from these periods since the Meiji era, but its origin is unclear. The format of nara ehon differs, depending on the period. Early examples from the Momoyama to the very early Edo period are tall, measuring about 30 cm in height, a vertical format similar to a European quarto. The examples produced from the Kanei era onwards, within the first half of the Edo period were more of a horizontal proportion. They were also generally based on the genre of otogizōshi, short stories that emerged from the Kamakura period onwards, a majority of them focusing on the Muromachi period. During the latter half of the 17th century, the topic shifted to stories about the aristocracy or the wealthy merchant class, before the popularity nara ehon began to decline. This example can possibly dated to the Keichō era (1596-1615).
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The Tale of Ise is one of the earliest and most well-known example of uta monogatari, a subgenre of the monogatari, which focuses on waka poetry with the narrative evolving around the poetry. Its authorship, as well as the exact date of composition remain unclear, but it is today dated to the early Heian period. It is also known by the title "Zaigo chūjō nikki", or "Diaries of the Prince Ariwara no Narihira". The main character in the Tale of Ise is understood as being the historical prince and poet Ariwara no Narihira (9th century), whose waka feature in the tale. Yet due to the existence of narratives that clearly date to later periods, Narihira himself cannot be regarded as the author. The tale is generally concerned with human affection of many kinds, from amorous affairs to parental affection. Whilst many chapters do have a strong aristocratic notion, it is not limited to the world of nobility, but also includes the commoner's fate, such as Chapter 23 Tsutsuizutsu. The characters often remain unnamed and are only referred to as ‘the girl', or ‘the man'. Thus, the tale is interpretable as an effort to generally address the topic of human relationship and affection. This example bound in silk is adorned with illustrations executed in ink, polychromy and gold.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The Tale of Ise is one of the earliest and most well-known example of uta monogatari, a subgenre of the monogatari, which focuses on waka poetry with the narrative evolving around the poetry. Its authorship, as well as the exact date of composition remain unclear, but it is today dated to the early Heian period. It is also known by the title "Zaigo chūjō nikki", or "Diaries of the Prince Ariwara no Narihira". The main character in the Tale of Ise is understood as being the historical prince and poet Ariwara no Narihira (9th century), whose waka feature in the tale. Yet due to the existence of narratives that clearly date to later periods, Narihira himself cannot be regarded as the author. The tale is generally concerned with human affection of many kinds, from amorous affairs to parental affection. Whilst many chapters do have a strong aristocratic notion, it is not limited to the world of nobility, but also includes the commoner's fate, such as Chapter 23 Tsutsuizutsu. The characters often remain unnamed and are only referred to as ‘the girl', or ‘the man'. Thus, the tale is interpretable as an effort to generally address the topic of human relationship and affection. This example bound in silk is adorned with illustrations executed in ink, polychromy and gold.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The handscroll of Daihannya-haramitta-kyō, the Sutra of Great Wisdom, chapter five hundred and forty, consists of a simple sheet of paper without mounting. The complete version of the sutra encompasses six-hundred chapters. It was introduced to China from India by the monk, scholar and translator Xuanzang, who translated the sutra into Chinese in the 7th century before it was imported into Japan. The sutra is written in black ink on high-quality paper, very likely kōzo-shi, which is made using the fibre of Broussonetia papyrifera or paper mulberry tree, especially treasured and used for important documents during the early periods of Japanese history such as the Nara and Heian periods. There is a circular red seal placed over the top of the first four lines of the text, stating “Yakushi-ji-in” (seal of the temple Yakushi-ji). The sutra was written in Japan within the context of the religious rites of reproducing holy scripture to benefit the karma.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The Mémoire présenté à M. de Mably sur l'éducation de M. son fils is Rousseau's first writing related to his experience as an educator. In 1740 he took up a difficult position as tutor in the family of the notable Jean Bonnot de Mably, provost general of police in the Lyon region. This position came to an end after only one year. Two young children with little inclination to study had been entrusted to his care: François-Paul-Marie Bonnot de Mably, called Monsieur de Sainte-Marie, five and a half years old, and Jean-Antoine Bonnot de Mably, called Monsieur de Condillac, four and a half years old. The long Mémoire, dedicated to the older boy, emphasizes the “educational mission” and experience with practical education: it is presented as a plan and a synthesis; its writing has been dated around December 1740. The young tutor addresses M. de Mably and makes known to him the plan and structure for the education of his son in order to shape “the heart, the judgment and the spirit.” This is not the natural education, which later on will be advocated in 'Émile. Did Rousseau really present this Mémoire to M. de Mably? Known is only that he gave this manuscript of the Mémoire to Mme Dupin, his employer in 1743, and that since then it has been kept with the “Papers of Mme Dupin.” It was published for the first time in Paris in 1884 by G. de Villeneuve-Guibert in Le portefeuille de Madame Dupin. The Fondation Bodmer's manuscript is the only one in existence. A Projet d'éducation, much shorter, more clearly structured and of unknown date, was found among Rousseau's papers at the time of his death (this manuscript, now lost, was first published in Geneva in 1782). It is very similar to the Mémoire and seems to have been written
Online Since: 06/23/2016
There is only a single medieval Italian translation of Augustine's De civitate Dei (City of God), an impressive apologetic work in twenty-two books; the translation was prepared at the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century. It is usually attributed to the Florentine Dominican Jacopo Passavanti (ca. 1302 – 1357); however, this attribution is without basis. The frontispiece of this manuscript is richly decorated with foliage in all four margins and initials with vine scroll ornamentation at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Written in two columns in bastarda script with a decoration of fleuronné initials, from the first quarter of the 15th century (Wetzel), with two astrological tables added already in the 15th century (Wetzel) on the old flyleaf (f. 1r). The text of the Psalter, in the dialect of Rhenish Franconia (Hessen?), is closely related to the Psalter Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Ms. theol. 214 v from the beginning of the 15th century. Wetzel assumes at least one common model. Thus the translation is part of Schöndorf's group 9, subgroup c) around München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Cgm 182 or Walter's Psalter 18.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
At the beginning of the 17th century, a book of black magic was published, attributed to the mythical Faust and known by the title Höllenzwang. The library in Weimar owned a manuscript of this text, which Goethe was aware of. In 1949 Martin Bodmer was able to purchase a similar manuscript. This document, which is difficult to date, is written in cabalistic signs and, according to a German gloss, contains a series of magic spells for exorcists, which can be used in particular to call up the seven evil spirits.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Two contiguous fragments from the same leaf, which used to be part of a luxury-lectionary of the New Testament, probably copied in Constantinople in the 11th century. The two pieces were later also used for numerous clumsy drawings, graffiti and arithmetic exercises.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This manuscript contains François Dassy's French translation of Carcel de amor by Diego San Pedro (1437-1498). This translation is also based on Lelio Manfredi's Italian translation, completed in 1513. Diego de San Pedro is a Spanish pre-Renaissance poet and storyteller; perhaps he was of Hebrew origin but converted to Christianity. Carcel de amor, one of his two best-known novellas, is a sentimental romance about the overcoming of passionate love through reason; it was first printed in Seville in 1492 and was translated into many languages. The manuscript is illustrated with 19 vignettes, most of which are surrounded by an architectural frame containing representations of figures in period clothing. This manuscript might have been created for Charles III de Bourbon-Montpensier (Charles de Bourbon) between 1521 and 1527 — his coat of arms is on f. 1v. Before becoming part of the Martin Bodmer collection, the manuscript was owned by the Demidow family, Count Alexis Golowkin and Sir Thomas Philipps.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This 12th century French manuscript contains the first six books of Virgil's Aeneid, along with the Argumenta attributed to Pseudo-Ovid. Among the famous previous owners of this codex is Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755), whose ex-libris is on f. 1r. Later the manuscript was owned by Sir Thomas Philipps (1792-1872). Martin Bodmer acquired this manuscript in 1966, during one of the auctions of the Philipps collection.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This late Renaissance Italian humanist manuscript contains excerpts of various works by Latin and Greek authors, among them Pliny, Cicero, Silius Italicus, Plautus, Livy, Horace, Sallust, Plutarch, Seneca and others. Pellegrin, following Tammaro de Marinis, attributes the writing to the copyist Gian Marco Cinico, who worked for the kings of Naples between 1458 and 1494. The different parts are introduced by golden initials with bianchi girari, only partly completed (ff. 1v, 4v, 20r, 22r, 50r, 186v). Some of these bianchi girari are left unfilled on a blue, red, green or black background, others are colored pink, green or blue on a black or golden background. The vine scrolls are inhabited by putti and animals such as rabbits, stags, butterflies or birds. Numerous frames show putti engaged in hunting or other playful activities (e.g., ff. 55r, 79r, 139r, 169r).
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This manuscript contains the Adnotationes super Lucanum, preceded by the Vita Lucani by Vacca, a grammarian from late antiquity whom some date to the 6th-century. The codex probably was created in the Benedictine Abbey Tegernsee in Bavaria and later was part of the library of the Princes of Oettingen-Wallerstein. As codex Wallersteinensis I.2, this text, together with four other textual witnesses, is the basis for the 1909 edition by Johannes Endt, which is still considered the reference edition today.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
A luxurious copy of the Life of Aesop, part historical and part legendary, that was compiled around 1300 by Maximos Planudes. These pages once constituted the first part of a manuscript of Aesop's Fables , which today is held primarily in New York. It was written in Florence between 1482 and 1485 by Démétrios Damilas, one of the main scribes at the court of the Medici, for Lorenzo the Magnificent's young son Piero II de' Medici, who was 10-12 years old at the time. On the splendid frontispiece one can recognize the portraits of Planudes and Piero II.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Exemplar of the so-called Parisian Bible, a pocket Bible which contains the entire text of the Old and the New Testaments in a relatively small format in two columns in small script. The codex was produced around the middle or in the second half of the 13th century in Central or Eastern France. It is distinguished and made luxurious by no fewer than 82 historiated initials and 66 ornamental initials. Noteworthy is the fact that the biblical text shows signs of careful correction and that the psalms are divided into smaller sections according to a scheme, which rules out that it was commissioned by a monastery, but suggests instead that it was commissioned by a secular priest or a layperson. An erased note of ownership suggests that in 1338 this manuscript belonged to the Celestine Monastery Notre-Dame of Ternes (Limoges), perhaps a gift from its founder Roger le Fort, who was the son of the Lord of Ternes and was Archbishop of Bourges in 1343. Before this Bible became part of the collection of Martin Bodmer, it belonged to the collection of Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1935), hence the name “Rothschild-Bibel.”
Online Since: 12/17/2015
At the beginning of his visiting professorship at the Reichs-Universität of Leiden, on May 5, 1920, Albert Einstein gave this lecture with the title “Ether and Relativity Theory.” This copy, in his own handwriting, contains numerous corrections and deletions. The lecture was published in the same year. Einstein later often returned to the concepts set forth in this lecture.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
On October 25th and December 15th of 1810, Jacob Grimm sent Clemens Brentano this manuscript. It is the oldest handwritten version of the Kinder- und Hausmärchen since the Brothers Grimm systematically destroyed all the preliminary work for their edition of the fairy tales, probably in order to prevent the comparison between the handwritten versions and the later printed edition (first edition 1812), which was thoroughly revised and expressed in literary form. According to an analysis by Heinz Rölleke (Rölleke Heinz (ed.), Die älteste Märchensammlung der Brüder Grimm. Synopse der handschriftlichen Urfassung von 1810 und der Erstdrucke von 1812, Cologny-Genève 1975), 25 fairy tales were written by Jacob Grimm, 14 by Wilhelm Grimm (partly with addenda by his brother), and 7 can be attributed to four other authors. Martin Bodmer purchased this manuscript from Mary A. Benjamin, New York, in 1953.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This poem in two stanzas of four lines each and titled “Der Frühling,” was written by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) in his own hand; at the end it is signed “Mit Unterthänigkeit Scardanelli” and dated to January 20, 1756. Hölderlin, who from about 1802 on was mentally ill, often signed his works, sometimes with invented names, among them Scardanelli, and invented dates. Another hand has corrected the given date in pencil to 1843; this suggests that the poem was created shortly before Hölderlin's death.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This poem in three stanzas of four lines each and titled “Der Herbst”, was written by Friedrich Hölderlin in his own hand; at the end it is dated to November 15, 1759. Hölderlin, who from about 1802 on was mentally ill, often signed his works, sometimes with invented names and invented dates. At the top of the page another hand has written „Autographie v Hölderlin“ along with the correction „Tübingen d 12 Juli 1842.“
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This poem in two stanzas of four lines each and titled “Der Winter”, was written by Friedrich Hölderlin in his own hand; at the end it is signed “Mit Unterthänigkeit Scardanelli” and dated to April 24, 1849. Hölderlin, who from about 1802 on was mentally ill, often signed his works, sometimes with invented names, among them Scardanelli, and invented dates. Another hand has corrected the given date in pencil to November 7, 1842.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
This unsigned poem by Victor Hugo opens with the lines „Si j'étais femme (Hélas ! que je vous plains, ô mères ! …);“ it remained unpublished until 2009. Hugo himself crossed out the original title „Impératrice“ for being too obvious. The text is addressed to the wife of Napoleon III, Eugenia de Montijo, whom Hugo reproaches for her „bigoterie“ (3r) and her „signe de croix grotesque à l'espagnole“ (1r). Thus he extends to the spouse the criticism of Napoleon III that he had already presented in the Châtiments. The date of October 11, 1869, in Hugo's own handwriting, suggests that the text was created in Brussels, where Hugo lived in exile since the coup of December 2, 1851.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Around the 1820s, Lamartine undertook an ambitious poetic work: Les Visions. Although several fragments thereof were used in Jocely (1836) or in La Chute d'un ange (1838), most of these verses remained unpublished for 30 years, with the poet tirelessly reworking, changing and correcting them until the final publication in 1851. This autograph of Song II contains a passage of ten verses that ultimately were not published (ellipsis marks the place in the original edition).
Online Since: 12/17/2015
With his six novels and his famous collections of over 300 short stories, Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) has earned a place among the most important French writers of the end of the 19th century. He presented an often unvarnished picture of provincial as well as Parisian society of his time. This is the case in the present story, the only one to have had a separate original edition preceding its publication in the collection of the same name. This manuscript was used for the first printing of the text, which was originally published on June 15, 1887 in La Nouvelle Revue. It contains numerous corrections and deletions (which bear witness to the creation of the story), as well as slight variations in comparison with the version published in the volume of March 28, 1888.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Michelangelo (1475-1564) addressed this sonnet and his dedication to one of his closest friends, the poet Vittoria Colonna (1492-1547), marchesa of Pescara. Although the painter often was very sparing in his use of paper, for these few lines he used a large and beautiful in-folio sheet, folded and glued together (to add more thickness). Writing in a humanist script close to calligraphy, he showed particular care for the layout, using line spacing and indentations to reinforce the customary architecture of the sonetto. His tone is very respectful: Michelangelo greets not only a friend, but also a lady who is part of high society and who has given him a valuable gift. This gift, which was to take its beneficiary "in paradiso”, must have been a manuscript of the Sonetti spirituali of the poet (who in general was very discreet and only rarely showed her verses).
Online Since: 12/17/2015
During his exile on St. Helena, Napoleon (1769-1821) availed himself of a library of 3,000 books — a poor remedy for boredom. Nevertheless, the deposed emperor found pleasure in reading and annotating ancient and modern classics. As a theater enthusiast, he read aloud Voltaire's La Mort de César to his entourage several times. He decided to write his own play on the same subject; this manuscript in Napoleon's own handwriting presents a quick sketch of the first two scenes. On page 3, tired of his subject, the emperor covers the page with strategic and military calculations, having frigates engage with regiments and artillery.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
Felix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635), author of many comedias de santos, finished this Historia de Barlán y Josafat, comedia in three acts and in verse at home „En Madrid a primero de febrero de 1611.“ This complete manuscript contains numerous corrections and revisions by the author. This story of a conversion is more than an authentic Christian legend (then attributed to Saint John of Damascus) — it is above all a Christianized story. In the prince, who first gives up his palace in order to learn about the plagues of the world and then leaves his throne for the meditative life of an ascetic, one certainly recognizes Buddha. The edifying Christian story, set at the banks of the Ganges, is nothing other than an adaptation of Vie du Bodhisattva, a 2nd-4th century Sanskrit text, which over centuries was translated and adapted first by the Manichaeans, then by the Arabs, Georgians and Byzantines, until it finally reached the far distant people of the Western World: Lope de Vega's work thus (without the author's having been aware of this) is part of one of the most impressive chains of intellectual transmission in history.
Online Since: 12/17/2015
A legal manuscript, probably incomplete, which contains an extensive collection of texts. Among the most important are four laws, the Lex Salica, Lex Ribuaria, Lex Alamannorum and Lex Baiuvariorum; a short and fragmentary collection of capitularies issued by Charlemagne; excerpts from De legibus, from Isidore of Seville's Sententiae, from the Codex Theodosianum and from the Rule of Saint Benedict. The text of the Lex Baiuvariorum also contains legal terms in Old High German. In 1789 the codex was acquired by Count Johann-Christian Solms, who resided in Klitschdorf Castle near Bunzlau (Silesia) - his coat of arms can be found on f. 1r - which is why the codex is known in the literature as the "Codex Klitschdorf" or "Codex Solmsianus.” In 1960 Martin Bodmer purchased this codex from the New York antiquarian book dealer H. P. Kraus.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This elegant codex, written in humanist cursive, contains the Elegiae by the Latin elegiac poet Tibullus; this text was not very widely distributed in the Middle Ages, but was rediscovered by Italian humanists at the end of the 14th century. The manuscript was written and illuminated in Florence, perhaps for Braccio, a member of the Martelli family, who had his coat of arms added to the title page. Later the manuscript passed into the hands of the Medici family of Florence; they had their coat of arms painted on the front pastedown. In 1968 Martin Bodmer purchased the manuscript from the collection of Thomas Phillipps.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript, written in Persian, contains a selection of the “One Hundred Sayings by Ali,” a collection of sayings and proverbs traditionally attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth rightly guided Caliph as well as cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad. Among the Shiites (from šīʿat ʿAlī, the “party of Ali"), Ali plays an important religious role as the first imam. This manuscript was written in 1559 by the calligrapher Jalal ibn Muhammad in Bukhara. For the text he used the Nastaliq script, a calligraphic script widely used for the Persian-Arabic alphabet; for the titles, however, he used the ordinary Arabic Nasḫī script. The six full-page miniatures, highlighted in gold, were added in the second/third quarter of the 17th century. Noteworthy on p. 9v at bottom center is the rare depiction of a figure turning his back to the observer, of whom one can see only the back of the head. On the same page at the left, behind several musicians, two Europeans can be recognized by their clothing.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
Testeriano denotes catechism manuscripts in a pictographic script attributed to the Franciscan friar and missionary Jacobo de Testera (16th century). Writing had already developed in 12th century Central America as a mixture of ideograms, pictograms and phonetic symbols, but the original handwritten witnesses thereof were destroyed in the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century. In order to communicate with the indigenous population, Christian missionaries later adopted this writing system, but they invented many symbols since the goal was to communicate a new, Christian content. For instance, three crowned heads represent the Trinity and thus God, while two crowned heads with key and sword represent the apostles Peter and Paul. The manuscript is read from left to right across both pages; different parts are separated by decorative vertical vignettes. The manuscript contains several short prayers (among them pp. 1v-2r Persignum, 2v-4r Ave Maria, 4v-8r Credo) and a long prayer (pp. 27v-35r) which represents a repetition of the Christian doctrine.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This Armenian manuscript was written in 1606 at the church of Saint Nikoghayos in Istanbul. It contains the Four Gospels, the Apocalypse of Saint John, and a Gospelindex devised for liturgical use written by another scribe in the same century. The silver binding was probably made a century after the manuscript writing. Special attention should be drawn to the illuminations of the canon tables painted according to the text of the “Commentary of the Canon Tables” of Stepanos Syunetsi (8th century), where the author thoroughly expounds the animal, floral and geometrical motives, as well as the symbolism of numbers and colors of each of the canon tables. The painter has interpreted the symbols and motives used in all ten canon tables by placing the explanations below each of them.
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This manuscript, which was probably created in the St. Matthias-Eucharius Abbey in Trier, clearly belonged to the Benedictine abbey, as the ex libris on f. 1r declares. It contains, among others, the Liber antiquitatum biblicarum, which recounts Biblical history from Adam to King Saul, i.e., from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Samuel. This work was falsely attributed to Philo of Alexandria (1st century AD), the Hellenistic philosopher of Jewish culture. It also contains excerpts from the Carmina by the poet and Bishop of Tours Hildebert of Lavardin (1056-1133).
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This manuscript contains Propertius' elegies; it was written in an elegant humanist script by Gian Pietro da Spoleto in Florence in 1466. The manuscript belonged to Antonello Petrucci d'Aversa († 1487), who was active in the Aragonese chancery and later in the library of the Aragonese kings in Naples. The initials at the beginning of each book as well as on the frontispiece are decorated with bianchi girari (white vine scroll); the coat of arms that should have appeared within the laurel wreath (f. 1r) was never executed.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
The Schwabenspiegel (mirror of the Swabians) contains a collection of national and feudal laws; during the late Middle Ages it was used in Southern Germany, but it was also widely used in Bohemia and in present-day Switzerland up to the German-French language border. The manuscript was edited in the second half of the 13th century and thus belongs to the oldest of altogether more than 350 textual witnesses.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This French manuscript, probably incomplete, contains the commentary on the Psalms (Ps. 101-117, f. 1r-110v and 113r-136v) by Augustine of Hippo. De meditatione by Hugh of Saint Victor was inserted between Ps. 108 (f. 110v) and Ps. 109 (f. 113v). This manuscript probably comes from the manuscript collection of Hautecombe Abbey in Savoy, which was acquired by Archbishop Giacinto della Torre of Turin (1747-1814) for thearchdiocese's seminary library, which was later dispersed. The manuscript was acquired in 1957 from the book dealer Hoepli in Milan by Martin Bodmer.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This large, incomplete manuscript in folio format contains the summer portion and the Commune sanctorum of the homiliary by Paulus Diaconus. It was written by various hands in a 9th century Carolingian minuscule; in addition to initials drawn in ink and decorated with red scrolls which indicate an Irish influence, there are even several elegant incipits in capital script. The manuscript probably comes from Reichenau, certainly from the area of Lake Constance. It belonged to the Phillipps collection, later to Chester Beatty; it was bought in 1968 by Martin Bodmer.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
Cleomadés, a poem in octosyllabic verse, is considered the masterpiece of the 13th century French poet Adenes le Roi. He lived at the courts of Brabant, France, and Flanders and composed various chansons de geste and courtly romances.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This manuscript contains the Song of Songs with a lacuna (6.5-8) due to the loss of a sheet. The Glossa ordinaria is written on the first sheet (1r-1v); it contains a heretofore unknown commentary. Placed alongside this is the first part of the Song of Songs (f. 2r-29r. until Ct 6.8), which in the beginning (f. 2r-v) is surrounded by another unknown commentary. The last sheets (f. 29v-30) contain excerpts from the prologue to the interpretation of the Song of Songs by Rupert of Deutz. The beginning of the Song of Songs is adorned with an initial depicting Solomon and the Shulamite.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
The two originally independent parts of this manuscript were bound together probably in the last third of the 15th century (after 1469, cf. Index p. Iv). The first part, written in a single column (pp. 1r-272), contains the Buch der Natur (Prologfassung) by Conrad of Megenberg. This part of the manuscript features marginal corrections and glosses (especially for medically relevant parts of the text), which may be by the original owner of the manuscript (Hayer 1998, p. 162). Especially parts I, III, IV, and V of the Buch der Natur contain marginal notes and interlinear glosses in a 15th century hand which reworks the natural history texts allegorically for preaching. Numerous smaller and larger marginal illustrations. The second part, written in two columns (pp. 274ra-307rb) contains a medical compendium in six parts (childhood illnesses – illnesses due to the imbalance of the humores – diseases of the eyes – the plague, skin diseases, fever – surgery and wound care – venereal diseases, bone injuries, burns), Latin and German recipes and prescriptions, as well as a German table of contents. On p. 284ra is a drawing of surgical instruments. Formerly privately owned by the antiquarian Hans P. Kraus, New York, Nr. 1958/13; prior to that Maihingen, Fürstl. Öttingen-Wallersteinsche Bibl., Cod. III.1.2° 3.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This text by Lucan is accompanied by marginal and interlinear glosses in various hands, which are partly contemporaneous, partly later; the most recent in an Italian hand that can be dated to the 14th/15th century. In the margin of f. 69v is a simple drawing of the mappa mundi. At least until the end of the 18th century, the manuscript belonged to the Carmelites of S. Paolo in Ferrara.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
10th century manuscript of Italian origin, which contains numerous works of rhetoric: the Ars rhetorica by Fortunatianus, the Principia rhetorices by Augustine, the Praecepta artis rhetoricae by Julius Severianus and the Partitiones oratoriae by Cicero. In the 14th century, it became the property of Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca), who, at various times of his life, added numerous marginal notes. The manuscript demonstrates the humanist's interest in the Oratores latini minores (minor Latin orators), which contributed to their rediscovery and proliferation.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Manuscript from Italy with the widely disseminated and successful collection of Medieval Latin fables in elegiac couplets called Esopus. These were initially anonymously published in 1610 by Isaac Nevelet and were therefore attributed to the Anonymus Neveleti. The editor Léopold Hervieux in 1884 attributed them to a Gualterus Anglicus, who lived in Palermo during the 12th century. However, this attribution has in recent years been called into question by various specialists. The fables have as their protagonists various animals and end with a moral in the form of a couplet.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Four fragments of parchment, separated from a binding, contain parts of the account of the so-called Navigatio sancti Brandani, the sea voyage of St. Brendan, an Irish monk of the fifth and sixth centuries. The work in Latin prose, handed down anonymously, is considered a classic of medieval hagiography and travel literature; since the 10th century, it has been preserved in numerous manuscripts. This version is an Anglo-Norman translation by the monk Benedeit (about 1120).
Online Since: 12/13/2013
The Edelstein contained in this manuscript consists of 100 fables, composed around 1330 by the Bernese Dominican Ulrich Boner; the fables were taken from various Latin sources and were translated by Boner into Swiss Dialect. The script and the typical characteristics of the layout with spaces for never-executed illustrations indicate a work from the late phase (approximately about 1455-1460) of Diebold Lauber's workshop in Hagenau in Alsace, a work that had been prepared to be completed at the request of a buyer.
Online Since: 12/13/2013