Inventory of property, prepared by the notary Michel d'Enney on behalf of Peter of Gruyère, Prior of Broc, and written between November 17, 1565 and November 20, 1566. The register consists of records of the properties of Broc Priory, organized by location. Originally Broc Priory was a dependency of the one at Lutry; in 1577 it was annexed to the Cathedral Chapter of St. Nicholas in Fribourg. (def)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

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. (ber)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

Excerpts from Bonaventure's commentary on Peter Lombardus' Sentences, written by the Franciscan Heinrich von Isny (Bishop of Basel, 1275-1286). Ownership note on f.1r (Johannes Joly). Colophons f. 336vb (frater Henricus), f. 337ra (Antonius de Maasmünster, scribe, 1478), f. 352ra (Johannes Joly, scribe, 1478). Former chained book with pressed leather cover of the 15th century. (zim)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

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 …);“ it remained unpublished until 2009.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. (fri)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

During his studies in Avignon, Jean Joly (Guardian of the Franciscan Convent of Fribourg 1467-1469, 1472-1478, 1481-1510) prepared this copy of the Quaestiones in quattuor libros sententiarum by Peter of Aquila, an Italian Franciscan theologian who lectured at Paris in the 1330s. His commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard earned him the nickname “Scotellus” for his accessible presentation of the doctrine of John Duns Scotus (d. 1308). The wooden-board binding and formerly chained volume from the fifteenth century was restored by Carole Jeanneret in 2022. (cam)

Online Since: 12/20/2023

This small liturgical book was used in the Monastery of San Michele di Campagna near Verona during the 15th century. The work contains the rite of the profession of faith and of the consecration practiced on the occasion of the investiture of a Benedictine nun. It is valuable evidence of a ritual for women who take their vows. (def)

Online Since: 06/22/2017

This ethical work by Boccaccio, originally written between 1353 and 1356 and expanded in 1373, addresses the subject of the unevenness of fate. Manuscript copies of the work were frequently made; it was issued in print and translated into many languages. It enjoyed great popularity in Europe. The French translation by Laurent de Premierfait for Jean de Berry was equally popular, as evidenced by the 68 manuscript copies of this text still in existence. Unlike the Latin version, the French manuscripts display a rich iconographic accompaniment, most likely produced by Laurent de Premierfait himself. This is also the case with CB 174, which was produced during the 15th century in France. Each book opens with a small illustration (150 in all) portraying the “pitfalls” described in the text that follows. (bib)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

This parchment manuscript from the time around 1400 contains a work by the Dominican sermonist Jacques de Cessoles, using the game of chess as the allegorical basis for a lesson in morals. The same theme is carried out in 16 accompanying illustrations as well. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. This work describes the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon". (hoc)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. The work described the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon". (hoc)

Online Since: 12/21/2010

Carefully copied by a single scribe at the end of the 13th century in England, this manuscript was given to Sir Thomas Phillipps by Sir Robert Benson (1797-1844). Benson claimed it had belonged to Wilton Abbey, in Wiltshire, where its readership would have been noble women and nuns. Bound by Phillipps, the Lai d'Haveloc was placed first and its title appeared on the spine. The Donnei des amants, a unica, is a scholarly debate between two lovers who exchange exempla : The Tristan Rossignol, Didon, the Lai de l'oiselet, and L'Homme et le Serpent. (hen)

Online Since: 12/13/2013

This Mexican Codex, written in Nahuatl, is part of the so-called Techialoyan Manuscripts. It is from Santa María de la Asunción Tepexoyuca, near San Martín Ocoyoacac, in the Toluca Valley in the State of Mexico, Mexico. The manuscript is an altepeamatl,"Village Land Book" or tlalamatl, "Land Manuscript", which records the territorial boundaries between the village of Tepexoyuca and its neighbors and lists the toponyms of the boundary markers. The manuscript signatories are eight key town figures at the time: among them don Esteban Axayacatl, "captain", don Miguel Achcuey, "fiscale", and don Simón de Santa María, "mayordomo". (bel)

Online Since: 10/07/2013

This miscellany manuscript contains texts from the end of the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century in 12 parts, and belonged to Jean Joly (Guardian of the Fribourg Franciscan Convent, 1467-1469, 1472-1478, 1481-1510). The first part of the manuscript consists in a bull of Pope Benedict XII, dated to 1337. The volume essentially contains papal bulls and constitutions as well as statutes of Franciscan Order and determinations of particular provinces of the Franciscan order. A formerly chained volume, it has wooden boards covered with dark brown leather. (cam)

Online Since: 12/20/2023

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. (rou)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

A composite codex of paper produced at Fribourg in the first half of the 15th century. In the first part, in addition to some short texts in German, it contains the Cycle de la belle dame sans mercy by Alain de Chartier, Baudet Herenc and Achille Caulier, a French poem in octaves on courtly love written ca. 1424. The second part has a copy of another verse poem by Chartier: Le Livre des quatre dames. (ber)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

Fragment of an official document from the Republic of Venice; it contains an illuminated page and a part of the index of the “commissione” of Cristoforo Duodo, procurator of San Marco de ultra from 1491 until 1496. After the doge, the procurators held the highest office in the Serenissima; upon their election, they had capitularies drawn up, usually illuminated, containing their oath and the list of their “commissione,” i.e., of the specific tasks to which they committed themselves by their oath. This fragment follows 21 commissions of Venetian procurators from the 15th century; it is distinguished from the others by its illumination, which is attributed to a high-level Venetian master trained in the circle of Leonardo Bellini, and also by the rare depiction of the patron saint of not only the procurator, but also his wife. (poz)

Online Since: 12/20/2016

This composite manuscript consists of four parts, the oldest of which is dated 1416 (Part 2). It contains sermons and other short texts related to pastoral care. Parts 3 and 4 originally belonged to the Strasbourg monk Johannes Rüeffel, who wrote them during his studies in England and in 1446 in his home town. They include introductions to scholastic philosophy and quaestiones. Part 1 with French-Latin translation exercises and other school texts probably originated around the middle of the 15th century in the area around Fribourg i. Ue. The volume was probably compiled by Jean Joly, guardian of the Franciscan monastery of Fribourg. (fue)

Online Since: 12/10/2020

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. (ber)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

An extraordinary testimony of the great witch hunt that took place in 17th century Europe, this volume contains a collection of 67 witch trials that were conducted and judged on the Montagne de Diesse in the Bernese Jura between 1611 and 1667. The confessions of 56 women and 11 men, set down in definitive form by the clerks of the court, were read back to the accused at sentencing so that the accused would confess them publicly. (mai)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

This manuscript contains a Latin translation in pre-Carolingian script of the "Antiquitates Judaicae", originally written in Greek by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the first century. CB 98 was produced in the Benedictine abbey of San Silvestro di Nonantola (Province of Modena), as was Ms. CB 99, which also contains texts by Flavius Josephus. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This codex contains the Jewish War, originally written by the historian Flavius Josephus in the 1st century. The 7 books of De bello Judaico present an account of the Jewish rebellion from the year 66 until the overthrow of Masada in the year 73. CB 99, like Ms. CB 98, was produced in the Benedictine abbey of San Silvestro di Nonantola (Province of Modena), though later than CB 98 and by different scribes. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

CB 113 is a copy of a manuscript from the Bibliothèque nationale de France and contains a collection of fables in the Æsopian tradition written by Marie de France in the 12th century. Marie de France, author of the famous Lais, augmented the 101 fables with six "fabliaux". The erotic passages of the fabliaux have been erased from this manuscript. (fmb)

Online Since: 07/31/2007

At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, wife of King René I. of Anjou, a cleric from Angers completed a prose adaptation of the first version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine by Guillaume de Deguileville in 1465. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. It is followed by the Danse aux aveugles (before 1465) by Pierre Michault. The two texts were richly illuminated by the Maître d'Antoine Rolin, however the decoration was never entirely completed. (rou/frd)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This generously illuminated manuscript in two volumes was made at the beginning of the 15th century and contains Guiron le Courtois, a romance about the fathers of the knights of the round table written around the year 1235. The various tales are presented here in an order unique to the CB 96 manuscript. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

Jean Bodel, who was a member of the Brotherhood of Buskers and a bourgeois (middle-class resident) of Arras, wrote his Chanson des Saisnes (Song of the Saxons) during the last third of the 12th century. This epic in Alexandrine verse tells of the war prosecuted by Charlemagne against the Saxon King Guiteclin. The Chanson exists today in three manuscripts (a fourth was completely destroyed in the fire at the library of Turin) which present different versions of the text. The long version held by the Fondation Martin Bodmer is in a small-format manuscrit de jongleur or performer's script. It was probably produced around the end of the 13th century and is a simple piece of work, without miniatures, written on parchment, much of which was poorly cut, and it is roughly sewn together. (mes)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

A two-column dictionary compiled by Ferdinand Raspieler, parish priest of Courroux (? – 1762). A note at the beginning of the dictionary indicates that it was written in order to serve justices and clergy in the Bernese Jura, who were impeded in their work because they did not know the dialect. (rer)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This 15th century paper manuscript in four volumes brings together the prose texts Lancelot Propre, La Queste del saint Graal, and La Mort le roi Artu. The first volume contains 42 aquarelle tinted pen drawings, the fourth volume features two full-page illustrations on inserted parchment leaves. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This 15th century paper manuscript in four volumes brings together the prose texts Lancelot Propre, La Queste del saint Graal, and La Mort le roi Artu. The first volume contains 42 aquarelle tinted pen drawings, the fourth volume features two full-page illustrations on inserted parchment leaves. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This 15th century paper manuscript in four volumes brings together the prose texts Lancelot Propre, La Queste del saint Graal, and La Mort le roi Artu. The first volume contains 42 aquarelle tinted pen drawings, the fourth volume features two full-page illustrations on inserted parchment leaves. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This 15th century paper manuscript in four volumes brings together the prose texts Lancelot Propre, La Queste del saint Graal, and La Mort le roi Artu. The first volume contains 42 aquarelle tinted pen drawings, the fourth volume features two full-page illustrations on inserted parchment leaves. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

Of all the 19 surviving manuscripts and fragments containing the Prophesies de Merlin, only CB 116 transmits the entire text. The manuscript thus clarifies which episodes from the Arthurian tales comprise the complete body of the work. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

This generously illuminated manuscript in two volumes was made at the beginning of the 15th century and contains Guiron le Courtois, a romance about the fathers of the knights of the round table written around the year 1235. The various tales are presented here in an order unique to the  to the CB 96 manuscript. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

In addition to the usual services, this small-format book of hours following the practice of Paris contains several texts in French (a prayer to St. Roch, Les quinze joies de Notre-Dame and Les sept requêtes à Notre Seigneur). It is richly illuminated with full-page as well as smaller miniatures attributed (Gagnebin, 1976) to the workshop of the Coëtivy Master (now identified as Colin d'Amiens). Although some illuminations are slightly damaged, they attest to the high quality of their execution, especially in the intercession of the saints (ff. 201r-220v). This book of hours was meant for a man (the prayers are addressed in the masculine, f. 21r and 25v), perhaps for a certain Jean Novelli, whose name, together with the date 1460, is mentioned on the 18th century binding. (rou)

Online Since: 06/13/2019

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. (rou)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

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). (duc)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

This manuscript contains a collection of texts in French, mainly in the form of verse or prose excerpts. Among these are fabliaux, a religious poem, a fragment of the Roman de la Châtelaine de Vergi, and proverbs. This manuscript, a veritable collection of texts, was probably written on paper during the 1st quarter of the 15th century, either in Savoy or in French-speaking Switzerland. (rou)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

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). (rou)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This work, also known by the title „Livre de Jules César,“ contains a collection of texts by Julius Caesar, Sallust, Suetonius and Lucan; it was written in the years 1211-1214. The author, still unknown, intended to recount the history of the first twelve Roman emperors, but he terminated this undertaking at the end of the story of the life of Julius Caesar. The decoration of the manuscript from Geneva is by various hands; the principal one, attributed to the „Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen,“ illustrated the title page. It shows the coat of arms of Louis de Bourbon, the illegitimate son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon. (hoc)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

This manuscript by the Italian architect and town planner Guiseppe Valadier (1762-1839) vividly illustrates various aspects of architecture and technology. The manuscript contains 127 panels of pen and ink drawings in vivid colors that were created before 1828 (Tav. CI to Tav. CCXXXV, many panels are missing). Partly the panels are grouped thematically by material (e.g., wood (fol. 1r-8r), iron (fol. 9r-24r), copper (fol. 25r-31r), bronze (fol. 32r-58r)), partly by construction themes (e.g., construction of walls fol. 103r-117r). These drawings served as models for part of the total of about 320 panels presented in the two volumes of panels of Valadier's work „L'architettura pratica dettata nella scuola e cattedra dell'insigne Accademia di San Luca“, printed in Rome in 1828-33 and based on lectures he had given at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. The numbering of the panels in the manuscript corresponds to that in the printed work. — The manuscript was purchased in Italy in 1956. (ruh)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

While Cicero is regarded today mainly as a philosopher and politician, he was regarded during the middle ages mainly as a teacher of public rhetoric. This is demonstrated by CB 52, most likely of French origin, which consists of copies of "De inventione" and a work long attributed to Cicero, "Rhetorica ad Herennium". The manuscript dates from the beginning of the 12th century. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

This 12th century manuscript from central Italy contains works of music theory by three Latin authors. Among these is Guido Aretinus, a Tuscan monk of the 10th century who is regarded as the inventor of solmisation. Some passages of text in the codex are based on the Institutio musica by Boethius. (fmb)

Online Since: 07/31/2007

The Biblia Porta manuscript, which bears the name of its last private owner, is an illuminated Bible from the Franco-Flemish region, produced at the end of the 13th century. The value of this unique and extraordinary work lies in the quality of its textual illustrations: 337 scenes of great artistic refinement, very lively and expressive. The illustrations consist of historiated initials, ornamental initials, drolleries and marginal illustrations. The text, which is written in extremely carefully formed calligraphy on very fine parchment, is St. Jerome's Vulgate version of the Bible in Latin, revised in Paris in the second quarter of the 13th century. This document is one of the few remaining works from this particular school of book decoration in northern France. (min)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

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. (ber)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

In this work, written at the end of the 14th century in Valencia, the author describes the universe of angels, inspired by Dionysius the Areopagite's De triplici gerarchia. The text, which was in wide use during the second half of the 15th century, was translated into French and published as a first printed edition in Geneva in the year 1478. The Ms. fr. 5 was illuminated by the Master of the Geneva Boccaccio and contains the coat of arms of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of King René of Anjou. (hoc)

Online Since: 12/18/2014

This manuscript contains the Decretum Gratiani with the Glossa ordinaria by Bartholomäus Brixiensis. It is a distinctive testimony to the masterly page layout of legal texts, where the main text is usually framed on all sides by its commentary. This copy is signed by the scribe, brother Adigherio (fol. 341v). The manuscript also is sumptuously decorated with large miniatures that introduce the main parts of the text as well as the various legal cases; in addition, there are numerous historiated initials, often very humorous (e.g. f. 2r, 127v), and figure initials. Two book illustrators from Bologna, the Master of 1346 and l'Illustratore, are the creators of this decoration that was carried out in the 1340s. In 1756, the Decretum Gratiani became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève with the bequest of Ami Lullin, who had purchased this copy from the collection of Paul and Alexander Petau. (rou)

Online Since: 06/14/2018

In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (f. 36r). (rou)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

Le Jouvencel tells of the deeds of a young nobleman who, thanks to his bravery and military successes, marries the daughter of King Amydas. The text was inspired by the military career of Jean de Bueil, who served Charles VII for a long time. The manuscript is decorated with three paintings attributed to the Master of the Vienna Mamerot (from the circle of Jean Fouquet). (hoc)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

Tristan, written by Pierre Sala of Lyon in the years 1520-1528, derives from the medieval Italian tradition of the Tristan and Lancelot story cycles in prose about the knights of the round table. Stories about the idealized friendship between Tristan and Lancelot shift between the adventures of the knights of the round table and their romantic intrigues. A mere two manuscripts transmit this Renaissance work by Pierre Salas. The codex held by Fondation Bodmer is the dedication copy made for King Francis I of France. It is illustrated with twenty-six pen and aquarelle drawings. (fmb)

Online Since: 04/26/2007

The Theban and Trojan sagas held an important place in the literature of the middle ages. The contents of manuscript CB 160, written in 1469 on paper by Jacotin de Lespluc (« escript par la main de Jacotin de Lespluc »), form part of this tradition. This codex contains a prose version of the "Historia trojana" by Guido delle Colonne and a history of Thebes that closely follows the "Histoire ancienne jusqu'à César". The ink wash drawings are very similar to those found in Ms. 9650-52 of the Königliche Bibliothek of Belgium. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

Codex 25, a paper manuscript from the middle of the 15th century, consists of two separate codicological textual units. The first contains an average quality copy (and selection) of the most important and earliest work of the Dominican Johannes Herolt, known as “Discipulus” (d. 1468): De eruditione Christifidelium. The second textual unit was written in 1455 by the scribe Franciscus de Gallandia from Yvonand. It goes by the title Fabulae moralizatate and consists of 122 Latin fables taken from various sources from antiquity, presented in the form of dialogs. Magninus Mediolanensis (d. 1376) and Nicolaus Pergamenus are identified as the authors. Beginning with the first print edition (1480) the Fabulae moralizatae were re-named Dialogus creaturarum optime moralizatus. (jor)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

Collection of the names of persons from the region near the baronial Abbey of St. Gall who converted to Catholicism between 1640 and 1697 (List of Converts), organized by village (primarily those of the Toggenburg and the Rhein valley. (smu)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This manuscript, written in 1499 under the schoolmaster Cunradus Reuschman of Lindau (note on p. 488), contains predominantly works by ancient writers, as well as several works by 15th century Italian authors. All texts have commentaries, and the more important works are generally preceded by an argumentum. Often there are several pages left blank between the texts. In the margins, there are several simple pen sketches (pp. 498–501, 504, 511, 513; on p. 706 and 712 sketches of maps of the world). P. 3 contains a full-page pen sketch of the city of Troy. The individual texts are: Publius Baebius Italicus, Ilias latina (pp. 5–51); Virgil, Georgica (pp. 57–146); Horace, Epistolae (pp. 148–230); Horace, Carmen saeculare (pp. 231–234); Lactantius, De ave Phoenice (pp. 234–241); Persius, Satires (pp. 245–282); Margarita passionis, inc. Cum prope pasca foret (pp. 283–288); Seneca, De providentia (pp. 289–298); Augustinus Datus, Elegantiolae (pp. 323–361); Carmen de dolo et astutia cuiusdam mulieris, inc. Summe procus caveat ducatur ne mala coniunx (pp. 362–365); hymns (pp. 366–388); Parvulus philosophiae moralis (pp. 395–417); Dominicus Mancinus, De quattuor virtutibus (pp. 419–488); Hieronimus de Vallibus, Jesuida (pp. 491–514); Matthaeus Bossus, Oratio in beata coena domini (pp. 515–524); Ps.-Leonardo Bruni Aretino, Comoedia Poliscena (pp. 539–549); Terence, Andria (pp. 563–621); Virgil, Bucolica (pp. 629–660); Horace, Ars poetica (pp. 661–678); Horace, Epodes (pp. 679–692); Ps.-Virgil, Moretum (pp. 692–694); Ps.-Ovid, Remedia amoris, inc. Qui fuerit cupiens ab amica solvere colla (pp. 694–695); Ps.-Ovid, De arte amandi, inc. Si quem forte iuvat subdi sapienter amori (pp. 695–698); a treatise on punctuation, De kanone punctorum (pp. 699); Virgil, Aeneis, lib. 1 and 3 (pp. 701–726 and 741–760); Sallust, De coniuratione Catilinae (pp. 765–802); Sallust, De bello Iugurthino, incomplete (pp. 803–804); Seneca, Epistolae morales (pp. 812–853). (sno)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

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. (fri)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

A 9th century volume containing the Gospels, originally from Saint-Ursanne. (jur)

Online Since: 03/24/2006

This is a careful copy, significant in terms of textual history, of books I to V of the Expositio in Apocalypsin by Ambrosius Autpertus († 784), presbyter and abbot, originally from southern Gaul, but active in the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The copy, transcribed from a lost 9th century Reichenau manuscript, was made at the monastery of St. Gall. (smu)

Online Since: 12/20/2012

The Florentine writer and notary Brunetto Latini went into exile in 1260, after the Guelphs lost the Battle of Montaperti. Until 1266 he took up residence in France, where he wrote the Trésor, an encyclopedia written in French that was widely used until the end of the 15th century. The illuminator of the Bibliothèque de Genève's copy of the manuscript is known as the "Master of the Geneva Latini" or as the "Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen.” Originally decorated with four frontispieces, the manuscript today has only two, one of which is a famous representation of a medieval urban market. (hoc)

Online Since: 09/23/2014

At least three scribes shared the work of copying this imposing manuscripts of over 650 leaves in the early years of the 14th century. The Roman de Tristan en prose that it contains, a revised version of the myth of Tristan in the style of Lancelot en prose, is however, incomplete at both the beginning and the end. This work, originally written at the beginning of the 13th century, was repeatedly reproduced during the middle ages; it is found in over 80 manuscripts, which transmit at least four different versions. (mes)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

The Bible Historiale is a Bible edition translated by Guyart de Moulins into French prose at the end of the 13th century. It is presented in the form of biblical stories and combines the Vulgata of Jerome with the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor. It was quickly supplemented with the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle (“Thirteenth-century Bible”). Because it was widely disseminated during the 14th and 15th centuries, today there are 144 known examples, both complete exemplars and fragments. (hoc)

Online Since: 03/22/2012

This manuscript was deposited in the Bibliothèque de Genève in 2007 by the priests of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales (at the Institut Florimont in Geneva). This composite manuscript unifies two previously separate texts: a copy of Prician's Institutiones Grammaticae made during the 11th or 12th centuries in Italy, and the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The latter is illustrated with 65 miniatures; this 11th century copy was probably written in southern Italy, judging by the Beneventana and Carolingian minuscule scripts used. This previously unknown Beatus manuscript discovered in Geneva adds to the 26 illuminated exemplars already on record. (hoc/jeg)

Online Since: 11/03/2009

A copy of the Gospel of Matthew made in St. Gall in the 9th century, together with the beginning of a copy of the Gospel of Mark. The second half contains a Greek-Latin copy of Psalms 101 through 150, Canticles in addition to prayers (Magnificat, Te Deum, Pater Noster) and a Litany of the Saints, copied at the Abbey of St. Gall between 880 and 900 from a master copy presumed to have originated in Constantinople. (smu)

Online Since: 12/23/2008

This manuscript contains the tract Le Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance by King René of Anjou. This allegorical poem, composed in 1455, invites people to live a holy life by means of a dialogue between soul and heart about abstinence from unsatisfying earthly things. CB 144 is decorated with eight full-page miniatures made by Jean Colombe in about 1470. (fmb)

Online Since: 07/25/2006

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. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

This manuscript contains a collection of letters exchanged in the court circle of Friedrich II., assembled in about 1270 at the papal Curia as a collection, which is generally attributed to Petrus de Vinea (Chancellor of Friedrich II.; ca. 1200-1249). This collection has been reproduced in over 230 manuscripts and was long regarded as a model for writers because of the elegant language used in the letters. The role of the collection as a model is enhanced in CB 132 by the inclusion of a copy of the "Ars dictaminis" by Bovilius Aretinus. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This manuscript of Six âges du monde, created in France at the end of the 14th century or at the very beginning of the 15th century, appears towards the end of the Middle Ages in the library of the Supersaxo family, one of the most important libraries of Valais, which today is held in the Médiathèque Valais-Sion and (this manuscript) in the State Archives of Valais in Sion. The work is remarkable in more ways than one: first, it was created in the rarely-used scroll format, a format reserved for, among others, universal chronicles, a genre to which this manuscript belongs. Second, a complex family tree, showing the descendants of Adam until the birth of Christ, runs the entire length (eight meters) of the manuscript. The columns of text of this impressive graphic document are accompanied by numerous drawings that resemble the style of Parisian works. Finally, this exemplar is not unique, since the municipal library of Reims owns a similar scroll (ms. 61), which certainly was illustrated by the same master. (rou)

Online Since: 03/22/2017

Few works of antiquity had as profound an influence on the Middle Ages as did Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae. This exemplar contains valuable information which allows it to be placed in an interesting historical context. The Fribourg cleric Pierre Guillomin finished copying the manuscript on Christmas Eve 1447 in Dijon. The colophon, which states these details, also names the recipient of the manuscript, Jacques Trompettaz († 1503), a compatriot of the copyist. The latter was careful to include in several passages of the text, in addition to his own name and that of the addressee, the names of two more Fribourg friends, Claude de Gruyère and Jacques Sutz, Monk at Hauterive. (jur)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

Two parts make up this manuscript. The first part, somewhat more recent, comes from the early fifteenth century and contains Bernhard de Parentinis's Tractatus de officio missae (pp. 3–178), including the capitulatio (pp. 3–9), dedication (pp. 9–10), prologue (pp. 10–11) and collatio (pp. 11–12). The actual text begins on p. 12. Pages 179–190 are blank. The second, older part, comes from the fourteenth century and contains on pp. 191–254 an anonymous commentary on Isaiah (Stegmüller, Repertorium Biblicum, No. 8038; the text breaks off in the middle of the commentary on chapter 21) and, on p. 256, the beginning of Peter of Limoges's Tractatus moralis de oculo, Inc. Si diligenter voluerimus in lege domini meditari. This text also breaks off in mid-sentence. The manuscript is bound in a parchment limp-binding that has cloth glued on the inside. The cloth has detached from the inside front cover, such that the text on the parchment can be read, a German-language charter (fourteenth century). Strips, probably from the same charter, serve as quire guards in the middle of gatherings. On p. 268, in the lower margin, appears a purchase note from 1422. According to the ownership mark on p. 3, the manuscript has been in the Abbey of St. Gall since the fifteenth century. Stamps from the abbacy of Diethelm Blarer (1553–1564) can be found on p. 3 and 178. (sno)

Online Since: 12/20/2023

This is a copy, significant in terms of textual history, of books VI to X of the Expositio in Apocalypsin by Ambrosius Autpertus († 784), presbyter and abbot, originally from southern Gaul, but active in the southern Italian monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno. The copy, transcribed by a variety of hands from a lost 9th century Reichenau manuscript, was made at the monastery of St. Gall. It contains multiple glosses by the hand of the monk Ekkehard IV. (smu)

Online Since: 12/20/2012

This manuscript is a hagiographic compilation in French prose which recounts the lives of the apostles, martyrs, confessors and saints. Some of the accounts are attributed to Wauchier de Denain. The manuscript is dated to the first quarter of the 14th century; it was decorated by the Papeleu Master and the illuminator Mahiet and notably contains more than eighty historiated initials. (hoc)

Online Since: 03/17/2016

Educational manuscript from the monastery of St. Gall, produced in the second third of the 9th century; contains mainly the poems (Carmina) of the early Christian Merovingian poet Venantius Fortunatus († 600), with four pattern poems on the Cross, as well as a copy of the Aenigmata (riddles) of a poet named Symphosius or Symposius. (smu)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

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." (duc)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève. (bla)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

This manuscript contains several texts copied between the 13th and the 16th century. The oldest one is the Solemn Evangelistary of St. Pierre Cathedral of Geneva (ff. 5-28v), which, according to its illuminations (esp. f. 5r), was probably created in Paris, even though the pericopes correspond to the feast days particular to Geneva. This is followed by excerpts from the sung Gospels (with staff notation) from the 14th and 15th century, one of which is an interesting late 15th century liturgical witness for the feast of the Epiphany (ff. 37v-40r). (rou)

Online Since: 06/13/2019

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. (fmb)

Online Since: 03/25/2009

This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève. (bla)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

The incompletely preserved Edictum Rothari is the oldest extant copy of the early medieval law of the Lombards as decreed by King Rothari (636-652) in 643. This earliest known copy, dating from 670/680 and originating in Bobbio (?) has been preserved only as fragments divided between the Abbey Library of St. Gall, the Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe, the Zentralbibliothek in Zurich and the Zurich cantonal archives. The largest portion of the fragments, which were bound together in the present volume by Abbey Librarian Ildefons von Arx in 1822, is found at the Abbey Library of St. Gall. In 1972, the fragmental parchment leaves of the Edictum Rothari owned by the Abbey Library of St. Gall were rebound into a new volume, in a fashion that does not exactly follow conservational guidelines, together with black and white photos of the fragments that are in Karlsruhe and Zurich. The photos were then removed from this by restorer Martin Strebel in 2008. At the same time, this manuscript, which is significant to the history of law, was rebound using the latest book restoration techniques, thanks to the Friends of the Abbey Library of St. Gall, which covered the costs of the work. (smu)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève. (bla)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

This manuscript produced at the end of the 13th century contains a copy of the Arthurian romance tales in prose: "Estoire del Graal", "Merlin", "Suite Merlin", "Queste del saint Graal", and "Mort le roi Artu". The interpolations used in CB 147 make it a particularly unusual manuscript: the heroes of the Arthurian tales are made to utter translations of the Gospels, Genesis, and various other biblical texts as well as sermons by Maurice de Sully. The manuscript also contains the "Faits de Romains", and a prose version of the "Roman de Troie" not found elsewhere. The plentiful illuminations are executed in a highly unusual style. (fmb)

Online Since: 07/25/2006

Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories.The second volume contains the last three books, i.e., the history of the Assyrians, of the Macedonians, and of Alexander and the Maccabees. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book. (hoc)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

A manuscript containing the Byzantine chronicle in modern Greek, generally known as the Anonymum Byzantinum chronicon, still unedited. At the end of the 19th century Karl Praechter (1858-1933), an instructor and later, from 1889 to 1907, a professor at the University of Berne, used this manuscript to retrieve the Chronicle from its previously shadowy existence. (and)

Online Since: 08/12/2010

Lectionary, produced in the Abbey of St. Gall during the 10th century (before 950). It may have been presented by St. Gall to Einsiedeln on the occasion of the consecration of the church at Einsiedeln in 948, together with Codex 17. (lan)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

This French translation of the story of Alexander, destined to belong to Charles the Bold, was commissioned by Vasco da Lucena, "the Portugese", a retainer of the Infanta Isabella, who was married to Philip the Good. This revival of the work by Quintus Curtius Rufus, which is augmented by texts from Plutarch, Valerius Maximus, Aulus Gellius and Justin, allows the author to liberate the Macedonian conqueror from legends perpetuated by the medieval tradition. The Miroir des princes portrays a model of a hero shaped within the framework of the humanistic movement initiated by the dukes of Burgundy in the late middle ages. CB 53 was copied in Burgundy and may be fairly accurately dated only a few years after the translation was made; it was decorated with miniatures in the artistic circle of the Master of Marguerite of York (ca. 1470-1475). (mes)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

Small notebook with an 18th century cardboard binding that was covered in parchment. Double numbering by Théophile Dufour. Ink and pencil. The heavily corrected manuscript contains the draft of walks eight through ten of the Rêveries du Promeneur solitaire as well as parts of the Dialogues. It also contains references to botany. (beg)

Online Since: 12/17/2015

This incomplete liturgical psalter was made between 1335 and 1350 in Naples. The unusual decorations are the work of the artist Christoforo Orimina. Because the manuscript contains three different coats of arms, the original owner (a member of the Angevin court in Naples) can not be definitively named. After changing hands many times during the 19th and 20th centuries, the manuscript was acquired in 1968 by the owner of the collection "Comites Latentes" ("Hidden Friends") held by the Bibliothèque de Genève. (jeg)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories. The first volume contains the first three books, i.e., the history of Greece, of Troy and of the Trojans who escaped the destruction of their town. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book. (hoc)

Online Since: 04/09/2014

Paper manuscript containing the Parallel Lives of Plutarch in latin translation. The first page features a golden initial on a background of white vine stem decoration, as well as a coat of arms in the bottom margin, perhaps that of Guiniforte Zazzi, Pavia professor of law; on the sides of the coat of arms can be read the name of Peter Falck (†1519), the Fribourg humanist through whom the manuscript reached Fribourg before becoming part of the library of the Capuchins, and, in 2004, of the University Library. (ber)

Online Since: 10/04/2011

This work contains two tracts: the Livre des deduis, a handbook on hunting, and the Songe de Pestilence, an allegorical narrative that tells about the battle of the Virtues and the Vices. This Geneva examplar is attributed to the illuminator known by the name Master of Robert Gaguin. (hoc)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

In 1511, the Benedictine Jean d'Auton (around 1466-1528), chronicler at the court of Louis XII, initiated a contest to write fictional letters to the king. For this contest, he wrote the Epistre d'Hector au roy, which was answered, among others, by Jean Lemaire de Belges with his Epistre du roy Loys à Hector. This Geneva manuscript begins with a full-page illustration, executed by an artist named Maître des Entrées, active in Lyon. It depicts Hector presenting a book to a satyr in front of an army of soldiers in armor, some of whom are crowned with the poets' laurel wreath. The numerous references to antiquity, textual as well as visual, are typical for the humanist milieu of Lyon, which included the owner of this manuscript, Jean Sala, half-brother of the famous author and antiquities enthusiast Pierre Sala. (rou)

Online Since: 10/10/2019

Brought out by the Dominicans of Saint-Jacques in Paris, biblical verbal concordances are independent works that make it possible to locate all occurrences of a term in the Bible. Listed in alphabetical order, each word is referred to the abbreviated name of the biblical book in which it appears, followed by the chapter number – the division into chapters had been definitively established around 1200 – and a letter from A to G (since each chapter was arbitrarily divided into seven parts when the numbering of the verses did not yet exist). The Bibliothèque de Genève's copy belongs to the fourth version of the Dominican Concordances, in which the chapters are divided into four (from A to D) instead of seven parts. This copy, dated 1308, was a gift to the Dominican convent of Plainpalais in Geneva at the beginning of the 15th century (f. 394v). (rou)

Online Since: 10/08/2020

This epistolary, produced in the cloister of St. Gall, was used for readings during the mass. The script is Carolingian minuscule and the initials are decorated with gold, silver, and minium. This manuscript may have been written and illuminated by Sintram at the beginning of the 10th century. The original binding was made of ivory. The manuscript apparently left St. Gall at the end of the 18th century, after being offered for sale. It only appeared again in the 1860s, when the heirs of Geneva physician Jean-Jaques de Roches-Lombard presented it to the Bibliothèque de Genève. (jeg)

Online Since: 12/09/2008

This manuscript, commissioned by the bibliophile Antoine of Bourgogne in 1460, contains the Epître d'Othea by Christine de Pisan, decorated with about a hundred masterful miniatures (a complete pictorial cycle). One of these contains the dedication of the work and shows four figures, identifiable as Philip the Good, Charles the Brave, and two of Philip's illegitimate sons, David and Anthony of Burgundy. (fmb)

Online Since: 07/25/2006

This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève. (bla)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

The “Recueil Grenet” is a collection of poems written by the Geneva merchant Gilbert Grenet (1510?-1568) containing French poems written during the decades 1530-1560. The composite manuscript begins with about forty epistles and «dizains» (ten-line poems) by Clément Marot, which were probably copied during and after the poet's stay in Geneva (1542-1543). This is followed by anonymous poems on the virtues of education and the art of writing. At the end there are about forty epigrams and poems praising the Reformation and polemicizing against Catholicism. Some are personal revisions of texts by Théodore de Bèze and Ronsard. The manuscript is partially illuminated and illustrates the role of militant poetry in the commercial milieu that supported the Reformation in the city of Geneva during Calvin's time. It was acquired by the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne in 1844. (dou)

Online Since: 12/12/2019

Hans Salat (1498-1561) from Sursee was secretary to the Lucerne court of justice from 1531-1540; during this time he wrote his chronicle of the Reformation from a Catholic point of view. This manuscript, purchased from a private collection in 2004 by the State Archives of Lucerne, is an autograph by Salat and was dedicated to the government of Lucerne. (jag)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

Othon de Grandson, knight and poet, distinguished himself both through his verses and through his heroic deeds during the Hundred Years War. He was an adviser to Count Amadeus VII of Savoy. After the death of the count, he fled to England. After his return to the land of Vaud he died in an ordeal by battle in the form of a duel in Bourg-en-Bresse in the year 1397. Othon de Grandson probably wrote his poetic works between 1366 and 1372. This collection volume also contains ballads by thirteen different authors. (swe)

Online Since: 03/31/2011

Canonistic manuscript with Dominicus de Sancto Geminiano's Lectura super librum sextum Decretalium. This volume was written in 1439 by Johannes Berwenstein for Peter Zum Luft, who was teaching at the university of the Council of Basel and who later left his extensive book collection to his nephew Arnold Zum Luft. (flr)

Online Since: 09/26/2017

This composite manuscript in thirteen volumes consists of drawings of plants which resulted from the Sessé & Moçiño expedition to the region of Mexico and Central America from 1787 to 1803. Of the 1300 drawings contained in these volumes, about 300 are originals from the expedition, the remaining 1000 were copied in Geneva in 1817 by artists and amateur botanists, most of whom were women from Geneva. The entire collection is usually referred to as Flore des Dames de Genève. (bla)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

A precursor to the rediscovery of Statius during the Renaissance of the 12th century this manuscript of the Thebaid (sometimes Thebiad) from the 11th century was certainly copied in Germany. It contains some marginal glosses that originate in part in the commentary of Lactance, and is distinguished above all by its neumes, which stand above the verses on fols. 46v, 80r and 81r. The notation indicates the rhythem of the text and underscore the importance of some passages that have a pathetic tone: the mourning of Hypsipyle over the body of the child Archemorus, the prayer of Tydeus shortly before death, the pain of Polyneikes before the body of Tydeus. (mes)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

Little is known about Albin of Clairvaux, also Albuinus of Gorze or Albuinus Eremita, except that around the year 1000 he produced a compilation of moral-theological writings dedicated to a Parisian canon Arnoldus and to Archbishop Heribert of Cologne (999-1021). The present copy is from the 11th or 12th century and is bound in soft leather, which originally was probably long enough to completely cover the book, but so narrow that the body of the block protrudes above and below. In the 15th century it was the property of the Carthusian monastery of Mainz, and it came to the Basel University Library as part of the Remigius Faesch collection. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

This martirologio-calendario (obituary) of the Parish of Claro has no cover, and its initial pages are quite badly damaged. Each page is laid out to contain five to seven days of the week; names of the deceased whose death anniversaries were to be celebrated are listed in spaces especially intended for this purpose. It is almost certain that this annal replaces an older register. Individual entries were updated later and, as can be deduced from notes in the margins, were transferred to a new book. As a rule, the entries are not dated, but mention of several testaments and local customs allows for placing it in the period after the middle of the 15th century. (ber)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This autograph by Antoine Biétrix contains anecdotes in patois which he collected and wrote down himself. The short stories give the people of Bonfol a terrible reputation. Even if the stories don't concern the people of Bonfol directly, they are attributed to them, undoubtedly because the name of the village lends itself to such. (rer)

Online Since: 06/23/2016