Bern, Burgerbibliothek
The Burgerbibliothek Bern is a cultural institute of the Burgergemeinde Berne, a Civic Community. The Burgerbibliothek in its current state was established in 1951 when the town and university library was transformed into a foundation. Today the Burgerbibliothek is open to the public. Its scientific archives hold and preserve numerous important and internationally renowned manuscripts, records and photographic files. Among the best known collections are those of the medieval manuscripts, the Bongarsiana-Codices, documents concerning Swiss and Bernese history as well as bequests of important people such as Albrecht von Haller or Jeremias Gotthelf. The Burgerbibliothek also acts in an archival capacity for the Burgergemeinde (Civic Community), the guilds and the Burger’s societies. As a scientific institute, the Burgerbibliothek is of service to researchers and is also open to the interested public. Its collection is accessible in a beautiful reading room and conveyed through publications, guided tours and exhibitions.
Leaf from a manuscript of Lucan’s Bellum Civile. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A heavily damaged leaf from a large-format manuscript that contained the late-antique commentary of Lactantius Placidus on Statius’ Thebaid.This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Large-format bifolium from a manuscript of Dioscorides that was probably produced in Fleury. Other parts of it are conserved in Paris, BnF, lat. 9332. The script and decoration display Insular characteristics. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolium and 3 fragments of another bifolium of a manuscript of Augustine’s De genesi ad litteram, written in uncial script and possibly produced in Luxeuil; other parts were identified in Paris, BN lat. 9377. The manuscript came to Bern in 1632 from the holdings of Jacques Bongars. At the time of Hermann Hagen (around 1870), the fragments, originally bound as f. 1-2 and 227-229 in Cod. 224 (composite manuscript containing texts by Isidore), were removed and preserved separately; they were given a new binding by Johann Lindt in 1944.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Bifolium of a small-format manuscript with a prayer ascribed to Augustine, as well as a Biblical index that matches the content of Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 706. The fragment probably formed the end of this manuscript, and came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three bifolia from a manuscript of Ambrose’s Hexameron, namely the beginning of Bern, Burgerbibiliothek, Cod. 585. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolium of a manuscript with the remains of an antidotary in which have been added excerpts from treatises on precious stones. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A fragment composed of two independent parts. The oldest part contains a commented version of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics. Around the outside of the quire is a later bifolium (f. 1, 11), written in French with a legal or ecclesiastical list of names. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Four bifolia (= 1 quire) of a manuscript of Augustine’s De vera religione, which probably was once in Fleury. It is the first quire of Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 540, of which another part can be found in Città del Vaticano, B.A.V., Reg. lat. 1709. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A two-bifolia fragment of Boethius’ De arithmetica. The manuscript was found in the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Martin in Séez. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three bifolia from a small-format manuscript containing medical recipes, perhaps connected to the Collectio Salernitana. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Ten leaves from a manuscript in two parts containing the medical treatises of Isaac Judaeus and Johannes Afflacius. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Five leaves from a Fleury manuscript that contains, alongside medical recipes, the oldest treatise on the production of binding agents. Therefore, this text, which has only survived here, is extremely important for the understanding of the production and use of colors in the Middle Ages. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Four bifolia from a manuscript probably produced in Eastern France, containing a collection of greco-latin glossaries whose central part is transmitted in this form only here. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A collection of fragments from three different parts that contains various excerpts of texts by Remigius Altissiodorensis (A), Bernardus Silvestris (B), and Hildebertus Cenomanensis (C). The fragment, encompassing 16 leaves, came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Two bifolia from a collection that contains, alongside a fragment of Guido of Arezzo’s Versus de musicae explanatione, other rhetorical, metrological, and philosophical treatises. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Three bifolia of a manuscript probably produced in Fleury, containing musical treatises by Guido of Arezzo and illustrated with various diagrams. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
Bifolium with juridical excerpts (on rights of succession) probably from the Novellae of the Corpus Iuris Civilis. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A leaf with extracts related to Lactantius and Boethius, but not more precisely identified. The fragment comes from Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 440, where it was originally bound with the beginning of the text – the offset of the decorated initial is still visible on the verso. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021
A list of manuscripts from Fleury noted by Pierre Daniel on a page; all the manuscripts are today more or less securely traceable to the libraries of Orléans and Paris. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars.
Online Since: 07/12/2021