Hymn and sequence commentary written in Isny in 1443 by Ulrich Bentz of Winterthur, attested as a registered student in Erfurt in 1444/1445. The text is closely linked to a 14th century Basel manuscript; parallel versions can be found in various southern German manuscripts. Marks on the back cover identify the volume as a liber catenatus. (gam/flr)

In 1482 Jakob Lauber, the librarian at the time, began to compile a loans register for the holdings of the library of the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. This register was continued after Lauber's tenure until 1527. The loans register was set up according to the shelfmark letters A to I, and it even was possible to record volumes on loan that had no shelfmark. Borrowed books were listed with the exact shelfmark under the corresponding letter; after the book's return, the entry was crossed out. (stu)

This manuscript, disbound and surviving only in fragments, was used in 1543 by the printer Heinrich Petri from Basel as model for his edition of the Rabani Mauri Moguntinensis archiepiscopi commentaria in Hieremiam prophetam. Various signs from typesetting as well as traces of printing ink provide evidence for such a use. From Petri's print shop, the manuscript became part of the collection of Remigius Fäsch and, together with the other holdings of the Museum Faesch, in 1823 it became the property of the University of Basel. The original provenance of the manuscript is not clear. (stu)

This 9th century manuscript is dedicated to the Artes; it consists of two parts, the first of which was written in Fulda around the second quarter of the 9th century. It contains the second book of Cassiodorus' Institutiones, which is devoted to secular knowledge; since the 9th century, it has been preserved in several manuscripts in an interpolated version that contains Cassiodorus' remarks on grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy, supplemented with excerpts from Quintilian, Boethius, Augustine and others. The second part was created a little earlier or simultaneously during the first third of the 9th century in Western France; it contains Alcuin's Dialectica and excerpts from Audax Grammaticus. The two parts were already combined in the 9th century and were held in France. (stb)

The manuscript consists of a single quaternio formerly bound with the present Cod. 250 of the Burgerbibliothek Bern. The quire continues the computistic content of the latter, here with Easter tables whose margins hold the Annales Floriacenses. The last page received a copy of Abbo's second letter to Giraldus and Vitalis. (all)

This manuscript, which consists of only 28 leaves and which contains a part of a missal for the Ambrosian Rite, comes from the Oratory of St. Bernardino in Faido (Ticino); under the patronage of the Varesi family, this chapel was newly consecrated in the 15th century (probably 1459). The manuscript was donated to the Oratory by the Varesi family, possibly for this occasion, in order to allow the celebration of the Holy Mass. A quire containing the mass for the patron saint St. Bernardino (20-25) was added to the first quires (1-12, 16-19), as well as the loose leaf with two miniatures representing the Maiestas domini and the crucifixion. The script, a Gothic rotunda of the Italian type, contrasts with the miniatures which show a certain relationship to contemporaneous colored engravings of German origin. (ber)

This obsequiale (processional) of Otto IV von Sonnenberg, Bishop of Constance (1481-1491), was written during his lifetime in the Constance area; it contains instructions for the organisation of liturgical ceremonies (for example, administering the sacraments, ecclesiastic blessings, and exorcisms). (sol)

This manuscript is a cartulary that was created for the Cluniac priory of Romainmôtier (canton of Vaud) and that was probably copied at the monastery. It consists of two chronologically distinct parts that were united at an unknown time. The first part is from the 12th century and consists of 77 documents, introduced by a preface that recounts the most important events from the history of the institution. The second part was copied around the end of the 13th century and contains 80 documents, most of which date back to the years 1270-1286. (anm)

Purchased at auction in 2023, this volume, which for a long time remained in private hands, adds to the number of works known to have been commissioned by the bishop of the diocese of Basel, Jean de Venningen (1458-1479). This is a pontifical that belongs to the same group of liturgical manuscripts as a missal-pontifical (ms. 1) and two other pontificals (mss. 2 and 3), produced around 1462-1463 and conserved in the ancient collection of the Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne. This pontifical shares some blessings with each of the three others. Copied by a single scribe, it is embellished with a dozen ornate or historiated initials similar to those of other manuscripts in this group, attributed to a certain Hans, parish priest of Hésingue, on the basis of the illuminator's name appearing in the register of the bishop's expenses (Gamper/Jurot 1999). (rou)

The Sefer Mitsvot Qatan or “Small Book of Precepts” is a halakhic compendium, which also includes ethical, aggadic and homiletical material, written ca. 1276-1277 by Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil, one of the great codifiers and French Tosafists of the 13th century. The work is also called Sheva Ammudei ha-Golah or the “Seven Pillars of the Exile”, due to its division into seven sections, corresponding to the seven days a week, encouraging its daily study. This work is an abridged version of the Sefer Mitsvot Gadol (Semag), another halakhic compendium completed in 1247 by Moses ben Jacob of Coucy (1st half 13th c.). Consequently, with a much more accessible legal code, the Sefer Mitsvot Qatan achieved widespread popularity, receiving recognition from rabbinical authorities from Franco-Germany. This copy includes glosses by R. Isaac's main disciple, namely Perets ben Elijah of Corbeil (died 1297). (iss)

The kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Orah or "Gates of Light" is one of the major texts of Jewish mysticism written in thirteenth century Spain, where Kabbalah flourished. It is considered to be the most articulate work on kabbalistic symbolism and its content provides a comprehensive explanation of the Names of God and their designation within the ten sephirot or attributes/emanations, through which Eyn Sof (the Infinite) reveals Itself and continuously creates both the physical and metaphysical realms. The work is organized into ten chapters, one for each sephirah. (iss)

Beautifully illuminated Maḥzor for Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur according to the Ashkenazi rite. It is however possible to surmise that this manuscript was produced in Poland during the 14th century, as its script resembles that of contemporary Hebrew manuscript fragments of maḥzorim produced in Poland. This manuscript of middle-sized format, enclosing several ornate initial words and illuminated frames, contains the liturgy for the High Holidays of Rosh ha-Shana and Yom Kippur, including many liturgical poems (piyyutim) displayed in several columns, and was destined for public use by the precentor (ḥazan) at the synagogue. However, the particularity of this maḥzor lies in the presence of a woman's name, גננא כהנת (Jeanne Kohenet), inserted within the painted letters of a decorated monumental initial word. She was probably the patron of this manuscript and either the daughter or wife of a cohen. The manuscript is incomplete at the beginning and at the end. (iss)

This almost complete Italian 15th century paper copy is composed of Books II to VIII of the Hebrew translation of Averroes' Middle Commentary on the Physics by Aristotle. The learned Andalusian polymath, jurist and imam, Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rushd – or Averroes (1126-1198), known as the Commentator, devoted his entire life on restoring Aristotle's original teachings, and writing commentaries on nearly all of Aristotle's works. He was therefore considered one of the most influential philosophic authorities of the Middle Ages, not only among the Latin Scholastics, but particularly among Jews, for the understanding of Aristotelian science through the Hebrew translations of his commentaries. The Middle Commentary is the least known of Averroes' commentaries on the Physics and exists today in two complete Hebrew translations from the Arabic and one partial 16th century Hebrew-to-Latin translation. The Hebrew translation found in Ms. Heid. 166 is that of the Provençal Jewish philosopher Qalonymos ben Qalonymos (1286-d. after 1328), entitled Bi᷾ ur ha-Shema', and was the most widely copied version of the Hebrew translations. (iss)