A paper manuscript with two columns of text, missing its beginning, datable to the 14th century, written by various hands in turn, using Textura and Cursive. It contains a collection of what was originally 74 fables and legends in verse in Old French, following the model of the Vitae Patrum, which was originally written during the 12th century by a variety of authors. The manuscript is in its original binding of white leather; the flyleaves consist of notarial documents from the 13th/14th centuries, which have left traces of transferred text on the inner gace of the cover. On f. 186v the Exlibris Iste liber est de Joni de Densseuto is written twice, and on f. 92v is an announcement of the birth of the son of Pierre de Vatravers in the year 1465.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This manuscript contains the Adhortaciones sanctorum patrum (ff. 13-96v) and the De miraculis (ff. 97r-158r), a collection of miracles assembled by Peter the Venerable, reformer and last of the great abbots of Cluny. The front flyleaves contain a notarial document from the 14th century, while the rear ones contain assorted notes, possibly notices of ownership, which seem to have been obliterated.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Given the liturgy and the presence of the Office for the Saint, this breviary originated in St. Lebuinus Church in Deventer (Netherlands). It belonged to Swibert de Keyserswerth (died after 1551), paternal grandfather of the Dutch organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Gradual dating from the 12th century, used by the Prémontré order at the Abbey of Bellelay.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
This manuscript contains a treatise on penitence in German. It is dated April 25th 1453 (f. 72r). The guardleaves consist of fragments from the Prima collectio decretalium Innocentii III by Rainerius of Pomposa.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
The first liturgical library of the nuns of Fille-Dieu, which today is dispersed across all of Europe, has great significance for the history of the Cistercian Order. The booklet FiD 1 (French musical notation) contains the oldest offices of St. Bernard and of the Trinity, which were introduced into the order in 1175 or shortly thereafter. The flyleaves are remarkable as well. Together with FiD 2, they represent relics of antiphonaries that were copied around 1136/1140 and contain the original Cistercian liturgy, which was copied shortly after 1108 in Metz by monks sent by Abbot Stephen Harding. This liturgy was corrected within the framework of the reforms of Bernard of Clairvaux. The existence of Bernardine drafts had until now been known through antiphonary 12A-B from Westmalle Abbey (Belgium) and through the one from Tamié Abbey 6 (Savoy). Codicological analysis of the flyleaves of FiD 1 and of the fragments of FiD 2 reveals that all pieces come from the Swiss Abbey of Fille-Dieu; they share identical status and common characteristics, irrespective of current holding sites. The same hands and correcting hands can be recognized, the same types of ornamentation and the same later touch-ups, which were done at the earliest in the 16th century, probably by the nuns or by the monks of Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron, VD), which was the mother house of Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This complete Gradual (square notation) contains the temporal (f. 1r-70v), the sanctoral and the Commune Sanctorum (f. 70v–103v), votive masses (f. 103v-107v), the Kyriale and litanies (f. 107v–111v), antiphons and processional responsories (f. 112r–113v), the tropes of the Kyrie Cunctipotens and Fons bonitatis (f. 113v–115r) and several additions from the 14th century (f. 115r-127v). According to the analysis of the calendar, this copy could date back to the middle of the 13th century, between 1246 (mention of Saint Lambert by the first hand, f. 100r) and 1255 (no mention of the mass for Saint Dominic on August 5th, f. 95r). Contrary to what is suggested by the labels (back and inside cover), this codex was copied before the end of the 1260s, since the mass of Saint Anthony (f. 75v) was noted by a second hand. In addition, f. 98v contains no mention of an octave of St. Bernard, which is usually included in all Cistercian books from 1295 on. A study of the musical and liturgical content shows that manuscript FiD 5, which is a faithful copy of the older Gradual of the order (Abbazia Tre Fontane 47, around 1140/1143), probably originated in Hautcrêt Abbey (Oron VD), which was the motherhouse of Fille-Dieu until 1536.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This is the oldest copy of Gian Travers' drama “Joseph”, performed in Zuoz in 1534. The manuscript was produced three years after the death of Travers and makes use of spellings that were no longer in use at the time the copy was made. The scribe is Conradin Planta, probably a relative: Gian Travers was married to Anna Planta. The manuscript is bound incorrectly: the text begins with ff. 9-13, then there is a leaf missing, f. 14, f. 1, f. 5, f. 3, f. 4, f. 6, f. 2, f. 15, a missing leaf, f. 7, f. 16. Folio 8r, originally the final page, contains a cautionary poem; f. 8v was left blank. The front flyleaves are made of a large parchment sheet, originally from a 12th century parchment manuscript with a text by Constantine the African, De febribus, chap. 3-5.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This small 12th century prayer book, the oldest in the German language, was written for a woman. It contains various prayers in German and Latin, including the famous "Mary Sequence of Muri" ("Mariensequenz aus Muri"), the oldest known German language version of the Latin sequence model, the Ave preclara maris stella. During the 19th century the manuscript was linked to Queen Agnes (ca. 1281-1364), who had lived in the Cloister of Königsfeld. It is listed in the manuscript catalog of the monastery of Muri as of 1790.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This copy of Augustine's De civitate Dei, written in two columns and executed by several hands, has numerous corrections, variants and Nota monograms in the margins; it is listed in the supplements to the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The volume opens with an incipit page and an ornate decorative page with the initial E in a red pen and ink drawing on a light green background. Red initials with scroll ornamentation stretching over 10-12 lines mark the beginning of individual books. A quire was lost between f. 137/138 and between f. 193/194, before this codex, like many others, received a new binding in the 15th century with metal bosses, two clasps and the title written on the front cover; as with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40, Min. 53, Min. 55 and Min. 104, fragments from a 14th century necrology of Allerheiligen Abbey were used as back flyleaf and pastedown (f. 292, 293).
Online Since: 09/26/2017
This is a meticulous copy of Augustine's De trinitate, written in a single-column; it has an opening page and a page with a decorative initial, as well as several initials with scroll ornamentation of varying heights at the beginning of each book. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; as with Min. 24 and Min. 40, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as pastedowns and flyleaves.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This copy of a collection of authentic and spurious sermons by Augustine, written in a single-column and undecorated except for an initial with scroll ornamentation, is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; fragments of a 14th century necrology were used as pastedowns.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This copy of Augustine's De doctrina christiana was written by a single hand in one column; it has a beautiful opening page and explicit in display script. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with an inscribed front cover, metal bosses and a clasp, as well as a title label on 1r.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
The very worn and soiled pages 1r and 88v suggest that this single-column, mostly undecorated copy of Augustine's Enchiridion, produced in Tours in the 9th century, was for a long time used unbound. It probably received its first binding in the 12th century in Schaffhausen; at that time, the missing final part of the text was added on a double leaf (89-90) at the end. This is the only known manuscript from Tours in the library of Allerheiligen Abbey; it is listed in the abbey's register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The Romanesque binding has been largely preserved; only the flyleaves and pastedowns were replaced in the 19th century and, as with Min. 32, the spine was covered with parchment.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This copy of texts and letters by Augustine is written in a single column and is undecorated except for two initials with scroll ornamentation; the manuscript is listed in the All Saints Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). The period table of contents (1r) underscores the unity of the manuscript, to the writing of which numerous hands contributed. Particular mention should be made of the Romanesque binding, which has been preserved without later alterations.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
Numerous hands participated in the creation of this single-column, undecorated manuscript for regular use; it contains texts by Augustine and Isidore of Seville. The writing material was parchments of differing quality, some of which were reused. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps; a fragment from a 12th century missal with neumes was used for the rear pastedown.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This manuscript is a copy of Augustine's De Genesi ad literam; it is written in a single-column and undecorated except for one page with a decorative initial. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps. As with Min. 44, a fragment from a 13th century manuscript was used as front pastedown; in addition, a bifolium from Cassiodors Historia ecclesiastica was bound into the front.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
As attested by the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v), the two parts that constitute this manuscript were united in the 11th century already. While the first part (Ambrosius, De excessu fratrum) is undecorated, the second part, containing five texts by Augustine, begins with an opening page which is at the same time a table of contents. In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps. As with Min. 20 and Min. 24, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as flyleaves.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This is a careful copy of Hilary's De fide sive de trinitate with a page with a decorative initial. The manuscript is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps. Fragments from the same 13th century as with Min. 39 were used as pastedowns. In addition, a bifolium from a manuscript of prayers was bound into the front.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
This is the first part of a six-volume copy of Gregory's Moralia in Iob (Min. 50-55), containing Books 1-5; it is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). It is written in a single column and is mostly undecorated except for the incipit page (f. 1r) and an initial with scroll ornamentation (f. 1v). On f. 129 sermo by Odo of Cluny. Discolorations and signs of wear on the first (f. 1r) and last (f. 132v) page suggest that the manuscript remained unbound until the 15th century when, like many others, it received a leather binding with metal bosses and two clasps. Two leaves from Min. 110 (2nd half of the 12th century) were used as pastedowns.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This is the fourth part of a six-volume copy of Gregory's Moralia in Iob (Min. 50-55), containing Books 17-22 and designated as IIII. Pars on f. 1r; it is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). It is written in a single column, is clean, and is undecorated except for an initial with scroll ornamentation. In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses, two clasps and a title label (1r). As with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40 and Min. 55, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as flyleaves (f. 169r-v; the front flyleaf has been lost).
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This is the fifth part of a six-volume copy of Gregory's Moralia in Iob (Min. 50-55), containing Books 23-27 and designated as quinta pars on f. 3r; it is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). It is written in a single column and is undecorated except for a full-page, not entirely completed initial with scroll ornamentation on the incipit page (f. 3r). Bifolios from another copy of Book 23 of the Moralia (f. 1v–2v, 100r–101v), also produced at All Saints Abbey, were used as pastedowns/flyleaves for the Romanesque binding.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This is the sixth part of a six-volume copy of Gregory's Moralia in Iob (Min. 50-55), containing Books 28-35; it is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v). It is written in a single column, is clean and is written by several hands, with an incipit page (f. 2v), a full-page initial with scroll ornamentation (f. 3r), and more initials with scroll ornamentation at the beginning of each book. At the end (f. 183v–185v) there are copies of four documents from the years 1090-1122. In the 15th century this codex, like many others, received a new leather binding with metal bosses, two clasps and a title label (f. 1r). As with Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40 and Min. 53, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as flyleaves (f. 1r-v and 186r-v).
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This copy of seven hagiographic texts, to which a Vita Longini (f. 143v) was added a short while later, is listed in the Allerheiligen Abbey register of books from about 1100 (Min. 17, f. 306v); it is written in a single column and is undecorated except for a few initials with scroll ornamentation. The yellowish discoloration of f. 1r and f. 145v suggests that the manuscript remained unbound until the second half of the 15th century, when like many others, it received a leather binding with metal bosses and a clasp. As with Min. 19, Min. 20, Min. 24, Min. 40, Min. 53 and Min. 55, fragments from a 14th century necrology of All Saints Abbey were used as pastedowns (f. I, f. 146).
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Missal preceded by a calendar of the Diocese of Sion. The decoration consists of pen-flourish initials at the beginning of the most important holidays (e.g. 8r, 14v, 82r, 92r) and an image of the crucifix in the Canon of the Mass (101r). Thomas Züren of Unterwassern, one of the three copyists, explains in the colophon (193vb) that the volume was produced on the order of Clemens of Ulrichen for the altar of the Virgin in Aragno (Ernen).
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This manuscript from the library of the Capuchin monastery of Sion contains the Manipulus curatorum, a handbook of moral and pastoral theology for use by priests that was written in the early 1330s by Guy de Montrocher. The work was widely used in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Capuchin monastery library owns a second old copy of the Manipulus, which, however, is printed: RCap 110, an incunable from 1485 (Rom, Eucharius Silber: Hain 8192). In RCap 14, the Manipulus curatorum is followed by an endpaper, which contains a list, perhaps of dioceses, especially Italian and German dioceses. The flyleaves are parchment; they are two documents issued in Geneva in 1452, which mention, among others, a Johannes Brochuti, canon at Sion.
Online Since: 12/14/2017
This parchment manuscript produced in 1438/39 was commissioned by Solothurn mayor Henmann von Spiegelberg and his wife Margarethe von Spins as a Mass book for use on the St. George's altar in their chapel in the Cathedral of St. Ursen. The missal was probably produced in Solothurn. The Roman Missal (First printed in Milan in 1474 under the title Missale secundum consuetudinem Romane Curie still lacking the Rubricae generales and Ritus servandus) follows the Missale curiae, i.e., the Mass book created in about 1220 for the chapel of the papal palace.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This spiritual handbook contains assorted German texts: a translation of the Gospel of Nicodemus and a communion devotion together with Dominican funeral rites and mystic texts about Christ's Passion. The manuscript originated in the third quarter of the 15th century in the area of the Upper Rhine and was originally the property of the Dominican convent in Bern (Inselkloster St. Michael). After the Reformation, at the end of the 16th century, the manuscript was acquired by the Solothurn City Library (Bibliotheca civitatis).
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This composite manuscript brings together assorted treatises, mainly computistical and astronomical works (by Jakob Twinger von Königshofen, Johannes Münzinger, Johannes de Sacrobosco and others). It was written between 1388 and 1394 in Strassburg and in Rottweil on the Neckar (Wurttemberg) by Konrad Justinger and by Werner Mardersberger. One of the scribes, Werner Mardersberger was later director of the Solothurn Abbey School. The volume was acquired by the Solothurn Abbey Library in 1504.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The Solothurn history Bible (“Historienbibel”) was created in 1460 in the workshop of Diebold Lauber in Hagenau (Alsace). This prestigious piece of work may have been comissioned by Solothurn City Clerk Hans vom Stall (1419-1499). In 1763 the book was acquired by the Solothurn City Library as a part of the von Staal family library.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This Evangelary with an unusual, nearly square format and full-page illuminated initials was written and decorated in the late 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. The binding, which was originally covered in bright silk brocade in red, yellow, and green, is equally unusual. Remnants of this material can still be found on the inner edge of the cover. The volume was annotated by Ekkehart IV during the 11th century; there are also some verses in his hand at the end.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
The Speculum humanae salvations is a work consisting of texts and illustrations of Biblical content. Each double page of the opened book shows four images, which usually juxtapose one scene from the life of Christ with three prefigurations from the Old Testament. In the present manuscript, this order has not been sustained consistently. The Latin text source has been translated into German verses, which earlier were erroneously attributed to Konrad von Helmsdorf. The Speculum is preserved as a composite manuscript of manuscripts and printed works; several pages are missing in the beginning.
Online Since: 06/23/2016
The homilies of Gregory the Great in an 11th century script, with red initials and captions. The work was already included in a 10th/11th century book catalog as being held in Pfafers, and it remained in the cloister library after the devastating fire of 1665 as well as after secularization in 1838. On the front and back flyleaves and pastedowns are fragments of the Historia ecclesiastica by Eusebius Caesariensis (9th/10th century).
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This volume, assembled in the 14th century from four originally separate pieces, probably was the missal for the chapel at St. Margrethenberg (Sampans) above Pfäfers. The chants in parts 1 (1r-63v, 12th century), 2 (64r-77v, 13th-14th century) and 4 (129r-131v, 12th century) contain neumes, part 3 (78r-128v, 14th century) is in square notation.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
Composite manuscript containing a contemporary version of the Versus de bello Fontanetico, a poem on the battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye on June 25, 841.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
This manuscript was produced at the monastery of Pfäfers before ca. 1020 and contains the Dialogues of Pope Gregory I. A guard-leaf containing an important fragment of a Passion Play in German from the early fourteenth century has been removed during a recent restoration.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Composite manuscript of hagiographic character containing the lives of Saints Colomban, Eustacius, Gall, Otmar, Nicholas of Myre, Augustine, Meinrad, Walburga, Sigismond, Alexis, and Aper as well as a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew by Remigius of Auxerre.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Probably produced in Paris, this pocket Bible contains the Old Testament with 16 of Jerome's prologues to the individual Biblical books. At least five leaves (from 1 Macc. 4: 38) have been torn out of the end. The exceptionally fine and thick parchment is of extremely high quality. The pages feature continuous red-and-blue column headings and chapter numbers. The ornamentation consists of pen-flourished and painted initials, a few of which have figurative scenes: p. 9 (Hexaemeron), p. 137 (Moses), p. 435 (David with Harp), p. 446 (David), p. 450 (fool), p. 470 (David), p. 482 (Solomon). In the Psalms, the liturgical eight-part division of the psalters is particularly emphasized through painted initials.
Online Since: 12/14/2022
Bible manuscript from the time of Hartmut, Vice-abbot ca. 850-872 and Abbot 872-883, containing books of the Old Testament (Ezekiel, Daniel and the minor prophets): one volume of the so-called "Kleine Hartmut-Bibel". Includes a malediction upon thieves by the owner.
Online Since: 12/12/2006
Copy of the Pauline Epistles with the Glossa ordinaria: Epistle to the Romans (pp. 3–44), First Epistle to the Corinthians (pp. 44–78), Second Epistle to the Corinthians (pp. 78–106), Epistle to the Galatians (pp. 106–121), Epistle to the Ephesians (pp. 121–136), Epistle to the Philippians (pp. 136–146), Epistle to the Colossians (pp. 146–156), First Epistle to the Thessalonians (pp. 156–164), Second Epistle to Timothy (pp. 165–172), Epistle to Titus (pp. 172–177), Epistle to Philemon (pp. 177–179), Epistle to the Hebrews (pp. 179–214). The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians and the First Epistle to Timothy are missing (loss of a quire).The beginning of the Epistle to the Romans (Rm 1, 1–20) appears on pp. 1-2 already, also with the Glossa ordinaria. The decoration consists of initials with scroll ornamentation in the same ink as the text on pp. 3, 44, 106, 146, 172, 177 and 179. On the last leaf (p. 215-216), presumably formerly a pastedown, there is the sequence De sancto Nicolao by Adam of Saint Victor with diastematic neume notation on staff lines incised with a stylus. This notation, not customary in St. Gall, argues against the manuscript's having been produced at the St. Gall monastery.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
An excellently crafted copy of the ten-part commentary of the Greek theologian Origen (185-253/54) on the Epistle to the Romans (Commentarii in epistulas ad Romanos), produced in the Cloister of St. Gall during the second half of the 9th century.
Online Since: 12/23/2008
A summary presentation of Christian ethics by the early church father Ambrose (about 339 - 397), De officiis ministrorum. This copy is from around 900, probably not produced in the monastery of St. Gall. A short Psalter, a litany, and prayers precede the work by Ambrose.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
An important copy of Augustine's work De doctrina christiana in terms of textual history, written during the second half of the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. In the 1930s fragments of the oldest Vulgate manuscript version of the gospels, from the 5th century, were removed from the binding of this manuscript. These fragments are now found, together with additional fragments of the same manuscript as well as fragments of other texts, in Cod. Sang. 1395.
Online Since: 06/02/2010
Superbly crafted Sacramentary of St. Gall from the time of Abbot Norpert of Stablo (1034-1072) for the celebration of the Mass. With Calendar, Gradual and Sacramentary, illustrations include five full-page, high-quality miniatures of the principal feast days of the liturgical year (Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost).
Online Since: 06/12/2006
Superbly crafted St. Gall sacramentary from the time of Abbot Norbert of Stablo (1034-1072) for the celebration of the Mass, containing a calendar of saints, a list of incipits of the spoken and chanted texts for the Mass on the principal feast days of saints and the sacramentary itself, which is illustrated with four splendid full-page miniatures, two full-page initials and numerous smaller initials.
Online Since: 06/12/2006
German language lectionary with the Epistles and Gospel readings according to the Church year (Proprium de tempore; Proprium de sanctis and Commune sanctorum) from the Dominican Cloister of St. Katharina in St. Gall, copied in the year 1483 from a model belonging to the Cloister of St. Katherine in Nurnberg by Elisabeth Muntprat, one of the convent's most diligent scribes. Texts from the manuscript were read aloud during the Dominican nuns' meals. Several colored woodcuts are pasted into the manuscript, which came to the Abbey Library of St. Gall around 1780.
Online Since: 12/20/2012
This codex, with boards covered in green textile, consists of two parts. The first part (pp. 3-53) contains sequences by Notker Balbulus and other authors, the second part (pp. 55-226) contains a gradual. All of the texts have neumes; the script is interspersed with red and blue majuscules. Of note is a series of decorated initials, for example one containing a dragon on p. 3 of the sequentiary and one with scroll ornamentation on p. 55 of the gradual. Other examples can be found on pp. 114, 134, 144, 146. Bound in at the beginning is an 11th/12th century leaf containing excerpts from the Commune Sanctorum, with 14th century supplements on the back.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
The manuscript contains the antiphons, invitatories, and responsories for certain offices of saints, and then the Alleluia verses and sequences for the feast-days of some saints. The majority of the chants are provided with adiastemmatic neumes. A note on p. 112, written before the turn of the 15th century, has neumatic notation on staves. As the leather covering on the spine and the back cover is entirely missing, the Gothic cover joint is very visible from the outside. According to the ownership note on p. 3, in the eighteenth century the manuscript was in the Abbey of St. Johann in Toggenburg.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
Most likely intended for the convent of Dominican nuns of St. Catherine in St. Gall, this tiny psalter (11 x 8 cm) reveals its Dominican use already in the calendar (ff. 2r-7v), which includes Dominican saints, such as Thomas Aquinas and Peter Martyr. Copied in a single column of textualis by a regular hand, the text is punctuated by alternating red and blue initials, sometimes with pen flourishes, and in different sizes according to the textual divisions (psalm, verse). In addition to Latin notes, the margins contain instructions in German on how to recite the Psalms. After the litany of saints and prayers (ff. 151r-159v), a paper quire has been added, dating from the end of the fifteenth century and containing hymns (ff. 160r-170v).
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This small-format prayer book of Franz Gaisberg, who later became Abbot of St. Gall (abbot 1504–1529), only contains prayers in Latin. It begins with a calendar (f. 1r–12v) and a computistic table (f. 13r/v), followed by prayers about the passion (f. 14r–29v), prayers and antiphons to Mary (f. 31r–49r) and other saints (f. 49r–80r), as well as to the Commune sanctorum (f. 81v–83v), various other prayers (f. 83v–107r), as well as the liturgy of the hours for the passion and for the souls of the deceased (f. 107v–140r). There is no decoration except for initials with simple scroll ornamentation in red ink that stretch across two to four lines.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
This tiny psalter, which was written for a Dominican Convent, begins with a fragmentary calendar (ff. Er-Iv; one leaf, containing the months of January and February, has been removed). After the Psalms (ff. 1r-182v) there follows the Old and New Testament Cantica (ff. 183r-193r) and the Athanasian Creed Quicumque vult (ff. 193r–194v) as well as a fifteenth-century addition of a litany (ff. Ur–Wr). Red and blue initials, some with pen-flourishes, make up the book's ornamentation. The flyleaves come from older recycled parchment, and the pastedowns are made up of fragments from a fifteenth-century charter. Since Catherine of Siena does not appear in the calendar, the psalter likely was produced before 1460. The manuscript was in the Abbey Library by the eighteenth century at the latest.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
A manuscript compilation written in the 9th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. The manuscript contains, among other items, the Lives of monastic father Antonius (by Athanasius), Paulus, Hilraion and Malchus (all by the church father Jerome), 12 homilies (Predigten) of Caesarius of Arles, additionals tracts by Caesarius and by Pseudo-Caesarius as well as the dicta of Martin of Braga addressed to Polemius entitled De correctione rusticorum3. The manuscript contains a very large number of quill tests, including two alphabetical verses (“Adnexique globum…” and “Ferunt ophyr…”) and a scribal saying: Scribere discce puer…
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This little booklet brings together in an eighteenth-century half-leather binding two fascicules produced in different centuries and which certainly were not originally connected. The first fascicule (pp. 5–52) contains a single text, the Dominican William Rothwell's treatise on the sacraments. The text, copied in a fourteenth-century hand, is arranged in two columns and is rubricated throughout. Due to water damage, the parchment is heavily rippled. The second fascicule (pp. 53–76) contains the life of St. Bridget of Sweden. The text, laid out in a single column, is written in a fifteenth-century hand, and only the first page is rubricated. The second paper flyleaf at the beginning (p. 3) contains a breviary fragment.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This manuscript contains the Chronicle of the Popes by Martin of Opava († after 1278) on pp. 3-95. The chronicle goes as far as Boniface VIII; the names of the five following popes are added at the end by a later hand. This is followed by sermons for saints' days (pp. 96-206), and then, on pp. 207-224, excerpts from Martin of Opava's Chronicle of the Emperors, with an anonymous continuation up to Henry IX [VII] (1313). A 14th century fragment of an ascetic tract is bound into the front (pp. 1a-2b). The book decoration is limited to simple pen-flourish initials (pp. 105, 107, 184).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
St. Gallen copy of Paulus Orosius' history of the world from Adam to the year 417 from the 9th century, with numerous glosses and several maps, written by the monk Ekkehart IV. in the 11th century.
Online Since: 09/14/2005
A copy of the work Bellum Judaicum (the Jewish War) by the Jewish author Flavius Josephus (1st century AD), produced in the 9th century, probably not at the Abbey of St. Gall, by the hands of eight different scribes.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This extensive volume was copied at the turn of the thirteenth to fourteenth century by a single hand with a somewhat varying ductus. It contains a thematically ordered compilation of short examples and observations on virtues and vices (pp. 3–658) that may have been taken from Etienne de Bourbon or Humbertus de Romanis. This summa is made accessible by an index (pp. 659–661), written in a later hand, which hand also completed the foliation. The manuscript is rubricated throughout and contains two-line red and blue lombards. On the front flyleaf can be found a fragment of a charter from 1295. The red-leather binding has the remains of a medieval clasp.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
The paper manuscript, bound with a limp binding, is composed of four parts written in the first half of the fifteenth century. Parts II and IV are probably to be ascribed to the hand of Johannes de Nepomuk, who came from the Cistercian house of Nepomuk in Bohemia. The manuscript probably reached the Abbey of St. Gall by the middle of the fifteenth century at the latest. It contains Latin sermons, spiritual treatises, and documents pertaining to the Council of Constance in the years 1417–1418.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
This voluminous paper manuscript was written by Gallus Kemli († 1480/81) approximately in the period 1466 to 1476. It transmits tools, compendia, and summaries of theology, canon law, liturgy, and confession and penance, as well as prayers and chants with German Plainchant (Hufnagel) notation for the mass, a rituale, and, finally, further prayers, blessings, sermons and exhortations, partly in Latin and partly in German. The manuscript is bound in a limp wrapper with a red leather cover. Gallus Kemli, monk of Saint Gall, who led an erratic itinerant life outside the abbey, left at his death a large collection of books, including this one.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
The manuscript chiefly transmits a 1481 Landgerichtsordnung (procedural and penal ordinances) for the Abbey-Principality of Kempten, which was possibly copied before the end of the fifteenth century. The manuscript was used by Ulrich Degelin, Chancellor under Abbot Johann Erhard Blarer von Wartensee (1587–1594) and author of a new Landgerichtsordnung for Kempten. Thereafter, the manuscript passed successively into the possession of the Lindau legal scholars Johannes Andreas Heider († 1719) and Johann Reinhard Wegelin († 1764), before Johann Nepomuk Hauntinger acquired it for St. Gall Abbey between 1780 and 1792.
Online Since: 09/22/2022
This manuscript, decorated with fleuronné initials and occasional pen drawings, was written in Italy in the second half of the 13th century or at the latest at the beginning of the 14th century. It preserves the Codex Justinianus (Books 1–9), the Great Gloss of Accursius associated with it, as well as many more glosses in the margins. The manuscript came to the Abbey Library at the latest in the 16th century via the two St. Gall citizens Conrad Särri and Johannes Widembach († around 1456).
Online Since: 12/18/2014
A fifteenth-century wooden-board binding contains this manuscript composed of multiple parts. The original start of the miscellany, the part of the manuscript consisting of pp. 1–140, was probably removed in the ninenteenth century. Six codicological units remain, and, with the exception of Part IV, they all were copied in the fifteenth century. Part I (pp. 141–348) has, on pp. 141–198, Johannes de Fonte's florilegium Auctoritates Aristotelis (Lohr, p. 260) and, on pp. 199–346, Latin sermons, with the insertion of excerpts from the book of Proverbs (pp. 257–263). Part II (pp. 349–396) contains Latin texts on the Mass, confession, and penance, written in two columns on pp. 349a–396, including Ambrosius Autpertus' treatise De conflictu vitiorum on pp. 363a-383b (Bloomfield, Nr. 0455). Further Latin sermons appear in Part III (pp. 397–440b). Part IV (pp. 441–574) consists of an incomplete abbreviation in two columns of Guillelmus Peraldus' Summa virtutum (Bloomfield, Nr. 5775; Verweij, p. 111–110), which was copied in the fourteenth century. Part V (pp. 575–618) transmits Thomas Aquinas' treatise Collationes de decem preceptis (Bloomfield, Nr. 6071), which is decorated with a rather large pen drawing of a bishop on p. 600b. Part VI (pp. 619–638), a single gathering, is written in two columns and contains on pp. 619a–630b a Latin interpretation of the Pater noster by Johannes Münzinger (Adam, p. 160), on pp. 631a–634a Thomas Aquinas' interpretation of the Ave Maria (Expositio angelice salutationis) (cf. Rossi), on pp. 634b– 637a an interpretation of the responsory Missus est Gabriel, and finally on pp. 637a–638b a short text in another hand. Based on the stamp of Abbot Diethelm Blarer (p. 440b), the manuscript has been in the Abbey Library since 1553–1564 at the latest.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
An anonymous commentary, written in tiny script (up to 110 lines on pages only 14.5 cm in height) on the odes, epodes, Ars poetica, letters, and sermons of Horace. It is preceded by lives of Horace by Pseudo-Acro and Suetonius as well as, on the very first pages, documents (including one from 1252). The pages at the end contain a commentary on the Satires of Persius, of which the first part is in poor condition.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This parchment manuscript contains on pp. 1–188 books 17 and 18 of Priscian's Institutiones grammaticae (ed. Keil, v. 3, pp. 107–278, l. 12). Then follows the third book of Donatus' Ars maior on pp. 189–204 (ed. Keil, v. 4, pp. 392–402), and the Pseudo-Priscian treatise De accentibus on pp. 205–223 (ed. Keil, v. 3, pp. 518–528). The entire grammatical manuscript is written in the same fourteenth-century textualis. The beginning each of the four texts, on p. 1, 115, 189, and 205, is marked by a 10-18-line painted initial with gold, blue, white, red, dark-red or green; the first initial is historiated, depicted a teaching scene, and the third initial is heavily damaged. For the rest, there are simple red and blue pen-flourished initials throughout. The Institutiones grammaticae are accompanied by numerous glosses and commentaries written in ink by several fourteenth-century hands. On p. 189 the glosses are less numerous and have been made with dry point. On p. 118 and 224 can be found the stamp of Abbot Diethelm Blarer (1553–1564), on p. 1 appears the former shelfmark D.n. 241 along with a note on content by Pius Kolb. Before p. 1, a fragment in paper contains the remains of two long entries. The wooden-board binding has a half-leather cover.
Online Since: 12/20/2023
This composite manuscript likely is from Rhenish Franconia or from the Upper Rhine area and came into the possession of the Abbey of St. Gall in 1699, probably from the Convent of Poor Clares in Freiburg im Breisgau (like, for example, Cod. Sang. 985). The manuscript contains a large number of different sermons and mystical-ascetic texts, especially from the 13th and 14th centuries. Among them are, for instance, the treatise Von der Minne (pp. 7−19) attributed to Johannes Hiltalingen from Basel, the so-called sünde-version of the pseudo-Albert work Paradisus animae (pp. 62−68 and pp. 195−196), ten sermons passed down under the name of Bertold of Regensburg (pp. 70−104), the interpretation of the Lord's Prayer Adonay, gewaltiger herre (pp. 109−192), or the allegory Es ist ein hoher Berg (pp. 211−250) attributed to Johannes Tauler.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
The manuscript was written in a textualis probably in the second half of the thirteenth or the first half of the fourteenth century. The old foliation runs from I to CLXXXIII and from CCLXV to CCLXXX (pencil foliation: 184–209). The current foliation is A–B in pencil and then I–CLXXXIII in red ink, and finally 184–216 in pencil. The table of contents, inserted in the fourteenth century on the last, separate gathering (fol. 211r–214v) uses Roman numerals from I to CCLXXVIII without gaps. This shows that several quires were lost at some point after the production of the table of contents, a fact that was already noted on the table of contents in the fifteenth century with “vacat”. The surviving leaves transmit, in the first place, sermons of Berthold of Regensburg († 1272) on Sundays and the Feasts of Saints (fol. Ir–CLXXIIIIv) and then – owing to the mentioned loss of leaves – only the end of his sermon on the common of saints (fol. 184r–184v). In between and afterwards are other sermons (Sermones ad religiosos, Sermones ad speciales) or spiritual texts by the same hand, although at the end (fol. 209r–210r) by another hand. According to the table of contents, there follow (fol. 214r–215v) further entries, probably from the fourteenth century, including a few in the German language. According to the ownership mark Liber sancti Galli on fol. Br, the codex was in the Abbey of St. Gall in the fifteenth century at the latest.
Online Since: 04/25/2023
This voluminous manuscript of more than a thousand pages, written by a single hand in the Cistercian Nuns' Cloister Günterstal near Freiburg im Breisgau, contains around a hundred Latin sermons for Sundays and holidays of the church year for the period from the first Sunday of Advent to Ascension Day. Several of the Sermones have been identified to be by, for example, St. Ivo, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Gregory the Great, the Venerable Bede, Heimo of Auxerre or John Chrysostom. The codex was acquired for the library of the Monastery of St. Gall in 1780 by the St. Gall monk Gall Metzler (1743–1820), who at the time was parish priest in Ebringen near Freiburg im Breisgau.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Liturgical manuscript (Sharaknots), written by the copyist Awetis in Khizan in the province Van in the year 1647 (1096 according to the Armenian calendar). It contains 11 large miniatures and 28 miniatures in the margins, executed and signed by the painter Yovanes Gharietsi. He was one of the most fascinating artists of the late School of Vaspurakan. The manuscript is part of certain hymnals, created for private customers in the region of Lake Van and characterized by bright colors and interlace ornamentation. The manuscript features the Armenian Khaz-notation. The text contains the collection of hymns in use in the Armenian Church, in the same order as in a Hymnarium printed as a first edition in Amsterdam in the year 1664. Three more hymnals of this type, also the result of the collaboration of these two artists, are known: two in Jerusalem and one in Jerewan. Attached in the beginning and at the end are two sheets of parchment containing a part of the Proprium de Sanctis from a Latin breviary from the 13th/14th century.
Online Since: 04/23/2013
This Rituale originated in the Monastery of Münsterlingen (Canton of Thurgovia); it contains a collection of sermons and chants sung by the nuns for processions in the monastery, followed by a long requiem (54v-72v). The latter is introduced by a miniature depicting St. Michael weighing the souls of the dead. The rubrics are written partly in German and partly in Latin. The style of the three initials in the text is associated with the area of Lake Constance. During a restoration around 1973, two sheets of parchment, which originally were glued to the inside cover of the binding, were removed; they come from an lectionary in pre-caroline minuscule, that can be dated to the beginning of the 9th century (Mohlberg: 11th. century).
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Elaborate lectionary from the monastery of St. Gall, written and enhanced with numerous ornate initial capitals by a contemporary of the famous St. Gallen scribe Sintram about 900/910, the same scribe who wrote and illuminated Ms. C 60 held by the Central Library of Zurich. This work, also known as the "Liber Comitis", contains the cycle of liturgical Epistle and Gospel readings for the Church year.
Online Since: 04/26/2007
Manuscript compilation containing texts from the 9th through 13th centuries from the monastery of St. Gall. Among them are important copies of works from Alcuin of York († 804; including De dialectica and De rhetorica et virtutibus). Between the two named texts by Alcuin is a full page pen and ink sketch representing the Maiestas Domini, interpreted by art historian Anton von Euw as a reproduction of the now lost cupola mosaic of the Aachen cathedral. The opening text is a copy of 13th century canonical texts by Bishop Sicardus of Cremona (about 1150-1215; Super decreta).
Online Since: 12/20/2007
This pocket format 15th century Hebrew Book of Psalms from Ashkenaz, is representative of private use hand copies, which are more seldom preserved in separate textual units rather than incorporated in the Hagiographs section of Hebrew bibles and liturgical manuscripts. Nonetheless, this genre of biblical literature is already attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Additionaly, Ms Or. 159 contains 149 Psalms, rather than the canonical 150, which is only one among many configurations found in early and late medieval Hebrew manuscripts, enclosing between 143 and 151 Psalms. Lastly, two medieval Hebrew manuscript fragments of an Esther Scroll have been reused as flyleaves for the 16th century leather tooled binding, protecting this little exquisite Book of Psalms.
Online Since: 06/13/2019