Sub-project: Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
January 2008 - December 2011
Status: Completed
Financed by: e-lib.ch
Description: With the financial backing of e-lib.ch (the “Swiss Electronic Library”), a total of 100 manuscripts from various Swiss Libraries has been digitized by the end of the year 2011. e-lib.ch is a joint project of the Swiss University Conference, the ETH-Board (Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology) and the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET). This subproject has been commissioned by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW).
Steering Committee: Prof. Rudolf Gschwind and Prof. Dr. Lukas Rosenthaler, Imaging and Media Lab, Universität Basel; Barbara Roth PhD, Manuscript Conservator, Bibliothèque de Genève; Heidi Eisenhut PhD, Director of the Kantonsbibliothek Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Trogen.
All Libraries and Collections
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 illustrated breviary for the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine was produced in 1470/1471 in Lombardy. The elegant script is characteristic of the Abbey of Santa Croce at Mortara. In the 17th century the volume was acquired by the patrician Wagner family of Solothurn, whose books were bequeathed to the city library in 1773.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
TThis southern german manuscript is a collection of medical texts that include, in addition to the Artzneibuch (Book of Nutrition) by Ortolf von Baierland and extracts from the Thesaurus pauperum by Petrus Hispanus,a complete separate text on healing as the Corpus of cloister medicine as well as assorted versions of the Wacholderbeertraktat (Juniper berry tract), extracts from Bartholomeus, the Antidotarium Nicolai and much more. These texts were assembled between 1463 and 1466 by Reichenau physician Hans Stoll. The codex is listed in the first catalog of the Solothurn City Library of 1766/1771.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
The Solothurn Legendary is the earliest example of a collection of legends in the German language. This manuscript was written during the second quarter of the 14th century in a Dominican cloister, possibly in Töss (near Winterthur) or in Oetenbach (Zurich). The manuscript was acquired by Solothurn in the 17th century.
Online Since: 07/31/2009
This German book of meditations and prayers for Dominican nuns was produced at the Inselkloster St. Michael in Bern. It contains, inter alia, numerous excerpts from the writings of Gertrud of Helfta and Mechthild of Hackeborn. Most of it was written in 1507 by Sister Luzia von Moos. Beginning in the 17th century the manuscript is known to have been in the possession of the Solothurn family Gugger; at the beginning of the 19th century it was obtained by the Solothurn City Library.
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
Between 1438 and 1443 the proceedings of the Council of Basel with some interruptions, were recorded at first hand by Council Notary Jakob Hüglin (ca. 1400-1484). Hüglin, a canon lawyer, was provost of the collegiate church of St. Ursus in Solothurn from 1455 until his death in 1484. Thus these original notes on the proceedings, together with other conciliar documents, eventually made their way into the Solothurn City Library.
Online Since: 02/17/2010
The Cantatorium presents selections from the Gradual; it contains music for solo-voice elements of the Mass that are meant to be sung by the cantor. This manuscript from the late 15th century originated in the Abbey of St. Urs at Solothurn and was occasionally used in the parish of Biberist. Particularly noteworthy in this volume are German versions of two hymns.
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 Franciscan Gradual was produced between 1320 and 1330 in a scriptorium in the Upper Rhine area. It was originally the property of the Franciscan monastery in Solothurn, where it remained in use until the 18th century.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
In the works De arithmetica and De institutione musica Boethius transmitted Greek mathematics and music theory to medieval readers. The polychrome schematic illustrations in this 12th century manuscript are particularly carefully made.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This volume produced in 1420 in Florence is among the earliest manuscripts written in Humanist minuscule, and it is possible that this is a direct copy from the model written by Poggio Bracciolini, the inventor of this script. According to the judgment of Berthold Louis Ullman, it is "perhaps the best example of humanistic writing during the first decade of the fifteenth century - except Poggio's."
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This Rudolf von Ems manucript originated in the same area of Zurich that produced the Manessische Liederhanschrift (Manesse Song Script). It represents one of the most accomplished examples of south German book decoration from the time around 1300, with excellent miniatures illustrating the Chronicle of the World by Rudolf von Ems and the Stricker's epic poem about Charlemagne and his military campaign in Spain.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This volume is the second of a three-volume set, an edition of Livius written in 1442 and 1143 in Padua. It is of particular interest because the texual model is well-known: the Livius manuscript of Sicco Polentone (1375/76-1446), Chancellor of Padua, today Holkham Hall Library, MS 349. This manuscript is written in an extremely regular semi-Gothic script augmented with exquisite white vine scroll initials.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This cartulary contains the major legal title of the Premonstratensian abbey of Weissenau near Ravensburg; the popes, emperors, kings, princes, dukes, counts, bishops and vicars mentioned in the cartulary are portrayed in the margins with their attributes of office. Prepended to the cartulary itself is a history of the founding of the monastery: appended are a tribute register and other documents.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This richly illustrated pocket bible from the third quarter of the 13th century contains the Old and New Testaments. It combines the new chapter numerations of the 13th century and the older Eusebian numeration of the Gospels; the Psalm section includes Gallican versions set side by side with translations by Jerome. The Psalm section also includes historiated initials accompanied by interesting humorous sayings.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
The illustrations and text enjoy equal importance in this illustrated work of anti-papal propaganda, named after its opening "Ascende calve". The Vadian Collection manuscript is the most important exemplar of this text, which takes the form of proverbs. The most notable and fascinating feature of this manuscript is the way in which the gray-tone illustrations are used.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This two-volume, large format history Bible (“Historienbibel”) is illustrated throughout in an artistic style characteristic of the workshop of Diebold Lauber in Hagenau. This history Bible is traceable to Constance in the third quarter of the 15th century; some defects were repaired in St. Gall in the early 17th century – one of the early conservation efforts undertaken in this city.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
This two-volume, large format history Bible (“Historienbibel”) is illustrated throughout in an artistic style characteristic of the workshop of Diebold Lauber in Hagenau. This history Bible is traceable to Constance in the third quarter of the 15th century; some defects were repaired in St. Gallen in the early 17th century – one of the early conservation efforts undertaken in this city.
Online Since: 05/20/2009
The cosmology of the Lyon physician and astrologer Louis de Lange treats the formation of the world and describes the earth and the stars in the sky. The illustrations of the decans, showing the subdivision of each of the twelve signs of the zodiac into three astrological sections, are worthy of particular attention. Despite the attractive illustration, the work was not very popular; only a few manuscripts are known to exist.
Online Since: 05/20/2009