Alfonsus, Bonihominis (✝-1339)
This composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel was written by various hands; it contains primarily astrological writings, among them texts by Abraham ibn Esra, Al-Zarkali and Hermes Trismegistus translated from the Arabic, Hebrew and Greek. In the margin of f. 120r there is a blessing against worms, on f. 145v medical advice in a blend of German and Latin. In addition to handwritten parts, the volume also contains three prints. One of the two original leather clasps is still intact.
Online Since: 03/29/2019
- Alfonsus, Bonihominis (Translator) | Aristoteles (Author) | Bruni, Leonardo (Author) | Bruni, Leonardo (Translator) | Campanus, Johannes (Author) | Cicero, Marcus Tullius (Author) | Florus, Lucius Annaeus (Author) | Henricus, Bate (Translator) | Hermes, Trismegistus (Author) | Hippocrates (Author) | Ibn-ʿEzra, Avraham Ben-Meʾir (Author) | Johannes, de Lineriis (Author) | Louber, Jakob (Librarian) | Maġribī, as-Samauʾal Ibn-Yaḥyā al- (Author) | Nicolaus, de Tudeschis (Author) | Petrus, de Abano (Translator) | Petrus, De Andelo (Author) | Plinius Caecilius Secundus, Gaius (Author) | Ṯābit Ibn-Qurra (Author) | Valerius Maximus (Author) | Valescus, de Taranta (Author) | Zarqālī, Ibrāhīm Ibn-Yaḥyā az- (Author) Found in: Standard description
This small volume contains an anti-Jewish treatise which is said to have been written in Arabic towards the end of the 11th century by Rabbi Samuel de Fez, who converted to Christianity. In 1339 it was translated into Latin by the Spanish Dominican Alfonso Buenhombre. Since no Arabic version of this text is known, it seems that Buenhombre himself is in fact the author. Today, about 300 manuscripts with this text are known, in addition to numerous translations and editions. The origin of this copy is unknown, but it has been in Hauterive since at least the 18th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
- Alfonsus, Bonihominis (Translator) | Durantis, Guilelmus, Mende, Bischof (Author) | Samuel, Marochitanus (Author) Found in: Standard description
Sermons form the bulk of this moral-theological miscellany. It is written by multiple hands. The initials have not been added to the first, fragmentary text, written in a single column (pp. 29–74). The next text, written in two columns, has the title De purificatione written in the top margin, and begins Sanctificavit tabernaculum suum [1 Par 22,1] Altissimus… (pp. 79a–102b). The confessionary De septem viciis, with the incipit Superbia est tumor… (pp. 105–120), is written in one column and illuminated elaborately with six black and red word trees with geometric patterns on the branches (pp. 107, 109, 111, 113, 115 und 120) as well as the ten commandments, circled, along with their contraries on p. 117. This is followed by the didactic poem on virtuous living, Modus vivendi secundum deum, written in a single column (pp. 121-124). There is then a letter from a Master Samuel to a Rabbi Ysaak, allegedly translated by a Spanish friar called Alfonsus Boni Hominis. The text is written in a single column on pp. 125-153. The Sermones de sanctis by the Cistercian Konrad von Brundelsheim (Soccus) that follow are written, frequently corrected and annotated, in an early gothic book cursive on pp. 173-389. The first initial is red, the others either were never added or in brown, some with strapwork inclusions on p. 218, 247 and 323. There is a tab on p. 219 and a manicule on p. 266. Michael of Massa's Tractatus de passione Domini (Version Angeli pacis…) with allegorical introduction and dialogues (pp. 389-470) is the last text. The colophon of the last part dates the work's completion to 8th March 1427 (p. 470). The shelfmark plate “T 17” on the wooden board binding with leather cover and a plaited endband corresponds to the records in the 1461 library catalogue of St. Gallen. It therefore suggests that this volume was likely compiled and bound in the mid-fifteenth century. The St. Gallen librarian Jodokus Metzler glued a table of contents onto the inside front pastedown. Pages 1-8, 17-24 and 169-172 contain only the ruling lines for a two-column commentary with extensive marginal gloss, but no text. Other pages are completely blank, without even a page layout: 9–16, 25–28, 49–54, 75–78, 103–104, 155–168 and 471–483. There is an entry made on p. 484. The leaf pp. 53-54 is loose. There was a loose, reused fragment with a hand drawn onto it between p. 180 and 181.
Online Since: 09/06/2023
- Alfonsus, Bonihominis (Author) | Conradus, de Brundelsheim (Author) | Michael, de Massa (Author) Found in: Standard description