The Chronicle of Eschenbach cloister by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen) has two vedute of the monastery from 1625 and 1629, both probable from Heinrich Murer.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
A list of Swiss saints in chronological order, from St. Beatus to Nicolaus Rusca and the Capuchin Fidelis. Decorated with pen and ink drawings with blue wash by the painter Hans Asper of Constance. Murer's model for the Helvetia Sancta most likely was the Bavaria Sancta by Matthäus Rader, published in Munich in 1615.
Online Since: 12/13/2013
Chronicle of the Cloister of Reichenau by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, a monk at the Carthusian monastery ofIttingen beginning in 1614), based on the Chronicle of Gallus Oeheim, Priest and Chaplain of the Cloister of Reichenau († 1511).
Online Since: 07/25/2006
Chronicle of Selnau Abbey by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). This incomplete manuscript would have treated the Cistercian monasteries of Switzerland in a first part and, in a second more detailed part, the convent of nuns at Selnau. The manuscript remained fragmentary.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Cloister of Wettingen by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, member of the Carthusian convent at Ittingen beginning 1614).
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the Grossmünster of Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). In this chronicle, Heinrich Murer first gives a detailed history of the city of Zurich and of the Grossmünster, before he begins a list and description of the individual provosts.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
Chronicle of the Fraumünster, the Peterskirche, and the Wasserkirche in Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638). Murer cites the Tigurinerchronik of Heinrich Bullinger as the source of his Chronicle of the Peterskirche and both the Tigurinerchronik and the Schweizer Chronik of Johannes Stumpf as sources for the Chronicle of the Chapel “auf dem Hof”.
Online Since: 12/19/2011
Chronicle of the smaller abbeys and foundations of Zurich by Heinrich Murer (1588-1638, from 1614 on a Conventual at the Carthusian Monastery of Ittingen). This volume is a collection of short, incomplete descriptions giving the history of abbeys and foundations of Zurich, introduced by title pages of pen and ink drawings with blue wash. The following institutions are de-scribed: the Augustinian monastery in the mindere Stadt (smaller city) of Zurich, the Franciscan monastery of the grosse Stadt (larger city) of Zurich, the Dominican monastery, the community of Beguines of St. Verena, and the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene in Oetenbach.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
The Schwabenspiegel manuscript was commissioned in 1410. It contains a collection of land and feudal laws that were in effect during the late middle ages in southern Germany and what is now the German speaking part of Switzerland. Additional content bound in this volume includes the biblical books of Kings and Maccabees as well as a first German translation of the Handfeste, the Fribourg City Law of 1249. An unusual item found in this manuscript is a miniature of the Flag of Fribourg, which appears here for the first time as we know it today, in the colors black and white.
Online Since: 12/21/2009
This voluminous paper manuscript contains the sermons de tempore and de sanctis for the summer part, several hagiographic texts and exempla. The manuscript might have originally been from Zurich and was the property of the library of the Augustinian Hermits in Fribourg before it came to the Cantonal Library of Fribourg in 1848.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
This incomplete liturgical psalter was made between 1335 and 1350 in Naples. The unusual decorations are the work of the artist Christoforo Orimina. Because the manuscript contains three different coats of arms, the original owner (a member of the Angevin court in Naples) can not be definitively named. After changing hands many times during the 19th and 20th centuries, the manuscript was acquired in 1968 by the owner of the collection "Comites Latentes" ("Hidden Friends") held by the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This handwritten Haggadah Comites Latentes 69 was created in Vienna in 1756. It is decorated with black ink and masterfully imitates copper engraving. The author is the famous scribe and illustrator Simmel ben Moses from Polna (active between 1714 and 1756), who produced about thirty dated manuscripts that have survived until today, of which, however, only 17, including CL 69, are autographs. His works of art are among the most remarkable examples of Hebrew manuscript decoration in 18th century Central Europe. The Song of Solomon, copied by later hands, concludes this magnificent manuscript.
Online Since: 06/22/2017
This manuscript is a hagiographic compilation in French prose which recounts the lives of the apostles, martyrs, confessors and saints. Some of the accounts are attributed to Wauchier de Denain. The manuscript is dated to the first quarter of the 14th century; it was decorated by the Papeleu Master and the illuminator Mahiet and notably contains more than eighty historiated initials.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
The Bible Historiale is a Bible edition translated by Guyart de Moulins into French prose at the end of the 13th century. It is presented in the form of biblical stories and combines the Vulgata of Jerome with the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor. It was quickly supplemented with the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle (“Thirteenth-century Bible”). Because it was widely disseminated during the 14th and 15th centuries, today there are 144 known examples, both complete exemplars and fragments.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
The Bible Historiale is a Bible edition translated by Guyart de Moulins into French prose at the end of the 13th century. It is presented in the form of biblical stories and combines the Vulgata of Jerome with the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor. It was quickly supplemented with the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle (“Thirteenth-century Bible”). Because it was widely disseminated during the 14th and 15th centuries, today there are 144 known examples, both complete exemplars and fragments.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
This Bible Historiale is the Bible translated toward the end of the 13th century into French and prose by Guyart des Moulins. Presented in the form of a holy story, it joins Jerome's Vulgata and Petrus Comestor's Historia Scholastica. It was quickly completed by the second volume of the Bible du XIIIe siècle. Widely used in the 14th and 15th centuries; today there exist 144 complete or fragmentary exemplars.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
The Bibliothèque de Genève preserves a third copy in two volumes of the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins (besides Ms. fr. 1/1-2 and Ms. fr. 2). Despite the rough execution of his drawings, this copy is remarkable because of its origin. It was copied by Jean Bagnel at the behest of Hugonin Dupont, a merchant and citizen of Geneva; in 1603 it became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
In this work, written at the end of the 14th century in Valencia, the author describes the universe of angels, inspired by Dionysius the Areopagite's De triplici gerarchia. The text, which was in wide use during the second half of the 15th century, was translated into French and published as a first printed edition in Geneva in the year 1478. The Ms. fr. 5 was illuminated by the Master of the Geneva Boccaccio and contains the coat of arms of Jeanne de Laval, second wife of King René of Anjou.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
The Legenda aurea is one of the most copied texts in all of the medieval Occident. In short texts, it blends sanctoral and temporal celebrations in the course of the year, following the order of the liturgical calendar. Popular not only in Latin but also in the vernacular languages, it had various uses, as a tool for preaching and as a source of moral edification through private reading for the layperson as well as the cleric.
Online Since: 06/25/2015
This universal history, which contains biblical and secular stories, is one of the most extensvie works of its type from the middle ages. The date of the manuscript can be fixed in the third quarter of the 15th century; it was decorated by the Flemish illuminator Wilhelm Vrelant, a producer of top quality miniatures.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
Between 1416 and 1422, Jean de Courcy wrote a chronicle titled La Bouquechardière, named after his fief. The chronicle, which consists of 6 books, is a compilation of mythological, biblical and legendary stories. The first volume contains the first three books, i.e., the history of Greece, of Troy and of the Trojans who escaped the destruction of their town. The Genevan manuscript comes from the Lyon workshop known as “de Guillaume Lambert.” The manuscript contains beautiful frontispiece illuminations at the beginning of each book.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This historical collection, whose narratives range from Genesis to Julius Caesar, was a great success in the Middle Ages. It was first written in the 13th century. This incomplete copy ends with Pompey's triumphant return to Rome. The manuscript was produced in Paris and contains 34 miniatures in grisaille.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Vasco de Lucena translated Quintus Curtius' history of Alexander into French at the request of Isabella of Portugal, the wife of Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. The translator drew on texts by Plutarch and Justin in order to complete the Roman writer's text which contains gaps. The translation, completed in 1468, presents Alexander as conqueror, devoid of all legends transmitted through courtly literature; it is dedicated to Charles the Bold, the son of Isabella. This copy from the Bibliothèque de Genève was illustrated by a Flemish artist, Maître d'Edouard IV, who was active in Bruges around the end of the 15th century, as well as by a second hand not yet definitively identified.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
At the request of Jean II of France, between 1354 and 1356, the Dominican Pierre Bersuire (Petrus Berchorius) undertook this translation of the three decades (I, II and IV) of Ab Urbe condita by Titus Livius that were known at the time. This history of Rome extends from the founding of the city to the war between the Romans and the Celtiberians. The exemplar held by the Bibliothèque de Genève was produced at the beginning of the 15th century and carries the Ex libris of the Duke of Berry. Paintings are by the "Maître des Cleres femmes" of the Duke of Berry and by artists working in the style of the "Maître du duc de Bedford".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This work, also known by the title „Livre de Jules César,“ contains a collection of texts by Julius Caesar, Sallust, Suetonius and Lucan; it was written in the years 1211-1214. The author, still unknown, intended to recount the history of the first twelve Roman emperors, but he terminated this undertaking at the end of the story of the life of Julius Caesar. The decoration of the manuscript from Geneva is by various hands; the principal one, attributed to the „Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen,“ illustrated the title page. It shows the coat of arms of Louis de Bourbon, the illegitimate son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
Noël de Fribois, notary, secretary and advisor to King Charles VII, wrote the Abrégé des chroniques de France, which he presented to the King in June 1459. He began his chronicle with the siege of Troy and concludes it in 1383. The Geneva copy has two anonymous sequels, one on the reign of Charles VII and one on that of Louis XI. This first part of the manuscript is decorated with 27 illuminated scenes. The text continues with the Mémoire sur les rois de Sicile by Giovanni Candida, translated into French by Charles Guillart, and with various chronicles, stories and other writings added in the 16th century.
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This history of the Crusades is a translation of Guillaume de Tyr's Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum into the Flemish French dialect. The manuscript was decorated by Simon Marmion, one of the most significant illumination artists of the 15th century.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
The Florentine writer and notary Brunetto Latini went into exile in 1260, after the Guelphs lost the Battle of Montaperti. Until 1266 he took up residence in France, where he wrote the Trésor, an encyclopedia written in French that was widely used until the end of the 15th century. The illuminator of the Bibliothèque de Genève's copy of the manuscript is known as the "Master of the Geneva Latini" or as the "Maître de l'échevinage de Rouen.” Originally decorated with four frontispieces, the manuscript today has only two, one of which is a famous representation of a medieval urban market.
Online Since: 09/23/2014
The Livre de bonnes meurs, dedicated to the Duke of Berry, draws its inspiration from the Sophilogium by the same author. In essence this is a moral and religious work. As part of the “mirror for princes”, it broaches the topic of the virtues and moral qualities that an ideal prince should possess. This Geneva manuscript represents the first version, dated 1404. It was illuminated by the master of Philippe de Commynes' Froissart and contains a single beautiful illumination for the frontispiece.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Pierre le Fruitier, called Salmon, secretary to Charles VI and someone who influenced John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, in 1409 wrote a composite text that is simultaneously a mirror for princes, a collection of letters, and an autobiography. Salmon presents the qualities a sovereign needs in order to rule well (see Paris, BnF, fr. 23279). After his withdrawal from court in 1411 and after the change in royal politics towards John the Fearless, around 1412-1415 he presented a second version of the text; today this version is held in Geneva. With an image depicting Charles VI on a blue bed decorated with lilies, in discussion with his secretary, this manuscript is one of the showpieces of the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This composite manuscript, which comes from the collection of Alexandre Petau, brings together four texts that were assembled at an unknown time. The first and longest text (f. 2r-81r) is the Enseignement de vraie noblesse from 1464, attributed to Hugues de Lannoy, a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, who, with this text, presents a mirror for princes that could interest the court of the Duke of Burgundy. This part contains the manuscript' only decoration, a large illumination (f. 3r) executed by the chief assistant to the illuminator Guillaume Vrelant of Bruges, known as Maître de la Vraie Cronicque descoce. This text is followed by the Chronique d'Ecosse (f. 82r-90v) with the history of Scotland from its origins to 1463, a text on "Le droit que le roy Charles VIIIme pretend ou royaulme de Naples" (f. 91r), and finally the life of St. Helena in Latin (f. 91v-93r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This parchment manuscript contains the mystic text of the Kabbala in cursive script, illustrated with numerous highly colorful drawings with allegorical, cosmological, and liturgical themes.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This work contains two tracts: the Livre des deduis, a handbook on hunting, and the Songe de Pestilence, an allegorical narrative that tells about the battle of the Virtues and the Vices. This Geneva examplar is attributed to the illuminator known by the name Master of Robert Gaguin.
Online Since: 09/26/2017
In the 1240s, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen wrote a Latin treatise on falconry (De arte venandi cum avibus), in order to introduce his son Manfred to bird hunting. This treatise, consisting of 6 books, was the subject of a second edition by Manfred, who albeit revised only the first two books. At the beginning of the 14th century, the treatise was translated into French based on a manuscript which today is held in the Vatican and which contains Manfred's additions to the first two books. The French version is preserved in 4 manuscripts, among them the one from Geneva, decorated by the Bruges Master of 1482 ("Maître brugeois de 1482") and his associates.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
Philippe Prevost, Lord of Plessis-Sohier-lez-Tours, advisor and Grand Master of King Henry IV, is the author and scribe of this text on the art of war, which is introduced by a dedication to King Henry IV (1591) and a letter to the same monarch. The text is also accompanied by several sonnets and a short treatise on fortifications. In addition, the autograph manuscript contains a short printed text by Philippe Prevost, Himne de la guerre et de la paix, which was published in Tours in 1590. A series of drawings, probably from engravings, and several battle plans illustrate the text of Le Mars. This text was never published, although it seems to have been prepared for this purpose, as attested by numerous erasures, additions and annotations.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
The Ovide moralisé is a poem consisting of 72,000 octosyllables. Between the end of the 13th century and the first quarter of the 14th century, the anonymous author translated the 15 books of Ovid's Metamorphoses by appropriating the ancient myths for the purposes of Christian edification. This Genevan exemplar, dated to the end of the 14th century, was illuminated by two artists, the Maître du Rational des divins offices and the Maître du Roman de la Rose.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
The Roman de la Rose is a poetic work of approximately 22,000 octosyllabic verses. The first part of this allegorial romance (over 4,000 verses) was written by Guillaume de Lorris in about 1230, and it was completed by Jean de Meun some forty years later. Although the work was originally conceived as a courtly tale, the second part disgresses on a wide variety of themes and expressly criticizes the myth of the rose according to Guillaume de Lorris. The Testament is a poem consisting of 544 four-line alexandrine monorhyme stanzas expounding the spiritual development of Jean de Meun.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
Christine de Pisan, a writer and poet of great renoun, was the author of numerous works and was personally involved in the design and production of manuscripts of her works. This hold true for this codex, which contains an account of the building of a utopian city by and for women.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, the wife of King René of Anjou, in 1465 a cleric from Angers produced a prose adaptation of the first version of Guillaume de Deguileville's Pèlerinage de vie humaine. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. The completely and richly illuminated manuscript is dated to the third quarter of the 15th century.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
At the behest of Jeanne de Laval, wife of King René I. of Anjou, a cleric from Angers completed a prose adaptation of the first version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine by Guillaume de Deguileville in 1465. His anonymous work respects the original text and its division into four books. It is followed by the Danse aux aveugles (before 1465) by Pierre Michault. The two texts were richly illuminated by the Maître d'Antoine Rolin, however the decoration was never entirely completed.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (f. 36r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
In 1389 Philippe de Mézières (1327-1405) wrote the Songe du viel pelerin, an allegorical travelogue and extraordinary mirror for princes intended for King Charles VI. Only nine copies of this text still exist, one of which is the present copy in two volumes. This paper manuscript was probably produced in Lille, where also were added a series of watercolor drawings that can be attributed to the Master of the Livre d'Eracles, an illuminator in the entourage of the Master of Jean Wavrin. Before the manuscript became part of the Petau Collection, then was passed to Ami Lullin and finally to the Bibliothèque de Genève, it was owned by Jean V de Créquy as attested by the coats of arms painted in the initial of the first book (Ms. fr. 183/1, f. 36r).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
This treatise in the form of a dialogue between a cleric and a knight was commissioned by King Charles V from the Master of Requests Evrard de Tremaugon. The two protagonists debate about the ecclesiastical and secular power at the end of the 14th century, about the relations between the king and the pope. In the end, the impartial author defends the independence of the temporal power of the king, although he remains the "vicaire de Dieu en la temporalité". The text, first written in Latin in 1376 under the title Somnium Viridarii, was translated into French as early as 1378.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
Le Jouvencel tells of the deeds of a young nobleman who, thanks to his bravery and military successes, marries the daughter of King Amydas. The text was inspired by the military career of Jean de Bueil, who served Charles VII for a long time. The manuscript is decorated with three paintings attributed to the Master of the Vienna Mamerot (from the circle of Jean Fouquet).
Online Since: 06/18/2020
Tristan in Prose is a 13th century prose romance of which a multitude of copies were made over the course of the medieval period. This work of knightly character is strongly influenced by the Lancelot en prose, which was written at the end of the first quarter of the 13th century. In this collection, which refer to the myths of Tristan and Arthur, Tristan is portrayed as the perfect lover and as the perfect knight, who as a Knight of the Round Table participates in the search for the Holy Grail. The Geneva manuscript is incomplete. It ends with the jousting competition between King Arthur and Tristan, in which the latter unseats the King and Yvain from their saddles. The defeated pair then returns to Roche Dure (Volume 3 of the Philippe Menard edition, 1991). At this time there are 82 known manuscripts and manuscript fragments of this work.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. The work described the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
Laurent de Premierfait translated De casibus virorum illustrium by Giovanni Boccaccio into French in about 1400. This work describes the tragic fates of illustrious personages, mostly figures from antiquity. The translator presented a second version to the Duke of Berry in 1409, after expanding it with notes based on extracts from Latin historians. The Geneva exemplar, which carries the Ex libris of the bibliophile duke, transmits the second version. It is richly decorated with historiated vignettes, attributable mainly to the "Maître de Luçon".
Online Since: 12/21/2010
According to the calendar and the sanctoral, this missal was meant for the use of St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. Produced in the 14th century, the manuscript was restored in the 15th century and increased by several leaves, a sign that it was still in use at this time. An old miniature showing, among others, a crucifixion and a historiated initial depicting Pentecost – both original – was painted over with an image of angels bearing the coat of arms of Geneva (f. 95r). After the Reformation, this missal, together with other books from the Cathedral Chapter, was stored at the city hall (Hôtel de Ville), before it was finally transferred to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1714.
Online Since: 12/14/2018
In addition to the usual services, this small-format book of hours following the practice of Paris contains several texts in French (a prayer to St. Roch, Les quinze joies de Notre-Dame and Les sept requêtes à Notre Seigneur). It is richly illuminated with full-page as well as smaller miniatures attributed (Gagnebin, 1976) to the workshop of the Coëtivy Master (now identified as Colin d'Amiens). Although some illuminations are slightly damaged, they attest to the high quality of their execution, especially in the intercession of the saints (ff. 201r-220v). This book of hours was meant for a man (the prayers are addressed in the masculine, f. 21r and 25v), perhaps for a certain Jean Novelli, whose name, together with the date 1460, is mentioned on the 18th century binding.
Online Since: 06/13/2019
The calendar of this book of hours for use in Rome contains prayers to Saint Clarus (2 January) and for the dedication of the Church of St. Peter in Geneva (8 October), which are particular to the diocese of this city. At an unspecified time, the manuscript suffered substantial damage: pages were torn out or torn apart, and illuminated initials were cut out. Only two of the original five illuminations have survived, placed at the beginning of the Hours of the Cross (fol. 15r) and the Penitential Psalms (fol. 74v), respectively. They were probably created mid-15th century in Geneva or the immediate surroundings.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This small, elegant, illuminated book of hours for the use of Rome was probably produced in the workshop of Jean Colombe, the famous book illustrator from Bourges, who was active in the last third of the 15th century. Some of the 14 miniatures that decorate the manuscript can in fact also be found in other books of hours that were illuminated by the master of Bourges, such as the cord situated in the ornate margins that frame the miniatures (Paris, BnF, n.a. lat. 3181). This motif has been interpreted in different ways, either as a sign of belonging to the Third Order of Franciscans, or as a sign of widowhood, in which case the addressee would have been a woman – but this is contradicted by the masculine forms of address in the prayers. The manuscript later became the property of Paul Petau, and in 1756 it became part of the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève as part of the bequest of Ami Lullin.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This sumptuous manuscript contains the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea translated by St. Jerome and presented in columns, together with continuations by Jerome and Prosper of Aquitaine. It was produced in about 1480 in Padua or Venice and was illuminated by Petrus V…, who created a masterful full-page illustration on Fol. 10r. A binding error unfortunately reduces the overall esthetic appeal of the volume: the first and second fascicles have been placed in inverse order.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
‘Venerable' is the term that comes to mind for describing this manuscript. In fact, it can be considered ‘venerable' due to its age since it is dated circa 825. Furthermore, the author of the main texts copied herein is Beda Venerabilis or the Venerable Bede (672/674, † 735), who was a monk at Jarrow Abbey in England. Copied in the Benedictine Abbey of Massay (France, Cher, near Bourges), the manuscript contains several of the Venerable Bede's scientific works such as the Easter cycle, also known as Bede's cycle, the De natura rerum, the De temporibus and the De temporum ratione. Various other texts were also inserted: the Annales Petaviani and the annals of the Abbey of Massay, calendar, fragments on the computus, letters.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript contains the Latin translation of the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, prepared in 1287 by Guido de Columnis. The text is divided into 35 books, of which only 9 are introduced by miniatures, most of them whole-page miniatures (f. 1r, 5v, 16v, 46r, 72v, 83v, 89v, 107v, 124v). Set in Renaissance-style frames, the paintings illustrate various important moments in the destruction of Troy. This manuscript was part of the collection of Paul and Alexandre Petau before it became the property of Ami Lullin, pastor and theologist in Geneva, who donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1756.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This manuscript dates from about 1420 and contains the "Conspiracy of Catilin " and the "Jugurthine War" by Sallust. Miniature illuminations in grisaille were added by Bedford-Meister and assistants in his workshop, followed by a commentary by Jean Lebègues, who wrote a guide to the illustration of historical scenes in the above-named works of Sallust in 1417. During the 17th century the manuscript was owned by the Petau family. In 1720 Ami Lullin of Geneva purchased the codex and donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
This manuscript contains the Decretum Gratiani with the Glossa ordinaria by Bartholomäus Brixiensis. It is a distinctive testimony to the masterly page layout of legal texts, where the main text is usually framed on all sides by its commentary. This copy is signed by the scribe, brother Adigherio (fol. 341v). The manuscript also is sumptuously decorated with large miniatures that introduce the main parts of the text as well as the various legal cases; in addition, there are numerous historiated initials, often very humorous (e.g. f. 2r, 127v), and figure initials. Two book illustrators from Bologna, the Master of 1346 and l'Illustratore, are the creators of this decoration that was carried out in the 1340s. In 1756, the Decretum Gratiani became part of the Bibliothèque de Genève with the bequest of Ami Lullin, who had purchased this copy from the collection of Paul and Alexander Petau.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
With a beautiful binding à la "Du Seuil", this 15th century manuscript contains the Policraticus (The government of the state), a work of reflections on the vanities of courtiers, written by John of Salisbury (1115/1120-1180). It was copied in a careful hand, and the text was decorated with a large miniature showing an author reading his text before the king of France.
Online Since: 12/18/2014
This manuscript, copied in the years 1460-1480, contains De regimine principum by Aegidius Romanus, decorated with a miniature in which the author (Aegidius Romanus) dedicates the book to the king of France. The last leaves contain the Life of Aesop and his Fables, translated into Latin by Rinuccio di Arezzo. The manuscript was owned by François Bonivard († 1570), who was prior of the Cluniac Priory of St. Victor in Geneva.
Online Since: 04/15/2010
This manuscript dates from the beginning of the 16th century and contains two poems by Raoul Bollart, the first of which celebrates the siege of King Ludwig XII of France against the Venetians in 1509. The second poem treats the subject of moral values and relates the supplications made to a rich person by the poor. All miniatures found in this manuscript, illustrating various scenes in the poems, were made in Rouen. The way in which they follow the morality text is similar to the style of modern comics. During the 17th century this manuscript was owned by the Petau family. In 1720 Ami Lullin of Geneva purchased the codex and donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 12/09/2008
One of the ancient authors best known in the Middle Ages doubtlessly was Cicero. Some of his speeches - the Orationes - were rediscovered by humanists, as is attested by this copy. The manuscript contains 27 of Cicero's speeches, written in a round Italian humanistic script. It begins with a miniature depicting a group of speakers in a discussion (f. 1r), painted by Péronet Lamy, an illuminator who is documented from 1432 until 1453 and who worked primarily for Amadeus VIII, the Duke of Savoy. It is likely that Péronet Lamy carried out this decoration when he was at the Council of Basel as part of the Duke's entourage. Also present there was Martin le Franc (1408-1461), ducal secretary and author of the Champion des Dames and the Estrif de fortune et de vertu; according to a scraped entry (f. 290r), he came into possession of this manuscript. Thereafter it belonged to Germain Colladon (back pastedown), a fellow student of John Calvin, who fled to Geneva in 1550. Around 1615, one of his daughters-in-law sold the manuscript, together with Ms. lat. 53, to the Bibliothèque de Genève.
Online Since: 03/22/2018
This miniature book of hours (11.5 x 7 cm) for use in Rome was probably made in Bourges by the Master of Spencer 6 (active between 1490 and 1510). All 35 full-page and framed miniatures show identical composition, where the main scene, presented in close-up, is complemented with a predella containing small figures. The manuscript's owner, the Naville family of Geneva (coat of arms on f. 1v), donated it to the Bibliothèque de Genève in 1803.
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This manuscript was deposited in the Bibliothèque de Genève in 2007 by the priests of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales (at the Institut Florimont in Geneva). This composite manuscript unifies two previously separate texts: a copy of Prician's Institutiones Grammaticae made during the 11th or 12th centuries in Italy, and the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The latter is illustrated with 65 miniatures; this 11th century copy was probably written in southern Italy, judging by the Beneventana and Carolingian minuscule scripts used. This previously unknown Beatus manuscript discovered in Geneva adds to the 26 illuminated exemplars already on record.
Online Since: 11/03/2009
The De Divina Proportione is a mathematical treatise by the Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli (1445-1517). The Italian text is followed by sixty polyhedra, drawn filled or empty, and influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. Of the three copies written during the author's lifetime, only two remain. This copy, held by the Bibliothèque de Genève, is the presentation copy of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, whose coat of arms and motto adorn the manuscript (fol. Ir and LXIIv).
Online Since: 02/27/2019
This manuscript is a copy of only one of six extant manuscript exemplars and an old print of this work (1743) worldwide. Its author is the famous Bohemian rabbi, astronomer and mathematician R. David ben Salomon Gans (1541-1613). In his 1974 monograph about David Gans, André Neher referred to this copy as the Manuscrit de Genève. A colophon in the manuscript gives the date as 1613, but a current study on the history of the transmission of this work suggests that it is an 18th century copy.
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This prayer book is from the first quarter of the 16th century and was meant for a woman. It contains primarily prayers to Mary and the Liturgy of the Hours for the Passion of Christ.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
This psalter was originally made for Selnau Abbey in Zurich. 7r has a portrait of a benefactress. In the 17th century, it was owned by Sister Ottilia Suter of Hermetschwil.
Online Since: 11/10/2016
This codex dates to the first half of the 14th century and contains a copy of Roman de la Rose, an Old French allegorical dream vision by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun composed in the 13th century. This copy, which is one of more than 300 that survive in full or in part, is heavily annotated and shows evidence of extensive use by several different readers.
Online Since: 01/21/2011
Othon de Grandson, knight and poet, distinguished himself both through his verses and through his heroic deeds during the Hundred Years War. He was an adviser to Count Amadeus VII of Savoy. After the death of the count, he fled to England. After his return to the land of Vaud he died in an ordeal by battle in the form of a duel in Bourg-en-Bresse in the year 1397. Othon de Grandson probably wrote his poetic works between 1366 and 1372. This collection volume also contains ballads by thirteen different authors.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This prayer book is either from the Cologne area, as indicated by the selection of prayer texts and calendars, or from the “Stift Münstereifel”, as the saints Daria and Chrysanthus, who are venerated there, are explicitly mentioned on 218r and 219r. Via Catharina von Wrede (front paste-down), the prayer book reached the Bibliothèque des Cèdres, which became part of the holdings of the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire - Lausanne in 1966. This small-format volume, illustrated with 18 miniatures, contains a cycle of prayers on the life and passion of Christ, prayers on the truths of the faith, and on various saints. The miniatures and the beginnings of the texts are surrounded by borders with leaf scroll and interlace ornamentation; additional decoration consists of 35 initials in gold, as well as pen flourishes and blue, red and gold Lombard initials in the margins.
Online Since: 10/08/2020
This chronicle, completed in 1513, tells the early history of Lucerne and, beginning with the Battle of Sempach (1386), it tells the history of the Swiss Confederation from the point of view of followers of the Holy Roman Emperor. The 450 illustrations by two different hands, due to their vividness and to the richness of their subjects and details, constitute a unique source of information about late medieval life.
Online Since: 03/19/2015
This volume contains St. Bonaventure's Legenda maior of St. Francis, the Vita beati Antonii and two documents regarding the Portiuncula indulgence. The manuscript was written by Elisabeth von Amberg (ff. 1-127) and Katherina von Purchausen (ff. 129-176) in the year 1337. It is decorated with an initial portraying St. Francis as a knight (f. 4r) and a vignette showing the bestowal of the Stigmata (f. 77v). The appearance of the name of St. Clara in the text suggests that the codex was written in a cloister of the Poor Clares, perhaps the Paradise. It came into the posession of the Capuchin cloister in Frauenfeld at the beginning of the 17th century and has been held in the provincial archive of the Capuchins in Lucerne since 1848.
Online Since: 03/31/2011
This manuscript contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Exodus and Leviticus, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Commentaries by the Franciscan monk Nicholas of Lyra (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel (I and II Kingdoms), with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
The commentary of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Contains the commentaries of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Wisdom, and Sirach.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
Contains the commentary of French Franciscan Nicholas of Lira (ca. 1270/1275-1349) on the Old Testament Books of Genesis, with illustrations produced in central Switzerland.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
A book of hours following the liturgical usage of Rome, richly illustrated with full-page miniatures, borders, and initials, written in cursive script (bastarda) which can be dated to about 1500, with texts in Latin, French, and Flemish. The style of the miniatures, especially that of the naturalistic borders with flowers and insects, but also with complete scenes, seems typical of the Ghent-Bruges school.
Online Since: 03/22/2012
15th century parchment missal, made for Bishop Johann von Venningen (1458-1478). The expenditure records of Bishop Johann von Venningen permit tracing the individual stages of the making of this missal. This manuscript was created at the same time as ms. 2 and ms. 3. In 1462/1463, the final touches were added to the almost completed manuscript, the illumination, the initials, the fleuronné initials, and especially the attachment of the cover. For convenience, the order of the Ordo and the Canon was changed. Originally meant to be at the beginning of the manuscript, they were finally placed in the middle.
Online Since: 04/09/2014
This breviary was meant for use in the diocese of Basel. There are still partially visible traces of coats of arms that were painted on ff. 33r, 41r, 129r and 279r and were later erased; these allow the codex to be attributed to Arnold of Rotberg, Bishop of Basel from 1451 to 1458. His successor, Jean de Venningen (1458-1478) noted on f. 5r the repurchase of the manuscript from Porrentruy Castle on June 29th 1461.
Online Since: 03/17/2016
This composite manuscript is dated 1839 (p. V2) and contains texts about the history of the abbeys of Bellelay and Lucelle; it was compiled by Joseph Trouillat when he was librarian at the college of Porrentruy: De Bellegagiensi monasterio (pp. 1-7); Relation de l'invation de l'abbaye de Bellelay par les troupes françaises 15 novembre 1797 par le père Voirol - this name was crossed out and replaced by that of Marcel Helg, former monk at Bellelay (pp. 8-61); Notes diverses sur Bellelay by Father Voirol (pp. 61-102), followed by seal impressions and coats of arms pasted on (p. 105) or painted (pp. 111, 113, 115, 117); Notes sur l'ancienne abbaye de Lucelle, in Latin with notes in French and with painted coats of arms of various abbots (pp. 121-220) as well as affixed seals (p. 192) and a wax seal (p. 208); various French translations of Latin documents, carried out by abbot Grégoire Voirol (pp. 221-236).
Online Since: 06/14/2018
This manuscript contains two grimoires (magic textbooks), the Dragon rouge (pp. 4-100) and the Poule noire (pp. 101-108), which were copied in 1846 from a 1521 original. The Dragon rouge “ou l'art de commander les esprits célestes, aériens, terrestres et infernaux” (p. 2) is a collection of writings in French, Italian and Latin. As for the Poule noire, this is a ritual for conjuring ghosts. Several ungainly drawings embellish the work, depicting, for instance, the devil (p. 33, 55) or cabalistic diagrams (p. 19, 54).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
This missal is from the church of Glatt an der Glatt in Southern Germany, a property of Muri Abbey. It was created in the second half of the 13th century. Numerous marginalia from the 14th-15th century testify that it was intensively used.
Online Since: 12/20/2016
Written in 1427, possibly by Brother Thomas de Austria ordinis sancti Johannis. Using illustrations and texts, the Speculum humanae salvationis portrays selected tales of healing from the Old and New Testaments. Richly decorated with pen sketches, this is one of the most beautiful manuscripts held by the monastery of Muri; it was listed in the manuscript catalog there as of 1744.
Online Since: 06/22/2010
This manuscript of 182 leaves can be dated to the last quarter of the 15th century and can be placed in the area between Ulm and Memmingen (linguistically Swabian). The binding, made of wooden boards covered in leather and featuring a clasp, was made by a bookbinder who was active in Memmingen. The three treatises in the manuscript are from the field of pharmacology/medical science: the “Büchlein der Ordnung der Pestilenz” (2r-47v) by Heinrich Steinhöwel, the Ulmer Wundarznei (50r-144r) and “Von den gebrannten Wässern” by Michael Puff (147r-179v). The text is augmented with drawings of instruments (96v, 97r, 98v, 99r, 148v). Magnus Bengger (who names himself on 179v) should be considered the scribe; he also copied manuscript Schaffhausen Gen. 9, which likewise contains medical works. He uses a cursiva libraria. In several places, drolleries in the shape of faces spread from individual letters, always in the first line (e.g., 45v, 50r). The chapter titles, the (decorated) initials at the beginning of a chapter, dots at half-height, as well as individual, usually Latin words in the text generally are rubricated. Sentence-initial lexemes, however, are marked by Lombard initials in red. In keeping with the character of a medical housebook, to which one can add one's own recipes, there are additions by four other hands (mostly between or after the treatises, such as 48r, 145r, 180r).
Online Since: 10/04/2018
A complete Latin Bible in fine, extremely white parchment, copied and illuminated in the region of Lake Constance in the first half of the fourteenth century. Two- to eight-line framed, mostly figurated initials in colors and gold introduce the prologue and the Biblical books. At the beginning there are two illuminated pages, each with six medallions (colored pen-drawings) in which are depicted episodes from the history of Creation up to the expulsion from Eden, Noah's ark and the sacrifice of Isaac. The manuscript is attested in Schaffhausen from the fifteenth century. Min. 6 is one of the most beautiful manuscripts of the Ministerial Library, and present a unity of parchment, script and book decoration.
Online Since: 10/04/2011
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
The original parts of the calendar indicate that this missal was meant for use in the Diocese of Lausanne, whereas the later entries attest to its presence and use in the celebration of the Mass in the Diocese of Sion at the latest since 1300. Three special sequences suggest that the missal originated in the Abbey of St. Maurice (188v: sequence of Theodulf Collaudetur rex virtutum; 190r: sequence of Augustine Augustino laude demus and 189r: sequence of Maurice Pangat Syon dulce melos). The Canon of the Mass is decorated with an illuminated initial, with the Vere dignum, and with a frame showing the crucifixion, the Virgin and St. John (97v). The most important holidays are introduced with decorated initials on a gold background (4v, 13rb, 17ra, 18ra etc.). In 1981, the Valais State Archives purchased this codex on the antiquarian book market.
Online Since: 10/13/2016
This manuscript of Six âges du monde, created in France at the end of the 14th century or at the very beginning of the 15th century, appears towards the end of the Middle Ages in the library of the Supersaxo family, one of the most important libraries of Valais, which today is held in the Médiathèque Valais-Sion and (this manuscript) in the State Archives of Valais in Sion. The work is remarkable in more ways than one: first, it was created in the rarely-used scroll format, a format reserved for, among others, universal chronicles, a genre to which this manuscript belongs. Second, a complex family tree, showing the descendants of Adam until the birth of Christ, runs the entire length (eight meters) of the manuscript. The columns of text of this impressive graphic document are accompanied by numerous drawings that resemble the style of Parisian works. Finally, this exemplar is not unique, since the municipal library of Reims owns a similar scroll (ms. 61), which certainly was illustrated by the same master.
Online Since: 03/22/2017
This Missale Speciale Sedunense was written for the Sion bishop William of Raron (Guillermus de Rarognia) († 1451) in 1439 by Johannes Thieboudi. The parchment codex contains, in addition to a calendar, the Proprium de tempore, the Ordo et canon missae, the Commune sanctorum, the Proprium de sanctis (from Hilarius to Thomas the Apostle) and the Missae pro defunctis. An appendix includes three votive masses.
Online Since: 12/21/2010
This portable Latin-Bible contains the Old (ff. 5v-344v) and the New Testament (ff. 346r-435v), preceded by St. Jerome's prologues to the whole Bible and to the Pentateuch (ff. 4r-5v) and followed by the interpretation of Hebrew names (ff. 436r-471v). There are illuminated initials (ff. 5v, 190v, 364v und 377v), and gilded ones and initials decorated with pen flourishes in red and blue. Some leaves (2, 3, 345, 357, 472) are missing or were cropped. As we come to know from the explicit on f. 471v, this manuscript was copied in 1440 by Jean Comte (Comitis) of Warmarens (Vuarmarens, FR), parish priest in Billens (FR). RCap 243 is from the library of the Capuchin monastery of Sion, an order present in the city since the 17th century. A handwritten note of ownership on the front pastedown indicates that in 1785 this Bible was owned by the Capuchin Josef Alexius [Eggo] von Leuk (1761-1840; guardian in Saint Maurice from 1805 to 1808, in Sion from 1808 to 1811 and from 1819 to 1822).
Online Since: 03/22/2018
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
This substantial composite manuscript contains approximately 2.000 recipes and instructions, principally from art technology, but also other medical, culinary and alchemistic ones. The manuscript had been the property of the Bieler family, residents of Solothurn since the 17th century; the family counted several artisans in its ranks.
Online Since: 10/10/2019
Compiled in 1593 by Felix Schmid from Stein am Rhein, this composite manuscript contains, among other items, the richly illustrated alchemistic treatise Splendor solis, various works by Paracelsus and Leonhard Thurneisser zum Thurn, and other alchemistic writings. Noteworthy is the binding by Hans Ludwig Brem from Lindau am Bodensee.
Online Since: 10/08/2015
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 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
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
This paper manuscript contains a series of alchemistic writings attributed to the Catalan Franciscan Raimundus Lullus. It was copied by the scribe Johannes de Sancta Maria. The text is accompanied by twenty colored plates depicting the alchemistic process of transforming base metals into noble ones. The manuscript is part of a group of works of alchemistic content that was the property of Bartlome Schobinger (1500-1585), a wealthy merchant, book collector and councilman of the city of St. Gall, who left his notes in the manuscript. Schobinger is considered a promoter of alchemy and its studies, an interest that complemented his activities in the metal trade.
Online Since: 10/08/2020