This manuscript, written mostly in German, consists of various parts, all of which probably date from the same time, the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century. This codex belonged to the library of the lay brothers of the Carthusian monastery in Basel and may have been written, at least in part, in this same monastery. Among the texts in this devotional book are the exemplum of the pious [female] miller, the “Guten-Morgen-Exempel” often attributed to Meister Eckhart, a recounting of the history of the Carthusian order, as well as various sermons, prayers, sayings and exempla. (stu)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This small-format codex probably is from the Carthusian monastery of Mainz, from where it came to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, where numerous ownership notes were added. It contains a great variety of excerpts from religious, historical and other literature from the Middle Ages and antiquity. The length of the texts also varies considerably: in addition to short excerpts and two- or four-line verses about various things such as popes or bees, there are longer pieces such as Hugh of Fouilloy's De rota verae et falsae religionis or the first half of Paradisus Animae by Pseudo-Albertus Magnus. (mue)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

The first part of this composite manuscript from the Carthusian Monastery of Basel contains Aristotle's writing on the soul, De anima, in William of Moerbeke's translation, copied in Paris in 1459 by the scholar Johannes Heynlin. The main text, decorated with artistic initials with gold leaf as well as fleuronné initials, is closely surrounded by commentary in marginal and interlinear glosses, written in a small, compact semi-Gothic script. Bound into this volume as the second part is Aristotle's De animalibus, printed in Venice in 1476; this text's uncharacteristic lack of decoration at least raises the question of whether it was also part of Heynlin's library. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This manuscript, of French origin, came to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel after having been the property of Johannes Heynlin. The massive volume contains Aristotle's six works on logic, some with commentary, which were assembled into the so-called “Organon“ only after the time of Aristotle. The decoration and science are complementary: each of the books of the main text begins with an elaborate ornamental initial; the commentary, if there is one, is grouped closely around the main text and is mostly unadorned. (flr)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

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. (mue)

Online Since: 03/29/2019

This composite manuscript, consisting of two 13th century parts, contains a Latin translation of the first two books of Aristotle's Metaphysics. A first hand, using a Textura script tending towards cursive, wrote the first nine leaves, while the main part of the manuscript was written by a second scribe, who used a formal Textura. The manuscript contains numerous 13th century glosses and marginal notes, some of which, relating, among others, to the translation of the Aristotle text, are highlighted by means of rubrication. The codex presents some old shelfmarks that create a connection to the Dominican Convent of Basel. The 14th/15th century binding was originally chained and had two clasps. 13th and 14th century paper and parchment fragments were used as pastedown and flyleaf. (mal)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

Since the 9th century, Aristotle's Historia animalium, an orderly description of various creatures, had been available in an Arabic translation, which Michael Scotus translated into Latin in 1220. The decoration of the initials in this manuscript, which Johannes Heynlin purchased in Paris and bequeathed to the Carthusian monastery of Basel, is rich in drolleries. Throughout the volume, there are annotations by various hands. (flr)

Online Since: 12/14/2017

This composite manuscript of mainly astrological-astronomical content includes a journal of weather observations kept over seven years, the so-called Basler Wettermanuskript. It records meteorological observations in daily entries from January 1, 1399 until March 21, 1406, without a single gap. Towards the end of the journal, the entries become more schematic, until finally they transition to tables of the positions of the planets with only occasional comments on the weather. The volume is from the Dominican Convent of Basel. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

This volume contains the so-called Wörterbuch des alten Schulmeisters (old schoolmaster's dictionary). This is an independent adaptation of the more widely used Vocabularius ex quo. In contrast to the more original version, in the old schoolmaster's edition the German explanations take a back seat to the purely Latin ones. The original pastedowns, which were detached from the cover during a restoration in 1974, also contain excerpts from a Latin translation of Aristotle's De anima and other pieces of related content. The fact that the text on the rear pastedown directly continues the text from the front pastedown shows that, in their original context, the pastedowns must have been two successive pages of one manuscript. (fis)

Online Since: 06/18/2020

Various Aristotelian writings in the Latin translation of Boethius as well as treatises by Boethius, written in a small 13th century script; they were bound together with two 15th century additions, probably for the scholar Johannes Heynlin from Basel, who bequeathed the volume to the Carthusian Monastery of Basel. Noteworthy for codicological reasons are the back pastedown and flyleaf, a parchment leaf that had been prepared for a prayer book. It consists of two bifolios with upside down text that should have been folded before binding, as was usual for printed sheets. However, the two bifolios were excluded and were not used in the prayer book; therefore there are no pinholes in the fold. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

Composite manuscript of philosophical content, owned by Jakob Lauber and even partially written by him. Jakob Lauber from Lindau studied at the then newly founded University of Basel from 1466 until 1475, first in the Faculty of Arts, then canon law in the Faculty of Law. After serving as rector for a short period, he entered the Carthusian Monastery of Basel in 1477; as its prior from 1480 on, he expanded it significantly and reorganized its library. When he entered the monastery, Lauber's library became the property of the monastery. (gam/flr)

Online Since: 06/25/2015

A fragment composed of two independent parts. The oldest part contains a commented version of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Around the outside of the quire is a later bifolium (f. 1, 11), written in French with a legal or ecclesiastical list of names. This fragment came to Bern in 1632 as part of the bequest of Jacques Bongars. (mit)

Online Since: 07/12/2021

Composite manuscript of catechetical-ascetic content, in quarto format on paper. Three fascicles of various strengths. The oldest is from the second half of the 14th century; it is written by Albert von Münnerstadt, Conventual from the Commandry of the Teutonic Knights of Hitzkirch, and contains Moralitates super evangelium sancti Lucae. In the second half of the 15th century, probably in Beromünster, this was bound together with two natural science Compendia moralia (excerpts from Thomas of Cantimpré's encyclopedia) and with catechetical treatises by Heinrich von Langenstein, Johannes Gerson and Bonaventure. Scholarly manuscript for regular use in the area of pastoral care (hasty hand with numerous abbreviations, especially in the third fascicle). (luz)

Online Since: 09/23/2014

During the entire middle ages in the occident, the texts of Aristotle and Boethius were well circulated and inspired a large number of thinkers. These two great philosophers are brought together in this volume, written in a variety of different hands. The first portion, which can be dated sometime in the 11th or 12th century, contains the works of Aristotle. It also includes an extremely interesting schema (fol. 27) and initials accented in green and decorated with scrollwork. The text of Boethius, which is dated somewhat later, was copied during the 12th century. In this text one also finds some contemporaneous corrections as well as glosses from the 14th century. (jos)

Online Since: 06/02/2010

Manuscript CB 10 was probably intended for educational use, it contains works of Aristotle, Avicenna, Nicolaus Damascenus, Qusta Ibn-Luca and Alexander Aphrodisiensis. This manuscript, written on parchment during the 13th century, presumably belonged to a student of the Faculty of Arts in Leipzig, as may be concluded from a list of lectures attended during the year 1439 which is included in the codex. The list contains the names of the professors, titles of the texts covered, lecturers' fees, and starting and ending dates for the lecture periods. (fmb)

Online Since: 12/20/2007

This early 14th century manuscript was copied in Italy; it brings together Ovid's Ars amatoria (The Art of Love), two books of Priscian's grammar, excerpts from the Secretum secretorum, an incomplete book on physiognomy by an unknown author, as well as a series of hymns attributed to, among others, Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose or Sedulius. The manuscript, which is missing two leaves at the beginning, shows old signs of use, with commentaries and maniculae added in the margins. This copy has no decoration with the exception of several red and mauve pen-flourish initials, highlighted in gold and framed. (rou)

Online Since: 10/04/2018

This is a composite manuscript containing works with philosophical and rhetorical content. At the beginning are translations by Boethius of Aristotle's Categories and the Peri Hermeneias; these are followed by a piece called De Dialectica and Cicero's Topica with In Topica Ciceronis, the commentary by Boethius. (lan)

Online Since: 08/12/2010

This is actually a manuscript of collected texts, since, in addition to the incomplete Imago mundi by Honorius Augustodunensis, it also contains other texts by unnamed authors such as: Nomina XI regionum, Divisio orbis terrarum, De anima, De anima humana, De origine animarum, De anima mundi, De origine animarum and ends with the Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem. (lan)

Online Since: 08/12/2010

This manuscript consists of four texts: an anonymous treatise on arithmetic and astronomy, an anonymous commentary on the Sefer ha-Mispar by R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca. 1092-1167), the treatise She'elot Tiviot (Problemata Physica) attributed to Pseudo-Aristotle, and the ethical and didactic poem Musar Haskel by R. Hai ben Sherira Gaon (ca. 939-1038). The She'elot Tiviot, translated from Arabic into Hebrew by Moïse Ibn Tibbon (died ca. 1283), are especially important since Ms. heb. 10 contains a version in four chapters. Of a total of seven known surviving manuscripts in the entire world containing the She'elot Tiviot, only three other manuscripts comprise these four chapters. (iss)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This manuscript contains an anonymous Hebrew paraphrase of the first five books of Averroes' (Abu al Walid Muhammed Ibn Rushd, c.1126-1198) Commentaire Moyen (middle commentary) on the Organon attributed to Aristotle. From the 13th century on, Hebrew paraphrases and compilations of certain books of the Organon were written by intellectual Jews from Provence, such as Jacob Anatolio Abba Mari (ca. 1194-1256); more than fifty manuscripts of this work of his have survived. The anonymous paraphrase found in the Bibliothèque de Genève's Ms. heb.12 is part of the same series. (iss)

Online Since: 10/13/2016

This manuscript was produced in a Parisian workshop around the end of the 13th century. It contains the Latin version of thirteen critiques written by, or generally thought to have been written by, Aristotle. The book ends with a fragment of De uno deo benedicto by Moses Maimonides. Forty decorated initials adorn the text, and a large drawing of Christ on the cross with Mary and John has been added on the last folio. (jeg)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

This manuscript contains a Latin version of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, translated and glossed by Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), Bishop of Lincoln. The decoration of monochrome as well as red and blue fleuronné initials at the beginning of the chapters (e.g., 3r) and the colorfully decorated initials at the beginning of the books (e.g., 1r) attest to an origin in Southwestern Germany in the third quarter of the 15th century. The manuscript was originally part of the episcopal library; during the French Revolution it came to the library of the Jesuit College of Porrentruy; in the 20th century it finally became part of the collection of the Library of the Canton of Jura. (wid)

Online Since: 09/23/2014

The 13th-century manuscript is composed of three parts. The first part contains Aristotelian and pseudo-Aristotelian works in Latin translation. The second part contains 'De mineralibus' and 'De natura loci' by Albertus Magnus. The third part consists of a commentary by Michael Scotus on Johannes de Sacrobosco's work about the heavenly spheres, an anonymous commentary on the Arithmetic of Boethius, and the commentary by Averroës on Aristotle's 'De longitudine et brevitate vitae'. This manuscript is among the finest examples of Italian secular book production from the last third of the 13th century, and it is one of the earlier illuminated Aristotelian manuscripts. (pil)

Online Since: 03/24/2006

Volume S 51 from the library of Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482), Bishop of Sion, and of his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains two collections of Latin fables, the first printed, the second handwritten. The first part, printed around 1475 by Michael Wenssler in Basel (GW 7890), contains the Speculum sapientiae, which had erroneously been attributed to the holy bishop Cyril. This collection of 95 fables in Latin prose was probably compiled around 1337-1347 by the Italian Dominican Bongiovanni da Messina. The second part contains Aesop's fables in a Latin version in verse called “Fables by Anonymus Neveleti“ (after the name of the first publisher, Isaac Nicolas Nevelet, in the year 1610), which eventually were attributed to Gualterus Anglicus (12th century). This second, handwritten part was produced around 1474 by Georg Supersaxo's anonymous scribe. It is comparable to other copies that were produced for Georg Supersaxo around 1472-1474, at the time that the young man studied law in Basel. This group of manuscripts includes the classical writers (Terence, Sallust …) as well as texts known only to scholars (Augustinus Datus, Gasparinus Barzizius …). Glued to the pastedowns of S 51, there are parchment fragments with Latin excerpts from Aristotle's Physics (Book IV, in the translation of James of Venice). (esc)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

This manuscript from the library of the Bishop of Sion Walter Supersaxo (ca. 1402-1482) and his son Georg (ca. 1450-1529) contains five of the six comedies by Terence, although the last one, Hecyra, abruptly ends in the middle of the text. This codex is part of a group of manuscripts (S 51, S 56, S 105) that Georg Supersaxo himself made or had made during his studies in Basel (beginning in 1472). In this group, Terence's comedies are contained in the present manuscript as well as in codex S 105. These two manuscripts are very similar to one another regarding text and formatting. However, in contrast to codex S 105, which is written carefully and regularly and which is decorated with more elaborate initials, codex S 101 definitely is a manuscript for regular use. The initials and the rubrication soon discontinue. The binding is from the same workshop as that of codex S 51. Both have identical stamping, and the fragments, which were used to reinforce the inside cover, are from the same manuscript. They contain excerpts from the Physica by Aristotle in the translation by James of Venice. (dre)

Online Since: 03/22/2018

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. (hol)

Online Since: 12/21/2009

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. (hol)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

In this manuscript, the pseudo-Augustinian work Categoriae decem ex Aristotele decerptae bears the title Cathegoriae Aristotelis ab Augustino translatae ad filium suum Adeodatum. It is preceded by a fragment from Book 1 of the Periphyseon by Johannes Scottus Eriugena (about categories) and by verses by Alcuin of York to Charlemagne. From its inception, this copy of uncertain origin from the middle of the 9th century was designed to be glossed; the wide central column of text is surrounded by marginal glosses as well as several interlinear glosses. (sno)

Online Since: 12/20/2012

A compendium of 39 medical texts by known and unknown authors, produced in the second half of the 9th century, most likely in northern Italy, already obtained at an early date by the Abbey Library of St. Gall. This codex includes—sometimes in unique exemplars—an alphabetically ordered Greek-Latin herbal glossary, the treatise De re medica by one Pseudo-Plinius (Physica Plinii), and a longer medical tract entitled Liber Esculapii. (smu)

Online Since: 12/23/2008

A small-format compendium of ten different medical texts, produced shortly after 800 in an unknown scriptorium, probably in Italy. The contents also include a treatise by the Greek physician Anthimus in the form of a letter to the king of the Franks Theoderich "On the diet" (De observatione ciborum), through which we gain insight to the nutritional habits of one Germanic people. (smu)

Online Since: 07/31/2009

A copy of Aristotle's Categoriae (Categories) and De interpretatione (On interpretation) in Latin, followed by the respective commentaries of Boethius on each of the Aristotelian texts. Between texts and commentaries is the poem De ponderibus et mensuris by Remmius Favinus (?) concerning weights and measures. This manuscript, decorated with three unusual initials (pp. 44, 203 and 221) was written during the 11th century, likely only parts of it in St. Gall. (smu)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

A copy of Aristotle's Categoriae (Categories) and De interpretatione (On interpretation) in Latin with commentaries by Boethius, with translation into Old High German and additional commentaries by St. St. Gall monk and teacher Notker the German († 1022); written during the 11th century at the Abbey of St. Gall. In addition, the manuscript includes copies of two works by Cicero, the Topica and De optimo genere oratorum. (smu)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

A composite manuscript intended for teaching purposes, written in Mainz during the first half of the 11th century, possibly brought to St. Gall by the monk Ekkehart IV. Ekkehart IV. taught intermittently at the cathedral school in Mainz and added a great many glosses to this manuscript. The codex gathers together a number of texts used in school teaching, for example copies of the commentary of Boethius on Aristotle's De interpretatione, Cicero's Topica, the Geometry I by (pseudo?)-Boethius as well as additional works by Boethius, such as De differentiis topicis, De divisione, De syllogismis categoricis and De syllogismis hypotheticis. At the end of the volume are two brief texts by Ekkehart IV. about the Septem Artes Liberales, (on page 488) verses in praise of Boethius and (on page 490) an allegory based on the Septem Artes Liberales in the form of instructions to a goldsmith. (smu)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

A painstakingly annoted copy of the work De natura animalium tractatus XIX by Aristotle, in the Latin version by the scholar Michael Scotus († ca. 1235), written during the 13th century, with an opening "I" initial, partly decorated in gold, showing a man sitting before a book. In 1453 this manuscript was owned by one Johannes Kalf from Wangen (in Allgäu); bound in a Kopert (limp vellum) binding. (smu)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

A 13th/14th century philosophical manuscript containing Latin versions of the Liber de definitionibus by Isaac ben Salomon Israeli († ca. 932), a Jew who lived in Egypt and Tunisia, together with the work De quinque essentiis by the Arab philosopher and mathematician Al-Kindi (Latinized as Alkindus; † 873), the Liber de causis, erroneously attributed to Aristotle, as well as the beginning of the work De differentia spiritus et animae by the Arab philosopher Qusta ibn Luqa (Latinized as Costa ben Luca; 820-912). The codex is bound in an extremely damaged Kopert (limp vellum) binding. (smu)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

This undecorated manuscript in Swabian–Alemannic was written by two hands and contains numerous German-language ascetic-mystical texts, among them the treatise De contemptu mundi (pp. 3−6), various sermons (pp. 7-33), salutations to Mary, prayers, exempla and sentences by church teachers (pp. 33-46), the legend of St. George (pp. 69-105), the first eight fables from the collection Edelstein by Ulrich Boner (pp. 116-129), the treatise Die besessene Schwester Agnes (pp. 131-215), and a mention of the ten commandments, each accompanied by a humorous rhyme (p. 108). The manuscript probably originated in the convent of the female Capuchins of the third order in Wonnenstein near Teufen; it became part of the Abbey Library of St. Gall in 1782 (cf. Cod. Sang. 1285, p. 12). (smu)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

This study notebook, written in 1567, contains two transcriptions of lectures written by the St. Gall monk Mauritius Enk († 1575), who was studying in Paris: 1) fol. 1r−53r: lectures by Petrus Christinus SJ on Aristotle's Metaphysics, 2) fol. 56r−130r: lectures by Jacobus Valentinus de Borrasa SJ († 1581) on Metaphysics. (smu)

Online Since: 10/08/2015

Transcriptions, prepared by Mauritius Enk (1538-1575) of the Abbey of St. Gall and an unknown fellow student, of lectures presented by the Spanish Jesuit Johannes Maldonatus (Juan Maldonado, professor of philosophy from 1564 to 1565 and of theology from 1565 to 1569 at the College de Clermont) and Jacobus Valentinus (Jacques Valentin, professor of theology at the College de Clermont from 1565 to 1569). In addition to an introduction to theology, the lecture notes include a commentary on Aristotle by Jacques Valentin (Annotationes in libros Ethicorum) and other material. The volume has a Parisian calfskin binding bearing an owner's mark embossed in gold. (sno)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

Lecture notes by Mauritius Enk (1538-1575) of the abbey of St. Gall from lectures by the Spanish Jesuit Jacobus Valentinus (professor of theology at the Collège de Clermont 1565-1569) on Aristotle's Ethics. (sno)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

Transcription made by Joachim Opser († 1594, St. Galler monastic community member, Abbot beginning in 1577) of lectures presented by the Spanish Jesuit Jacobus Valentinus (professor of theology at the College de Clermont 1565-1569) on the writings of Aristotle gathered together as the Organon. (sno)

Online Since: 04/15/2010

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

Online Since: 12/10/2020