e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland
Not a member yet
3032 research outputs found
Sort by
Porrentruy, Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, A2449 : Copie du Roole de la Prévôté de Moutier-Grandval, du 20e juillet 1652
No full textContains copies of regulations and agreements signed between the Priory of Moutier-Grandval and various regions of French-speaking Switzerland.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S95 : Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textThe calligrapher and artist Arje Leib ben Daniel, who created this megillah (on three sheets with 12 columns of text and a separate sheet with blessings), came from Goraj near Zamość in Lesser Poland. A total of 28 of his megillot have been preserved, eight of which are signed and dated by him. This so-called ha-melech scroll, where each individual column begins with ha-melech ("the king"), was created in Venice in 1748, with the sepia drawings typical of Leib ben Daniel. Influences of Salom Italia’s border designs as well as of Eastern European folk art can be discerned. The artist’s name in the inscription was later replaced by that of Judah Capsuto, who gave the scroll to Ephraim Isaac Capsuto as a Purim gift.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, M VI 48 : Awrād-i šarīfa
No full textCollection of prayers in the form of litanies (awrād), attributed to a Šayḫ Wafāʾ. The manuscript must have been completed before 1746, because in this year it was consigned to a religious foundation by Bašīr Āġā, a dignitary of the Ottoman court. The author cannot be conclusively ascertained since there are several people known by the name Šayḫ Wafāʾ. This manuscript probably belongs in the context of Islamic mysticism (Sufism), which was firmly established as an institution in the Ottoman-Turkish society of the period. The manuscript comes from the collection of the Islamic scholar and turkologist Rudolf Tschudi (1884-1960).Online Since: 2017-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K101 : Ketubbah (כתובה)
No full textThe marriage of Joshua, son of Isaac Hayyim Recanati, and Dona Esther Sarah, daughter of Raphael Recanati, established a union within this widely ramified, wealthy and influential Sephardic family. Written on a document that is painted with illusionistic effect, the actual text of the ketubbah is in the right column and the conditions are in the left column. These are surrounded by rococo architecture in central perspective, with the family emblem at the top flanked by two cupids. The name of the groom is honored with a medallion that depicts Joshua commanding the sun to stand still (Joshua 10:12–13). Two female figures hold the ends of a gold ribbon with the inscription “Be fruitful and multiply!”Online Since: 2019-10-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S13 : <i>Megillat</i> Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther Scroll
No full textThe border design of this Esther scroll is dominated by a baroque arcade featuring four distinctly patterned columns. The arches are surmounted by a balustrade that supports flowering urns, blank medallions, floral scrollwork, and a variety of birds including a crowned double-headed eagle and a peacock. Scenes from the Esther narrative are positioned beneath each of the nineteen columns of text. The engraved border of this scroll was designed by the Italian scholar, artist, and publisher Francesco Griselini (1717-1787), whose engraved border designs were popular in Italy in the eighteenth century. In these illustrations, Griselini has devoted particular attention to architectural settings and spatial perspective. The artist’s printed signature is found in the lower left corner of each membrane. The last scene, placed under the final arch, is rarely found on illustrated Ester scrolls. It depicts the Messiah riding on a donkey heralding the return of the exiled Jewish people back to Jerusalem. The text of this scroll was penned by the scribe-artist Aryeh Leib ben Daniel. In his inscription, which follows the concluding benedictions, he informs the reader that he wrote this scroll in Venice in the winter of 1746.Online Since: 2017-03-2
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 66 : Doktor Fausts Dreifacher Höllenzwang
No full textAt the beginning of the 17th century, a book of black magic was published, attributed to the mythical Faust and known by the title Höllenzwang. The library in Weimar owned a manuscript of this text, which Goethe was aware of. In 1949 Martin Bodmer was able to purchase a similar manuscript. This document, which is difficult to date, is written in cabalistic signs and, according to a German gloss, contains a series of magic spells for exorcists, which can be used in particular to call up the seven evil spirits.Online Since: 2015-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S94 : Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textThe text on this Esther scroll (on 5 sheets with 42 columns of text) is written in unusually narrow columns, set in golden frames on a greenish background. The hexagonal case made of cast, chased, engraved and granulated silver bears the silver hallmarks of the city of Rome and of the manufacturer Giovanni Battista Sabatini from 1778 to 1780. The initials alef, resh and samech refer to the patron and to the owner. What is unusual is that in this case, the complete original set of scroll, case and leather box has been preserved.Online Since: 2020-12-1
Schaffhausen, Konzernarchiv Georg Fischer AG, GFA 1/144.32 : Memory album Christoph Fischer - Gedenk und Stamm-Buch, worinnen gute Freunde und Gönner mich, Christoph Fischer, von Schaffhausen, mit ihren beliebigen inscriptionen, sinnreichen Anbildungen, curiosen Gemählden und andern denkwürdigen Sprüchen be-ehren w
No full textThis leather-bound album contains about 35 dedications and drawings by people with whom the coppersmith and wine merchant Christoph Fischer (1691-1770) from Schaffhausen was in touch during his lifetime. Based on the entries in Latin, German, French and English, it is possible to reconstruct two trips that Fisher took to London, during which most of the dedications occurred: 1747-1750 via Geneva, Lyon, Paris to London and 1758 via Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam to London. Several entries are by members of the Schalch family of Schaffhausen, who were relatives of Fischer; among these is an undated watercolor by the artist Johann Jakob Schalch (1723-1789) (p. 122), who lived in London and Den Haag from 1754-1773. After Fischer’s death, the album was continued: entries from 1773 (p. 65) and 1820 (p. 215). Several pages of parchment (pp. 1-2, 19-20, 47-48, 115-116, 181-182) are bound into the paper manuscript, and several pages of paper were added later (pp. 39a-b, 55a-b, 147a-b) or were covered with pasted-on illustrations (p. 43, p. 125, p. 127). The entries are not in chronological order and alternate with numerous blank pages.Online Since: 2017-06-2
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B351 : <i>Seder Birkat ha-mazon</i> (Grace after Meals and other prayers and blessings)
No full textUntil it was acquired by the Braginsky Collection, this little book with the Birkat ha-mason from 1741 had not been known to research. Clearly it had originally been meant for a woman, probably as a wedding present. In addition to the title page with an architectural frame and the figures of Moses and Aaron, there are six more illustrations in the text, among them a very rare depiction of a woman only partially immersed in a ritual bath (12v) and also a rather conventional depiction of a woman reading the Shema prayer before retiring at night (17r). This little book was copied and illustrated by Jakob ben Juda Leib Schammasch from Berlin. He is known as one of the most productive Jewish manuscript artists in Northern Germany.Online Since: 2016-12-2
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S54 : <i>Megillat</i> Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther Scroll
No full textThis scroll contains one of the most finely executed series of illustrations to be found in decorated megillot (sing. megillah). The highly accomplished artist Wolf Leib Katz Poppers has modeled detailed figures, scenes, and animals with delicate parallel and cross-hatched pen strokes, creating an effect that is strikingly similar to the copperplate engravings of contemporary books. Positioned between a foliate border with animals at the top and a similar one with birds at the bottom, text columns are interspersed with eight elegant full-length characters from the Esther story. Below each of these figures is a small vignette that chronicles the Purim story. It is unusual that the skillfully drawn figures that embellish this scroll are dressed in Ottoman-court clothing. The choice of this type of dress is intriguing, and perhaps the most cogent reason for this combination is that the scroll was produced for a member of a small, affluent community of Turkish Jews who, after 1718, were permitted to live and trade freely in Vienna, while still remaining subjects of the Sultan of Turkey.Online Since: 2016-10-1