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Solothurn, Zentralbibliothek, Cod. S 609 : Composite manuscript with music
No full textThis small volume contains a collection of organ works and sacred songs, among them several unique examples by Tarquinio Merula, Martin Benn, Jakob Bannwart (organ music) and Isabella Leonarda (motets from her lost Opus 1). The collection was created “Ad usum Jo: Victoris Ruossingeri Solodorensis. Ao 1656.” The writer probably was Johann Victor Russinger (1630–1700), then chaplain and later canon of St. Ursus in Solothurn. In the 19th century, this small volume was owned by the Solothurn Franciscan Franz Ludwig Studer (1804–1873); later it became part of the Central Library of Solothurn.Online Since: 2015-10-0
Porrentruy, Bibliothèque cantonale jurassienne, A1339a : Epitome rerum in Episcopatu dynastiaque Basileensi, praesule et principe Joanne Henr[ico] ab Ostein gestarum
No full textThis Latin manuscript contains an abridgement of the history of the episcopate of Basel at the time of Bishop Jean-Henry d’Ostein (1579-1646), identical to that found in manuscript A1399. This copy served for the French edition of Jean Trouillat, Les Suédois dans l’évêché de Bâle ou abrégé des faits qui se sont passés dans ce pays sous le gouvernement de Jean-Henri d’Ostein, Evêque de Bale. Traduit sur l’original latin du P. Sudan, S.J. professeur au collège de Porrentruy, Porrentruy, Imprimerie typographique de J. Trouillat & Cie, 1862. Père Claude Sudan (1579-1655) whose name as author of these texts was much later added on the flyleaf (p. VI), belonged to the Jesuit Order. Trained in theology and philosophy, he taught in Fribourg, in Porrentruy, served as confessor of the prince-bishop of Basel, Jean-Henri d\u27Ostein (episcopate 1629-1646), and wrote many works of history. This copy of A1339 is very consistent and has been carefully proofread and corrected.Online Since: 2025-12-1
Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 140 : Nautical charts of the Mediterranean Sea, attributed to Giovanni Cavallini or Pietro Cavallini (?)
No full textThese two illuminated maps probably were part of an atlas of nautical charts of the Mediterranean, also called Portolan. The first map is north-facing and shows a part of the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and of the Mediterranean on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar, between the Canary Islands and northern Italy. The second map is western-facing and shows the islands of the Aegean Sea between Crete (Candia) and Thessaloniki, Greece and Asia Minor, with Troy and Constantinople sketched in anachronistically. A scale for the latitudes on the first map, graduated distance scales near the margins, rhumb lines, and wind roses decorated with fleurs-de-lis accompany the red and black coastal toponyms written perpendicular to the coasts. Their very stylized arrangement emphasizes the headlands and estuaries, and the cartographer also depicted some rivers, albeit without great precision. In the interior and rather vaguely placed are miniature pictures of cities with banners, mountains, and trees. At sea, a few ships and a marine animal appear on both maps. The names of the regions are written on banners or in larger letters. The particular style of the design of the cities, the decorations, and the writing refers back to the work of Giovanni Battista Cavallini or his successor Pietro Cavallini, who worked in Livorno between 1636 and 1688.Online Since: 2019-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S90 : Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
No full textThe opening panel of this megillah (on 4 leaves with 34 columns of text) shows a rampant lion with a palm frond, surrounded by four birds and insects. Above it, an inscription gives the name “Salomon Marinozzi”, presumably the original owner. To its right, a cartouche containing the name of his son as owner, was probably added later: “This scroll belongs to Mordecai, son of Solomon Marinozzi of blessed memory, and it was bought by Solomon […] in the year 1652.”Online Since: 2020-12-1
Samedan, Chesa Planta Samedan, Ad 109 : Joseph da Iacobb (Drama about Joseph)
No full textThis manuscript contains the text of a Lower Engadine version of a drama about Joseph (ff. 1-74), which is based on the play “Ein hüpsch nüwes Spil von Josephen (…)”, attributed to Jacob Ruf and printed in Zurich in 1540. Converging indicators, such as the statements by Chiampell (Placidus Plattner, Ulrici Campelli Historia raetica, Basel, Schneider, T. 2 1890, 353), as well as the orthography and the language of the transcriptions suggest that this is the only surviving copy of the Joseph-drama by Chiampell himself, which was performed in Susch in 1564. At the end of the manuscript, there is a conversation between a Protestant pastor and a sick person (ff. 75-77), as well as several prayers (ff. 78-80), which were translated from the German by the scribe of the text, Baltasar Valantin.Online Since: 2017-12-1
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K99 : <i>Ketubah</i> (כתובה), Venice, 14 Tishri 5409 (September 30, 1648)
No full textThe lavish decoration of this printed and hand-painted ketubah attests to the high esteem in which this art form was held by the wealthy Sephardim living in the Venice ghetto. The text in this document is divided in two sections, the ketubah proper at the right and the conditions at the left, set within a double arch. The side columns feature additional wedding scenes inspired by Jewish texts. The association between the ideals of marriage from the past with Jewish life in contemporary Italy is further illustrated in the six vignettes that surround the central area containing the emblem of the bridegroom’s family, De Almeda. The frame enclosing the text is dominated by painted Signs of the Zodiac interspersed with plaques containing a wedding poem by the Italian poet and kabbalist, Rabbi Mordecai Dato (1525?-1593?). At the four corners are elaborate geometric designs inscribed with miniscule square writing, which, together with the inscriptions along the frame, present the entire book of the Song of Songs. This border was so admired that it was later imitated throughout the Veneto.Online Since: 2016-12-2
Utopia, armarium codicum bibliophilorum, Cod. 4 : Armenian Hymnarium (Sharaknots)
No full textLiturgical manuscript (Sharaknots), written by the copyist Awetis in Khizan in the province Van in the year 1647 (1096 according to the Armenian calendar). It contains 11 large miniatures and 28 miniatures in the margins, executed and signed by the painter Yovanes Gharietsi. He was one of the most fascinating artists of the late School of Vaspurakan. The manuscript is part of certain hymnals, created for private customers in the region of Lake Van and characterized by bright colors and interlace ornamentation. The manuscript features the Armenian Khaz-notation. The text contains the collection of hymns in use in the Armenian Church, in the same order as in a Hymnarium printed as a first edition in Amsterdam in the year 1664. Three more hymnals of this type, also the result of the collaboration of these two artists, are known: two in Jerusalem and one in Jerewan. Attached in the beginning and at the end are two sheets of parchment containing a part of the Proprium de Sanctis from a Latin breviary from the 13th/14th century.Online Since: 2013-04-2
Fribourg/Freiburg, Archives de l\u27État de Fribourg/Staatsarchiv Freiburg, Législation et variétés 53/Gesetzgebung und Verschiedenes 53 : Livre de Drapeaux/Fahnenbuch (Book of Flags)
No full textIn 1646 the Petit Conseil or Executive Council of Fribourg commissioned Pierre Crolot, an artist from the Free County of Burgundy, with the task of illustrating the flags and banners that were carried by Fribourg troops on campaigns in the Sundgau, Burgundy, and Italy (at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century) and where then displayed in the church of St. Nicholas. These objects themselves disappeared without a trace in 1822, with the exception of three ceremonial robs of the Order of the Golden Fleece (which are now on display in the castle of Gruyère). The book contains 42 illustrations: 3 frontispieces show the coats of arms of the city, its bailiwicks, and the coats of arms of the members of the Executive Council; 30 illustrations reproduce the banners and 9 illustrations portray Burgundian clothing items and tapestries. The “Book of Flags” is an art object, valuable as a record of objects that have been lost, as well as a witness to the fame of the Fribourg troops in the late Middle Ages.Online Since: 2012-07-0
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, B103 : <i>Midrash Hemdat Yamim</i> (Commentary "Pleasant Days", on the Pentateuch)
No full textThe manuscript contains the homiletical commentary on the Pentateuch written by the greatest Yemenite Jewish poet Shalom Shabazi. Little reliable information about Shabazi\u27s life is available. What is known comes from his own works, some 550 poems and a few other texts. Shlomo Zuker, on the basis of careful comparison with a number of other signed manuscripts, notably two manuscripts in the National Library of Israel, a Mishneh Torah fragment (Heb. Ms. 8° 6570) and a Tikhal of 1677 (Yah. Heb. 152), identified this Braginsky manuscript as an autograph of Shabazi. The text of this manuscript, containing the commentary on Genesis 37-Deuteronomy 31, differs from other known versions of the commentary.Online Since: 2016-10-1
Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, Ms. Heid. 192 A-B : Customs of the Isaac b. Solomon Luria Ashkenazi; Miscellaneous collection of texts
No full textThis manuscript is divided into two separate textual units, which were both written by two different scribes in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. Ms. Heid. 192A is a small booklet, copied by one hand in 1642 and 1687, which consists of a collection of customs and anecdotes on Rabbi Isaac B. Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (Arizal, 1534-1572) and his entourage, as well as a mystical protective prayer to be recited in the morning and evening, followed by portions of biblical readings for the days of the week, and ending with a selection of penitential prayers (Seliḥot). Ms. Heid. 192B is a miscellaneous collection of biblical midrashim, prognostication literature, tales, Alphabeta de Ben Sira, Talmudic Aggadot.Online Since: 2020-12-1