Various Writings by Othlo.
Othloni varia scripta
This manuscript was written by the monk Otloh, or Othlo, of Saint Emmeram, a remarkable figure in 11th-century literature, and is comprised almost exclusively of his own works. Born around 1010 in the diocese of Freising, Bavaria, Otloh studied at Tegernsee Abbey. He took a great interest in the art of writing, in which he was self-taught. He became a well-known scribe of his…
Contributor:
Othlo, Monk of St. Emmeram, Approximately 1010-Approximately 1070
Gospel Book.
Evangelia
This richly decorated Gospel book, dating from the second half of the 11th century, contains portraits of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the portrait of John is missing), four decorated initial pages, and 84 mostly ornamental initials. Nine canon tables with the symbols of the Evangelists precede the texts of the Gospels. These concordance tables, lavishly decorated with arcades and tympana, go back…
Qurʼan.
Making use of a colored background to write upon was a means rarely used in the East or the West to emphasize the importance of a manuscript. This manuscript, with all its pages gilt, is unique. Simple black writing in the Naskhi style is used on the magnificent background. It is a masterpiece of calligraphy. In the 18th century, when the present cover was…
The Consolation of Philosophy.
De consolatione philosophiæ
Consolatio Philosophiae (The consolation of philosophy) is a philosophical work written by Boethius, the scion of an influential Roman family, around the year 524. It is regarded as one of the most important and influential works in the Western world. The book was composed during a yearlong period of imprisonment that Boethius served while he was awaiting trial for the crime of treason under…
Contributor:
Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus, Circa 480-524
Bible: New Testament (without Gospels).
This illuminated manuscript, most probably written in the third quarter of the 11th century in the scriptorium of the Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee, comprises the New Testament, but lacks the four Gospels. It includes the prologues and arguments concerning the Pauline epistles, the Pauline epistles themselves, the Acts of the Apostles, the canonical epistles, and the Apocalypse. The text is preceded by a miniature…
Pericopes (Sections) Book of Henry II.
This Gospel manuscript, probably the most impressive work of the Reichenau school of illumination, was commissioned by Henry II (973--1024) for Bamberg Cathedral, which he founded in 1007 and dedicated in 1012. A dedicatory poem and a full-page miniature, in which Henry and his wife Cunegunda (also seen as Kunigunde) are crowned by Christ, commemorate the royal donor, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor…
Zi zhi tong jian can gao
資治通鑑殘稿
The Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Zizhi tongjian) is the first comprehensive, chronologically-organized history in China. It describes 1,362 years of history, from the 23rd year of King Weilie of the Zhou (403 B.C.) to the sixth year of the Xuande era (959 A.D.) of the Later Zhou dynasty. The entire book comprises 294 juan (sections), with a 30-juan index and a 30-juan…
Al-Bukhāri's Abridged Collection of Authentic Hadith.
This work is the earliest Arabic manuscript in the National Library of Bulgaria. Incomplete and fragmentary, it is a 1017 copy of Volume 3 of Sahīh al-Bukhārī (Al-Bukhārī's authentic hadiths). Muhammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Bukhārī (810--70) was born in Bukhara, in present-day Uzbekistan, and died in Khartank, near Samarkand. He is considered by Sunni Muslims to be the most authoritative collector of hadiths-reports of statements…
Contributor:
Bukhārī, Muḥammad Ibn Ismāʻīl, 810-870
Gospel.
The Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee, located in southern Bavaria, was founded in 746 and is considered one of the most important imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire. This manuscript was formerly attributed to Tegernsee's famous abbot, Ellinger (1017-26 and 1031-41), who was twice removed from office and spent his last years in exile in Niederaltaich. This is no longer the scholarly consensus, but…
"Life of Saint Margaret" and Lives of Other Saints.
Vita sanctae Margaretae
Illuminated legends of saints are preserved in only a few manuscripts from the 11th century. One of the rare examples is this manuscript from the monastery of Benediktbeuern, Bavaria, which arrived in the Munich court library in 1803. The composite manuscript contains a list of martyrs and numerous lives of saints. Only the life of Saint Margaret of Antioch, on folios 63 recto-98 verso,…
Dongpo ji : Si shi juan, hou ji er shi juan
東坡集 : 四十卷, 後集二十卷
Su Shi (1037-1101), courtesy name Zizhan, style name Dongpo Jushi (Resident of Dongpo), born in Meishan (in present-day Sichuan) during the Northern Song, was a renowned literary scholar and one of the eight greatest masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. Both his father Su Xun (1009-66) and his brother Su Zhe (1039-1112) were famous literati; together they were known as Three Su. Su…
Contributor:
Su, Shi
Date:1050
Book/Printed Material
Qurʼan.
This manuscript, consisting of 60 paper leaves, is the 20th juz' (section) of one of the greatest Qurʼanic manuscripts known to exist. Originally it consisted of 30 volumes. Other sections of single folios are to be found in various libraries, museums, and collections. This manuscript belongs to a small group of manuscripts that can be assigned (from the similarity of the writing to the…
Shang han bai zheng ge
傷寒百證歌
In one of the prefaces to his works, the author Xu Shuwei (1079--1154) describes a certain Hua Tuo, a scholar born around 140 AD during the Han dynasty, who, after seeing many people die in epidemics, famines, and wars, chose to abandon scholarship to pursue a medical career. Referring to himself, Xu Shuwei writes, "every time I think of the lack of good physicians…
Contributor:
Xu, Shuwei
Date:1089
Book/Printed Material
Grievances of Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó.
Greuges de Guitard Isarn, senyor de Caboet
Dating from 1080, Greuges de Guitard Isarn, senyor de Caboet (Grievances of Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó) is believed to be the oldest surviving document in Catalan. The rancures were grievances that were written acts by means of which a lord asked for the restitution of damages caused by the breach of the feudal contract. In this document, Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó, recounts…
Four Gospels: The Evangeliary of Uta (Codex of Uta).
Quattuor Evangelia
Illuminated for Abbess Uta of Niedermünster (1002-25), this Bavarian Gospel manuscript has been described by Georg Swarzenski as "perhaps the most important Western illuminated manuscript of its period." Its unique quality resides especially in the subtly articulated argument between the text and the accompanying miniatures. The text is drawn from such diverse sources as the Bible; the fields of theology, mathematics, and music; and…
Contributor:
Hartwicus, Emmeramensis, Active 11th Century - Dionysius, the Areopagite, Saint, Active 1st Century - Erigena, Johannes Scotus, Circa 800-Circa 877
Damascus Pentateuch.
The Damascus Pentateuch, from around the year 1000, is one of the oldest extant Hebrew biblical manuscripts. It includes full vocalization, accentuation, and Masoretic annotation. The manuscript is defective in its beginning, as it starts with Genesis 9:26; Exodus 18:1--23 is also missing. Written on parchment in oriental square script, the text is in three columns per page, 20 lines per column. The manuscript…
Gospel Book from the Bamberg Cathedral (Reichenau Gospel).
Evangeliar aus dem Bamberger Dom
The gospel from the cathedral of Bamberg is one of the most important masterpieces of book painting from the Benedictine abbey on the island of Reichenau in Lake Constance in southern Germany. In the 10th and 11th centuries, this abbey was the site of what was probably Europe's largest and most influential school of book illumination. Book production reached its artistic peak between around…
Galen's "Therapeutics to Glaucon".
Kitāb Jālinus 'ilā Ghlūqun (Therapeutics to Glaucon) by celebrated translator and scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-ʻIbadi (circa 809--73) consists of two treatises by the Greek physician Galen (Jalinus in Arabic, circa 131--201). Husayn explains that the Greek physicians of the great medical school at Alexandria classified works by Galen into various categories for students. The first category included four books as introductory works to…
Contributor:
Galen - Unayn Ibn Isḥāq Al-ʻibādī, 809?-873
Gospel Lectionary.
Evangeliarium
The illumination of this early 11th century lectionary is a late example of the Ottonian tradition of book illumination. The manuscript features 292 golden majuscule initials, 30 initials in gold, and five decorated text pages, as well as a full-page initial and a miniature of Christ in Majesty. The 16-line introductory poem on folio 1 verso is written in gold rustic capitals on purple…
Hrotsvitha's Poems.
Hroswithae carmina
This 11th century manuscript is the only to survive to transmit the complete text of the epic and dramatic works of the first German poetess, Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim. Corrections and marginal notes are entered in the hand of the humanist Konrad Celtis, who used the manuscript as a printer's copy for his edition of Hrotsvitha's works published in Nuremberg in 1501. The manuscript once…
Contributor:
Celtis, Konrad - Hrotsvitha, Approximately 935-Approximately 975
Victorius of Aquitaine. Martianus Capella. Remigius of Auxerre. Gregory the Great.
Victorius Aquitanus. Martianus Capella. Remigius Autissiodorensis. Gregorius Magnus
This manuscript opens with a one-page text by Victorius of Aquitaine (fifth century). The rest of the work consists of two distinct parts. The first part, written in the second half of the 11th century, presents a work of Martianus Capella (fifth century) on the Seven Liberal Arts, followed by an important commentary on this text by Remigius of Auxerre (circa 841-908). A full-page…
Contributor:
Remigius, of Auxerre, Approximately 841-908 - Victorius, Aquitanus, Active 5th Century - Martianus Capella - Gregory I, Pope, Circa 540-604
Pericope (Sections) from Saint Erentrud. Gospels for the Mass According to the Usual Rite, Preceding the Capitular Gospels.
Evangelia in missa legi solita, praecedente capitulari evangeliorum
This book, which contains the "lessons," or portions of scripture appointed to be read at divine service, was written around the year 1150, probably in Salzburg, a diocesan town situated near what is today the border between Bavaria and Austria. The manuscript was owned by the Benedictine convent of Saint Erentrud auf dem Nonnberg, which was founded by Saint Rupert in Salzburg in 711-12,…
Sacramentary of Augsburg.
This Ottonian manuscript dates from the early 11th century and was executed for the cathedral of Augsburg. It bears all the hallmarks of an ambitious project, but it was left incomplete for some reason. The text alone, interspersed with gold letters on every page, creates an impression of luxury. The prayers for special ecclesiastical fields feature decorated initials with gold tendrils, which stand out…
"Of the Nature of Things" and "Of the Times" by Bede. Letters by Saint Jerome and Pseudo-Jerome. Allegorical Drawings with Commentary and Glosses.
De natura rerum. De temporum ratione/Beda Venerabilis. Epistolae/Hieronymus Ps.-Hieronymus
This manuscript contains two works on computus (computations) by the Anglo-Saxon scholar the Venerable Bede (673-735), De natura rerum (Of the nature of things) and De temporum ratione (Of the times), and letters by Saint Jerome and Pseudo-Jerome. On a page originally left blank, folio 63 recto, pen drawings were entered towards the end of the 11th century. Their motifs are monsters, composed of…
Contributor:
Jerome, Saint, Died 419 or 420 - Bede, the Venerable, Saint, 673-735 - Pseudo-Jerome
Book/Printed MaterialVarious Writings by Othlo.
Book/Printed MaterialGospel Book.
Book/Printed MaterialQurʼan. Making use of a colored background to write upon was a means rarely used in the East or the West to emphasize the importance of a manuscript. This manuscript, with all its pages gilt, is unique. Simple black writing in the Naskhi style is used on the magnificent background. It is a masterpiece of calligraphy. In the 18th century, when the present cover was…
Book/Printed MaterialThe Consolation of Philosophy.
Book/Printed MaterialBible: New Testament (without Gospels). This illuminated manuscript, most probably written in the third quarter of the 11th century in the scriptorium of the Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee, comprises the New Testament, but lacks the four Gospels. It includes the prologues and arguments concerning the Pauline epistles, the Pauline epistles themselves, the Acts of the Apostles, the canonical epistles, and the Apocalypse. The text is preceded by a miniature…
Book/Printed MaterialPericopes (Sections) Book of Henry II. This Gospel manuscript, probably the most impressive work of the Reichenau school of illumination, was commissioned by Henry II (973--1024) for Bamberg Cathedral, which he founded in 1007 and dedicated in 1012. A dedicatory poem and a full-page miniature, in which Henry and his wife Cunegunda (also seen as Kunigunde) are crowned by Christ, commemorate the royal donor, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor…
Book/Printed MaterialZi zhi tong jian can gao
Book/Printed MaterialDie vormaligen stifte im grossherzogthum Hessen Also available in digital form.
Book/Printed MaterialAl-Bukhāri's Abridged Collection of Authentic Hadith. This work is the earliest Arabic manuscript in the National Library of Bulgaria. Incomplete and fragmentary, it is a 1017 copy of Volume 3 of Sahīh al-Bukhārī (Al-Bukhārī's authentic hadiths). Muhammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Bukhārī (810--70) was born in Bukhara, in present-day Uzbekistan, and died in Khartank, near Samarkand. He is considered by Sunni Muslims to be the most authoritative collector of hadiths-reports of statements…
Book/Printed MaterialGospel. The Benedictine monastery of Tegernsee, located in southern Bavaria, was founded in 746 and is considered one of the most important imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire. This manuscript was formerly attributed to Tegernsee's famous abbot, Ellinger (1017-26 and 1031-41), who was twice removed from office and spent his last years in exile in Niederaltaich. This is no longer the scholarly consensus, but…
Book/Printed Material"Life of Saint Margaret" and Lives of Other Saints.
Book/Printed MaterialDongpo ji : Si shi juan, hou ji er shi juan
Book/Printed MaterialQurʼan. This manuscript, consisting of 60 paper leaves, is the 20th juz' (section) of one of the greatest Qurʼanic manuscripts known to exist. Originally it consisted of 30 volumes. Other sections of single folios are to be found in various libraries, museums, and collections. This manuscript belongs to a small group of manuscripts that can be assigned (from the similarity of the writing to the…
Book/Printed MaterialShang han bai zheng ge
Book/Printed MaterialGrievances of Guitart Isarn, Lord of Cabó.
Book/Printed MaterialFour Gospels: The Evangeliary of Uta (Codex of Uta).
Book/Printed MaterialDamascus Pentateuch. The Damascus Pentateuch, from around the year 1000, is one of the oldest extant Hebrew biblical manuscripts. It includes full vocalization, accentuation, and Masoretic annotation. The manuscript is defective in its beginning, as it starts with Genesis 9:26; Exodus 18:1--23 is also missing. Written on parchment in oriental square script, the text is in three columns per page, 20 lines per column. The manuscript…
Book/Printed MaterialGospel Book from the Bamberg Cathedral (Reichenau Gospel).
Book/Printed MaterialGalen's "Therapeutics to Glaucon". Kitāb Jālinus 'ilā Ghlūqun (Therapeutics to Glaucon) by celebrated translator and scholar Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-ʻIbadi (circa 809--73) consists of two treatises by the Greek physician Galen (Jalinus in Arabic, circa 131--201). Husayn explains that the Greek physicians of the great medical school at Alexandria classified works by Galen into various categories for students. The first category included four books as introductory works to…
Book/Printed MaterialGospel Lectionary.
Book/Printed MaterialHrotsvitha's Poems.
Book/Printed MaterialVictorius of Aquitaine. Martianus Capella. Remigius of Auxerre. Gregory the Great.
Book/Printed MaterialPericope (Sections) from Saint Erentrud. Gospels for the Mass According to the Usual Rite, Preceding the Capitular Gospels.
Book/Printed MaterialSacramentary of Augsburg. This Ottonian manuscript dates from the early 11th century and was executed for the cathedral of Augsburg. It bears all the hallmarks of an ambitious project, but it was left incomplete for some reason. The text alone, interspersed with gold letters on every page, creates an impression of luxury. The prayers for special ecclesiastical fields feature decorated initials with gold tendrils, which stand out…
Book/Printed Material"Of the Nature of Things" and "Of the Times" by Bede. Letters by Saint Jerome and Pseudo-Jerome. Allegorical Drawings with Commentary and Glosses.