Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula

Cassino, Abbey of Monte Cassino, Codex Casinensis 97

The Herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius was first written in the 4th century and was copied several times throughout the Middle Ages until the 12th century.

Madrid, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial, MS H.I. 15

A lapidary is a manuscript that describes properties of precious and semi-precious stones, and generally focused on science, magic or astrology, or Christian symbolism. The Lapidary of King Alfonso X of Castile (r. 1252-1284) was an astrological lapidary that pays particular attention to Zodiac relationships with stones.

High Quality Color Facsimile with Spanish Commentary

Brussels, Bibliotheque Royale Albert I, MS Codex IV 1024

The Livre des Simples Medicines is an important medical textbook and herbal from the 12th century. The manuscript was based on Dioscorides’s Vulgaris. It was likely written by Matthaeus Platearius, a physician from Salerno.

High Quality Color Facsimile with English Commentary and Translation

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 93

The Medicina Antiqua is an elaborately decorated copy of the Herbarius complex, a medieval anthology of medicine. The Medicina Antiqua was produced in early 13th-century Italy when medical education was based on Imperial Roman traditions, before Muslim versions of classical medicine was translated.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German and English Commentary

Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Cod. 78 D 3

The Splendor Solis is the earliest known alchemistic treatise and dates from 1532-1535. It features 19 illuminations of the creation of the philosopher's stone and its margins are decorated like a book of hours.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Supplementum graecum 247

Nikander was a 2nd century Greek poet. His Theriaca describes the nature of venomous animals and the wounds that they inflict. The Alexipharmaca focuses on poisons and their antidotes. His works continued to be consulted by medical doctors in the Middle Ages, as is demonstrated by this 10th century Byzantine illuminated manuscript. Produced in Constantinople, it reproduces Late Antique/Early Christian figural types and styles.

High Quality Color Facsimile with French Commentary

Zürich, Zentralbibliothek, MS A120

The Tschachtlanschronik is a Swiss history chronicle manuscript with miniature illustrations. It was produced by Berner Ratsherren Benedikt Tschachtlan and Heinrich Dittlinger in 1470.

Commentary: Special Coll Rare (oversize) -- ND3399.T8A322 1988

High Quality Color Facsimile

New York City, New York Public Library, MS MA 97

Black and White Facsimile with English Commentary

St. Petersburg, Russian National Library

The Portolan Atlas was produced by Genoese cartographer, Battista Agnese, who developed a map-making workshop in 16th-century Venice.

High Quality Color Facsimile

Black and White Unbound Plates with French Commentary

Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 764

The Book of Beasts is a medieval English bestiary, which was a type of compendium that describes real and mythical animals, often with moralizing or anecdotal accounts. The MS Bodley 764 contains a unique entry of “barnacle geese” that hang from trees.

High Quality Color Facsimile with English Introduction

London, British Library, Cotton MS Tiberius B.V part 1, together with leaves from London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero D. II

Black and White Facsimile with English Commentary

Rotterdam, Maritiem Museum "Prins Hendrik"

The Mercator Map was made using an updated cartographic technique called the Mercator projection, where bearing sailing courses were mapped to straight line on the plane. The technique and map were developed by Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century German-Flemish cartographer and geographer.

High Quality Black and White Facsimile

Vatican Library, Codex Barberini, Latin 241

The Badianus Manuscript was produced in 1552 in Spanish-ruled Mexico by Native Americans Martinus de la Cruz and Juannes Badianus. It is a compiled list of medicinal herbs and their uses according to Aztec traditions. It is the oldest known American herbal.

High Quality Color Facsimile with Introduction and Transcription in English