Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula

Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Mss. Lat. 14000

The Codex Aureus is a luxuriously illuminated Gospels book that was made for Charles the Bald, King of the Franks (840-877) and Holy Roman Emperor (875-877). The name “Codex Aureus,” meaning Golden Book, refers to the heavy use of gold leafing and the gold, jewel-encrusted binding. The manuscript was signed by scribes Beringar and Liuthard, who dated it in 870. After Charles the Bald’s death in 877, the manuscript was acquired by his cousin the King of Bavaria, who donated it to the Abbey of St. Emmeram in Regensburg.

High Quality Color Unbound Plates with German Commentary

Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 50, and Alba Iulia, Biblioteca Documenta Batthyaneum, s.n.

The Lorsch Gospels is a Carolingian manuscript that was illuminated in Charlemagne’s court style at one of the royal monasteries of Francia in the early 9th century.

Black and White with Some Color Facsimile with English Introduction

Stuttgart, Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek, MS Bibl. fol. 23

The Stuttgart Psalter is a 9th-century illuminated manuscript produced at the scriptorium at St. Germain-des-Prés. The manuscript contains 162 decorated initials and 316 images and is written in Carolingian minuscule.

Black and White Unbound Folios

Utrecht, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, MS 32

The Utrecht Psalter is one of the most famous manuscripts produced at Rheims, the best-known center for Carolingian book production. It’s many sketchy drawings harken back to classical and Byzantine art due to the many-figure compositions and narrative quality of the scenes. Scholars have termed the period in Frankish art when artists incorporated classical conventions as the “Carolingian Renaissance.”

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 958

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Latin 9428

The Drogo Sacramentary was commissioned by the illegitimate son of Charlemagne, Drogo, the bishop of Metz (826-55). The manuscript contains 41 historiated initials which depicting various scenes and foliage.

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Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Mss. 652

The Liber de Laudibus Sanctae Crucis are pictorial religious poems in the form of “figure poems,” where the creation of visual images are an important part of the genre. The manuscript is a notable work of Carolingian book painting.

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Hannover, Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, MS I 189

The Passio Kiliani is a manuscript that contains the biographies of Saints Kilian and Margaret.

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Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Lat. 4453

This manuscript was made for Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III, probably at Reichenau around the turn of the millennium. The manuscript currently remains in its original gold binding inset with jewels and a 10th-century Byzantine ivory panel. The imagery of the Gospel Book of Otto III is extensive, including full-page initials, evangelist portraits, 29 miniatures of the Life of Christ, and a two-page frontice piece of worshipers adoring Otto III.

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Darmstadt, Landesbibliothek von Hesse, Cod. 1948

The Gero Codex is an Ottonian Gospel Book made for Gero, Archbishop of Cologne. Several of its miniatures are literal copies from the Carolingian Lorsch Gospels, which were created over a century before.

Black and White and Some Color Facsimile with German Commentary

Darmstadt, Hessische Landesbibliothek, MS 1640

The Hitda Codex is an 11th-century manuscript commissioned by Hitda, abbess of Meschede, who is depicted in the dedication miniature presenting the finished book to St. Walburga.

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Bamberg, Bamberg State Library, Msc.Bibl.140

The Bamberg Apocalypse was probably made at Reichenau, the Ottonian center for manuscript production, for Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. It was inherited by Henry II, who donated it to the religious community he founded in Bamberg.

Black and White Partial Facsimile with German Introduction

London, British Library, Sign. Add. MS 10546

The Moutier-Grandval Bible was produced around the year 840 at the Monaster of St. Martin in Tours. It is a large-format bible that contains four full-page miniatures.

Color Partial Facsimile with German Commentary

Leipzig, Stadtbibliothek, signature MS CXC

The Reichenauer Evangelistar is a manuscript that was produced at the Reichenau Monastery in the 10th century. The original wood book cover still contains an appropriated Byzantine ivory carving from the 11th century.

High Quality Color Facsimile