Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula

Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, D.5.22

The Estense Apocalypse is a printed block-book from circa 1460, whose images were hand colored. Block-books were printed from a technique where the whole mise-en-page, text and image, was made in woodcut as a potentially cheaper alternative to using typeset. The imagery of the Estense Apocalypse is similar to the early 15th-century, Flemish school and contemporary German Bibliae Pauperum.

Block book with hand-colored images

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Weimar, Zentralbibliothek der Deutschen Klassik, Fol. max. 4

Biblia Pauperum means Paupers’ Bible and refers to a type of picture bible that used visual typological comparisons to teach lessons. They are similar to Bible moralisée but use less text and are more commonly written in vernacular languages. The Biblia Pauperum was a popular genre of printed and block-books.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German Commentary

New York City, Pierpoint Morgan Library, MS M.719-720 and Freiburg, Universitätsbibliothek Freiburg im Breisgau, MS 334

This facsimile brings together two separated portions of the same manuscript.

Black and White and Color Partial Facsimile

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 1856

The Black Hours of Galeazzo Maria Sforza are known because of the unusual choice to dye the border page black. The manuscript was produced in Bruges between 1466 and 1476 by the Master of Anthony of Burgundy.

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Pannonhalma, Abbey of Pannonhalma, MS 118.I.43

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The Book of Hours of Emperor Maximilian the First includes engravings by several artists including Albrecht Dürer. It was printed by Johannes Schoensberger at Augsberg in 1513.

High Quality Color Facsimile with English Marginal Commentary

Vienna, Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 1857

This book of hours was made for Mary, Duchess of Burgundy, the daughter of Charles the Bold. An ornately decorated royal manuscript, it was made in the southern Netherlands around the year 1477.

High Quality Color Facsimile with French Commentary

Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 1859

The Older Prayerbook for Emperor Charles V was produced in early 16th century Belgium for the Spanish King and Emperor Charles V. It is written in both Latin and French features elongated pages.

High Quality Color Facsimile with German 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.

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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.

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Block book

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Der Edelstein, The Gemstone, is a collection of fables written by Ulrich Boner in Middle High German and printed by Albrecht Pfister in 1461. The work is one of the first printed German-language books.

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Ehebüchlein translates to marriage booklet and was written by Albrecht von Eyb, an early German humanist. The book discusses the subject and morality of marriage, ultimately falling in favor of legal marriage.

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The Gutenberg Bible is the first major European book printed using the technique of mass-produced movable metal type. The type of bible is the Latin Vulgate. It was printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz in 1453-1455.

Black and White Facsimile

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Le Morte d’Arthur was first published by William Caxton in 1485 in Middle French. It is based on a manuscript by Sir Thomas Malory, with slight reworkings, which he compiled based on existing legends.

Black and White Partial Facsimile

The Reise ins Heilige Land is a printed and illustrated account of the pilgrimage made by Bernhard von Breydenbach to the Holy Land. The book’s woodcuts were produced by Erhard Reuwich and illustrated the topography, ethnography, and alphabets of Palestine. Languages printed in the book include Arabic, Chaldean, Coptic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Greek, and, in later editions, Armenian.

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Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 262

The Schatzbehalter was written by Franciscan friar Stephan Fridolin. It was printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger and illustrated by Michael Wolgemut. The book includes 96 woodcuts.

Black and White Facsimile with German Commentary

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Donaueschingen, Fürstlich Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek, Mss. 63

Considered one of the greatest German medieval poems, Nibelungenlied was originally written somewhere between 1180 and 1210. The poem tells the story of Siegfried’s murder by King Gunther’s wife, Brunhild, and his widow’s failed attempt at revenge that ultimately ends in a massacre in which everyone dies.

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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.

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Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 219-220

The Hours of Engelbert of Nassau is a Flemish illuminated manuscript in the Dominican Rite, produced in Ghent. It was illuminated by the same artist who produced the Hours of Mary of Burgundy, eponymously known as the master of Mary of Burgundy.

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New York City, Morgan Library and Museum, MS 917 and MS 945

The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is one of the most famous Dutch illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Northern Renaissance. It’s decoration is extremely ornate and individualized. The artist’s interest in everyday objects seems to precurse Dutch still-life painting of the 17th-century.

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Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ms lat. 9474

The Grandes Heures de la Reine Anne de Bretagne was made by Jean Bourdichon in the beginning of the 16th century. The manuscript has 49 full-page miniatures and numerous marginal illuminations, which depict realistic foliage, insects, and animals.

Black and White Unbound Plates with French Introduction

The Hastings Hours is an illuminated manuscript produced in Ghent or Bruges between 1475 and 1483. The book apparently belonged to the English lord William, Lord Hastings, but patronage is debated because the coat of arms might have been a later addition.

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The Breviary of Mayer van den Bergh is a liturgical book from about the year 1500 and is known for its Flemish style miniature painting. It contains the calendar, psalter, temporal prayers, and offices of the saints. It is written in Latin and Portuguese, and was probably made for a Portuguese patron.

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High Quality Color English Interspersed Transcription

London, British Library, Add. Ms. 24189

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville are a fictional account of Mandeville’s exploration to the far east. The romance was written in the vernacular french in order to reach as many readers as possible. The fact that numerous illuminated copies survive from the Middle Ages indicates the popularity and wide reach of the work.

High Quality Color Partial Facsimile with English Introduction and Interspersed Transcription

Black and White Unbound Plates with French Commentary

Black and White Unbound Plates with French Introduction

London, British Library, Add. MS 74236

The Sherborne Missal is a clerical illuminated manuscript that contains the text and music for the Mass. It was made for St. Mary’s Abbey at Sherborne in the years surrounding the turn of the 15th century. It is unique in its lavishness, pictorial themes, and innovative subjects.

High Quality Color Partial Facsimile

The Vita Sanctae Coletae is an account of the life of St. Colette of Corbie, a French abbess who founded the Colettine Poor Clares. She is the patron saint of women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers, and sick children.

High Quality Color Facsimile with Captions and Multilingual Introduction

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