Facsimiles of Medieval Manuscripts and Incunabula

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.

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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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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

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.

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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.

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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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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.

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.”

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Eichstätt, Diocese of Eichstätt Archives, MS Codex B 4

The Pontifikale Gundekarianum is a liturgical book from the 11th century that was owned by the Bishop of Ghent and includes a history of the bishopric until 1697.

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London, British Library, MS Add. 14762

The Ashkenazi Haggadah is a Passover Haggadah in the German rite with a commentary by Eleazar of Worms. The script is Ashkenazi square and Ashkenazi semi-cursive. The manuscript is illuminated with miniatures, decorated initials, and marginal medallions.

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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

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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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

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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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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Heidelberg, Universitätsbibliothek, MS Cod. Pal. Germ. 112

The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French Literature. It recounts the Battle of Roncevaux in 778 where Roland, Charlemagne’s nephew, battles Muslim forces in Spain.

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Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Codex Vindobonensis 2670

Willehalm is a 13th-century German chanson de geste poem by Wolfram von Eschenbach. In the poem Willehalm wooed, converted, and married a Spanish, Muslim princess. Her father, former husband, and their armies invaded france to bring her back, but were defeated in a subsequent battle by Willehalm. It is based on French, chivalric romances.

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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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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

Gerona, Museu de la Catedral de Girona, MS 7

The Gerona Beatus was commissioned by Abbot Dominicus according to an inscription at the end of the book. The manuscript includes the commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana and Jerome’s commentary on the Book of Daniel. It is one of the most richly illuminated Beatus Apocalypses.

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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No shelfmark

The Hortus Deliciarum is an illuminated encyclopedia and teaching tool made for novices at the Hohenburg Abbey convent in 1167-85. The manuscript contained compiled texts from various writers, original poetry by Herrad of Landsberg, and 336 miniatures. The original manuscript was burned and destroyed in 1870 but numerous copies remain.

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Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Cod. bibl. fol. 56

Black and White Partial Facsimile with German Introduction

Goslar, Stadtarchiv Goslar, Signatur B 4387

The Gospel of Goslar is a medieval manuscript containing the four Christian Gospels indented for the Neuwerk Monastery in Goslar.

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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.

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