Manuscripts

 Antike und mittelalterliche Handschriften in der Schweiz (Antique and Medieval Manuscripts Preserved in Switzerland)
Languages: German, French

This is an excellent site, directed by Patrick Andrist, although the French commentaries are sometimes a little thin. It includes a complete list of Swiss libraries which possess at least one manuscript, with a description of each manuscript. Information is provided on new manuscript catalogues. There is a codicological page, with a classification of gothic scripts (with a small image of the script in question, which can be enlarged). News (exhibitions, catalogues). A model site.

 Virtual Library of Swiss Manuscripts: e-Codices
Languages: German, English, French, Italian

The aim of this project is to provide access to the medieval manuscripts of Switzerland in a virtual library.
The virtual library will be progressively extended. The website provides the latest news concerning its state of completion.

Libraries Concerned by the Project e-Codices

 The Abbey Library of St Gall
Languages: German, English, French, Italian
The abbatial library, which contains some 2100 manuscripts, is amongst one of the oldest manuscript libraries in the world. Half of these manuscripts are medieval. 400 volumes were written before the year 1000. The abbatial abbey is distinguished by its remarkable chronological continuity, having been in existence for over 1200 years. It is the only monastic library of the middle ages which has remained on its original site. Its origins go back to the 8^th century. Many hundreds of manuscripts are preserved from the abbey’s apogee between the 9^th and the 11^th century. During the time of Abbots Ulrich Rösch and Franz Baisberg in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, the art of the book enjoyed a period of particular prosperity, and numerous scholarly works were obtained for the library. The library’s collection of medieval manuscripts expanded considerably during the period of office of the penultimate Prince-Abbot Bède Angehrn (1767-1796). Despite the abolition of the monastery of St Gall in 1805, the library was preserved at the same location. The entirety of the convent complex was included in 1983 in the UNESCO cultural heritage list. Today, the library is at one and the same time a public location for research shared by many researchers from across the world, and a museum through its famous baroque hall.
The library draws the attention of specialists and non-specialists alike as a result of the large number of manuscripts which are the basis of its reputation. It is for this reason that it plays a central role in the introduction of new technology with the aim of promoting a better knowledge of these manuscripts. One such project results from an international cooperative project whose objective is to provide access to the most valuable manuscripts by digital means. This project, planned to take two years, is directed by Professor Christoph Flueler (university of Fribourg) in close collaboration with the abbatial library of St Gall, and with the assistance of Professor Manfred Thaller, the chair for the use of digitial technology in the human sciences at the university of Cologne. Some 130 illuminations from the abbatial library will be digitised. This selection will be taken from the manuscript descriptions in the appendix to the catalogue by Professor Anton von Euw (Cologne) Die St. Galler Buchkunst vom 8. bis 11. Jahrhundert. The author has agreed to the use of his appendix to the catalogue for the purposes of selection for the project of digitisation.
High resolution images. 40,000 pages in facsimile. With a complete description of the manuscript, and a description of the binding. In June 2006, 100 complete manuscripts. Free access. An immense success.