The Abbey library of St Gall () is a significant medieval monastic library located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 1983, the library, as well as the

Abbey of St Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian Renaissance, Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot wh ...

, were designated a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, as "an outstanding example of a large Carolingian monastery and was, since the 8th century until its secularisation in 1805, one of the most important cultural centres in Europe". It is one of the oldest monastic libraries in the world.

History and architecture

The library was founded by Saint Othmar, founder of the Abbey of St. Gall. During a fire in 937, the Abbey was destroyed, but the library remained intact. The library hall, designed by the architect Peter Thumb in a

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style, was constructed between 1758 and 1767. There is a Greek inscription above the entrance door, (). It translates as "healing place for the soul", based on an inscription at the Library of Ramesses II.

Collections

The library collection is the oldest in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and one of the earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. The library holds almost 160,000

volume Volume is a measure of regions in three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch) ...

s, with most available for public use. In addition to older printed books, the collection includes 1650 ''incunabula'' (books printed before 1500), and 2100

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

dating back to the 8th through 15th centuries; among the most notable of the latter are items of Irish,

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

, and

Ottonian The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German stem du ...

production. These

codices The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

are held inside glass cases, each of which is topped by a carved

cherub A cherub (; : cherubim; ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'') is one type of supernatural being in the Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of ...

offering a visual clue as to the contents of the shelves below; for instance, the case of astronomy-related materials bears a cherub observing the books through a telescope. Books published before 1900 are to be read in a special reading room. The manuscript B of the ''

Nibelungenlied The (, or ; or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germanic hero ...

'' is kept here. A virtual library has been created to provide broader access to the manuscripts: ''Codices Electronici Sangallenses''. This project has been expanded to include codices from other libraries as well and is operating under the name e-codices. Currently, more than 600 manuscripts from the Abbey library of St Gall are available in digital format. The library is home to the mummy of Shep-en-Isis.

Manuscripts

* Codex Sangallensis 18 *

Codex Sangallensis 48 Codex Sangallensis is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the four Gospels. It is designated by Δ or 037 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and ε76 in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts. The L ...

* Codex Sangallensis 56 *

Codex Sangallensis 250 The Codex Sangallensis 250 is a manuscript which was compiled in the latter half of the 9th century at the abbey library of Saint Gall, where it remains today. It is an Astronomy, astronomical and Date of Easter, computistical, 645-page-long encycl ...

Codex Sangallensis 397 The Grimalt Codex is a manuscript, now no. 397 in the abbey library of Saint Gall, containing poetic, Christian liturgy, liturgical, Computus, computistic, mythological, scientific and historical material, including a calendar and glossaries, in bo ...

Codex Sangallensis 878 Codex Sangallensis 878 is a manuscript kept in the library of the Abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland. It dates to the 9th century and probably originates in Fulda monastery. It contains mainly excerpts of grammatical texts, including the ''Ars mino ...

Codex Sangallensis 902 The Codex Sangallensis 902 is a 186-page long manuscript written mid-9th century at the Abbey Library in St. Gallen, where it is still housed today. The pages are made of parchment, with a height of 32 cm and a width of 25 cm. The text was writte ...

Codex Sangallensis 1394 The Codex Vergilius Sangallensis is a manuscript which was written in the 4th century or 5th century, though it has survived only in fragments. Historical background The Vergilius Sangallensis most likely came to the Abbey library of Saint Gal ...

Notes

References

* Beat Matthias von Scarpatetti: ''Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Codices 547–669. Hagiographica, Historica, Geographica 8.–18. Jahrhundert.'' Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, . * Beat Matthias von Scarpatetti: ''Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Codices 1726–1984 (14.–19. Jahrhundert). Beschreibendes Verzeichnis.'' Verlag am Klosterhof, St. Gallen 1983, . *

External links