The Bodmer Foundation (French: ''Fondation Bodmer'') is a library and museum specialised in manuscripts and precious editions. It is located in

Cologny Cologny () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Cologny is first mentioned in 1208 as ''Colognier''. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a Neolithic lake side village which was discovered near the village ...

, Switzerland just outside

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

. Also known as Bibliotheca Bodmeriana (or Bodmer Library), it is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The library was established by Martin Bodmer and is famous as the home of the

Bodmer Papyri The Bodmer Papyri are a group of twenty-two papyri discovered in Egypt in 1952. They are named after Martin Bodmer, who purchased them. The papyri contain segments from the Old and New Testaments, early Christian literature, Homer, and Menand ...

. Some of these papyri are among the oldest remaining copies of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. Some manuscripts are written in Greek, others in Coptic (e.g. ''Papyrus Bodmer III''). The first of the manuscripts was purchased in 1956 (''Papyrus Bodmer II'' — P⁶⁶). It also houses a copy of the

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...

History

Martin Bodmer established the library in the 1920s. Bodmer selected the works centering on what he saw as the five pillars of

world literature World literature is used to refer to the total of the world's national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of Western European lit ...

: the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

.Koch, Hans-Albrecht
Spiegel der Welt: Die Bibliotheca Bodmeriana zu Gast im Schiller-Nationalmuseum / Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach
He prioritized autographs and first editions. 1951 Bodmer had built two neo-baroque houses in Cologny to accommodate the collection. In 1970, shortly before Bodmer's death, the Bodmer Foundation was established to make the collection accessible and conserve it. In 2003 the building was remodelled by

Mario Botta Mario Botta (born 1 April 1943) is a Swiss architect. Career Botta designed his first building, a two-family house at Morbio Superiore in Ticino, at age 16. He graduated from the Università Iuav di Venezia (1969). While the arrangements of ...

. He connected the cellars of the two houses by a two-story underground structure, pierced by light shafts.

Items

The collection comprises some 160,000 items, including Sumerian clay tablets, Greek papyri and handwritten originals including music sheets. He aimed at representing the historical context by adding political, philosophical and scientific items. Some samples are: * Oldest surviving copy of the

Gospel of James The Gospel of James (or the Protoevangelium of James) is a second-century infancy gospel telling of the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, her upbringing and marriage to Joseph, the journey of the couple to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, ...

* A

, 1452 * First-edition print of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Luther ...

's ''Ninety-Five Theses'', 1517 * A copy of Newton's ''

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ( English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') often referred to as simply the (), is a book by Isaac Newton that expounds Newton's laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. The ''Principia'' is written in Latin an ...

'' once owned by

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mat ...

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developm ...

's draft manuscript of ''

Nathan the Wise ''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: ', ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsch ...

'', 1778 *

Papyrus 66 Papyrus 66 (also referred to as 𝔓66) is a near complete codex of the Gospel of John, and part of the collection known as the Bodmer Papyri. Description The manuscript contains John 1:1–6:11, 6:35b–14:26, 29–30; 15:2–26; 16:2–4, 6– ...

, Papyrus 73 and

Papyrus 74 Papyrus 74 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), designated by 𝔓74, is a copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles and Catholic epistles with lacunae. The manuscript paleographically had been ...

* Minuscule 556 * A copy of Shakespeare's

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

, 1623, in its original binding. Digitised b
The Bodmer Lab
this copy is availabl
online

Photos

File:BodmerSud.jpg File:Bodmer Cologny 1.jpg File:Bodmer Cologny 3.jpg File:Bodmer Cologny 4.jpg File:Bodmer Cologny 5.jpg, Entrance of the museum File:Othéa descend des nuages.jpg File:Codex Bodmer 127 002r.jpg

References

Bibliography

* Stella Ghervas, "Manuscrits russes dans la Bibliotheca Bodmeriana," ''Corona Nova'', t. II. München, K.G. Saur Verlag, 2003, 101-126.

External links

* —

{{Authority control Libraries in Switzerland Manuscripts Museums in Geneva Buildings and structures in the canton of Geneva Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Geneva Education in Geneva Houses completed in 1951 1951 establishments in Switzerland Museums established in 1970 1970 establishments in Switzerland Buildings and structures completed in 2003 Mario Botta buildings Baroque Revival architecture Modernist architecture in Switzerland