The purpose of the catalogue Illuminated manuscripts from 1400 to 1550 in the University Library of Graz is to
provide access to one of the largest collections of decorated manuscripts from the middle ages in Austria and make
this important corpus of visual media accessible to students and scholars by offering descriptions, art historical
classification of the ornamentation and reproductions.
The descriptive parts contain information about texts, bookbindings, provenance, and palaeographical and
codicological features of the books, but the emphasis is placed on the illumination. The description of the
illuminations, miniatures, initials and ornaments is followed by the arguments, which justify their attribution and
dating. A large number of reproductions illustrate important miniatures and ornaments characteristic of the style or
styles in every manuscript and give the reader the possibility to verify the catalogue entries as far as possible.
The model of the catalogue entries is given by the catalogues of the series Die illuminierten Handschriften und
Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationabibliothek. But as most of the medieval manuscripts in the University
Library of Graz came from the monasteries of Styria, a different arrangement of the entries is possible. They will
be grouped by their provenance and not just chronological. This gives the opportunity to present the contents of
several medieval monastic libraries, to compare them and to show, where the monks bought their books, what they
could have made themselves and how they used and kept their books over the centuries.
The catalogue gives a more precise idea of the artistic, cultural and educational geography in the region of Austria
and makes this treasure of visual media known to students and scholars of medieval culture for further
investigations as well as to the public.