Catalogue of illuminated manuscripts in Graz University Library. 1300-1400

Monasteries were for centuries the most important producers, purchasers and collectors of books: in their libraries a predominant part of the sources on, and thus the basis for our knowledge of, spiritual, cultural and political developments in the medieval age has been preserved. Furthermore these books - handwritten until the fifteenth century - contain pictures, drawings and diagrams that, based on the contents of their texts, visualize medieval thought and imagination. Some of the books, especially liturgical ones, thus receive through their illumination a medial function and meaning, which is alien to us today. The acknowledged importance of this source for all historically orientated scientific fields and the public interest shown by the popularity of exhibitions on illuminated manuscripts, as well as by historical novels, which are often illustrated with reproductions of medieval manuscript illuminations, has led to an intensification of research on medieval manuscripts and their decoration - from catalogue projects and specialised studies to an increased presentation of this material in the internet. In order to deal adequately with these sources, it is essential to establish the place and date of their creation, and to investigate their dissemination and reception. In the cataloguing projects on illuminated manuscripts in the University Library of Graz, these questions will be answered with regard to the books stored there. At the same time, the holdings will be made accessible for further scholarly investigations by describing the physical structure of the manuscripts and reproducing their decorations in detail. The collection of medieval manuscripts in the University Library originates mainly from the libraries of monasteries of various orders in Styria, which were dissolved in the 18th century. The scale of this collection, which at once represents several monastic libraries and yet remains of a manageable size, provides an ideal basis for exemplary studies on the changing conditions in which these important libraries emerged and developed over the centuries. For the 15th century and the following decades, in which hand-made book production came to an end and private customers became increasingly important for the book market, the cataloguing work has been completed with the publishing of the results from the preceding project. For the 13th century the cataloguing of decorated manuscripts has been started by a project led by Prof. Michael Viktor Schwarz and carried out by Dr. Michaela Schuller-Juckes and Mag. Evelyn Kubina. The project applied for here will be dedicated to the manuscripts of the 14th century and thus help to ensure the completion in the foreseeable future of an art historical catalogue of the entire Graz holdings, which would then facilitate further scholarly and general evaluation of this rich and important collection.

The aim of the project was to carry out an in-depth investigation of decorated manuscripts from the 14th century in Graz University Library, their detailed description in catalogue form, and analysis of figural illuminations and decorative elements, along with their localization and dating. On the basis of comparative studies, the most important tendencies in manuscript decoration in the region were discovered and related to general developments. It is generally considered that after 1200 monastic scriptoria were replaced by commercial manuscript production a development that seems to have set in Germanspeaking Central Europe towards the middle of the 13th century. Yet for most of the works passed down, even from the 14th century (particularly the first half), it remains uncertain where the manuscripts were produced and where ateliers working on a commercial base might have been located. Investigation of the Graz material has enabled extensive progress on this question. The collection consists mainly of libraries from dissolved monasteries in Styria and Carinthia. These institutions had a basic need for books, but the locations of most of the houses were remote the key question was thus how they provided themselves with the necessary books. Fortunately, a considerable number of the manuscripts were adorned with flourished initials. This complex decorative form is preserved in such quantity that it can be used to trace developments over time, the emergence of local characteristics and networks of exchange. In the course of the project it was possible to assemble around the Graz examples smaller and larger groups with related decoration, also including manuscripts from other libraries. On the basis of this and scattered information provided by inscriptions, various models of production were developed to explain the observed phenomena. Only a few examples of independent, mostly short-lived, in-house traditions of manuscript decoration were observed. In many cases, scribes who may also have played a role in providing flourished initials and illuminators were hired to work with the members of the convents. Besides the larger related groups that were clearly made under supervision in the monastic houses, several isolated works have also survived in these collections. Some of these seem to have come from commercial ateliers, as is indicated, firstly, by the spread of works with closely related decoration over a wide area, and, secondly, by their contents (basic theological literature without liturgical texts for local use). Also their script and layout points in this direction, since they are more regular and standardized than in-house production by changing teams of hired personnel and/or convent members. In the second half of the fourteenth century, it was possible to observe the development of manuscript production in the orbit of Vienna University, following its foundation in 1365. The results of the project will be published together with the findings of another ongoing project on the imported manuscripts from the same period: the investigation of this material raises new questions and requires different methods