A top-class collection of predominantly medieval manuscripts was handed over as a deposit to the Historisches Museum Basel in February 2022. Selected treasures will thus be on public display in Basel for the first time until 5 March 2023 in the Barfüsserkirche. The small presentation was created in close cooperation with the Basel University Library.
In the 1960s, the Italian author Sion Segre Amar (1910-2003) began acquiring manuscripts at Sotheby's in London. Over the years, the collection known today as the "Comites Latentes" was formed. The collector called his acquisitions "hidden companions" because he always carried certain specimens with him, even on his travels. The private collection comprises over 200 manuscripts, covering a period from the 6th to the 20th century. Together with the Basel University Library, where they are kept, the valuable pieces are now to be researched and made accessible.
In the small presentation, a cross-section of the collection is shown with around 12 selected objects. In addition to a Hebrew prayer book in silver binding, a parchment scroll with the biblical story of the Jewish woman Esther as well as French-language vitae of saints, a fragment from the so-called Burckhardt-Wildt Apocalypse can also be marvelled at: a manuscript named after its later Basel owner Daniel Burckhardt-Wildt (1752-1819).
Cabinet exhibition in the
Barfüsserkirche/library showcase
Basel Historical Museum
Management & administration
Steinenberg 4
PO box
CH – 4001 Basel
Reception: +41 61 205 86 00
historisches.museum(at)bs.ch
