- Wiesbaden Codex
The Wiesbaden Codex (also "Riesencodex" "giant codex"), Hs.2 of the
Hessische Landesbibliothek ,Wiesbaden , is acodex containing the collected works ofHildegard of Bingen . It is a giant codex, weighing 15 kg and 30 by 45 cm in size. [Newman, 205 (note 119).] It dates from ca.1200 , and was started at the end of her life or just after her death, at the instigation of Guibert of Gembloux, her final secretary. [Newman, "Hildegard's Life and Times," in Newman, 27.] The only segment of her work missing from the codex are her medical writings, which may be explained by assuming that they never existed in a finished format, and may have been ongoing projects in draft form. [Florence Eliza Glaze. "Medical Writer," in Newman, 145-147.]The codex does contain an extensive collection of her letters. According to scholar Lieven Van Acker, Hildegard in her last days agreed to the changes made by her editors in the collection included. The format was designed by her first secretary,
Volmar , but was edited more heavily by Guibert of Gembloux, but nonetheless she apparently authorized the changes. [Joan Ferrante, "Correspondent," in Newman, 91.]Notes
References
* Barbara Newman. "Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World". Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
External links
* [http://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/hild_w.html A web page containing the image of two pages of the codex]
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