The Collections hold manuscripts written before Gutenberg inaugurated the age of printing ca. 1454, but the oldest printed book in the Collections dates from 1467. Works printed up through 1500 in Europe are known as incunabula, which means “from the cradle” of printing (the singular form is incunabulum or incunable). The Collections’ incunabula are listed chronologically below.

1. Hrabanus Maurus, Opus de Universo (Strassburg, 1467). View catalog record.
2. Pietro de Crescenzi, Opus Ruralium Commodorum (Augsburg, 1471). View catalog record.
3. Isidore of Seville, Opvscvlvm de Temporibvs (Rome, 1473). View catalog record. View entire work in the Online Galleries.
4. Aristotle, De animalibus (Venice, 1476). View catalog record. View entire work in the Online Galleries.
5. Johannes Mueller (Regiomontanus), Calendarium (Venice, 1476). View catalog record. View entire work in the Online Galleries.
6. Thomas Aquinas, Expositio Super Libros Posteriorum Aristotelis (Venice, 1477). View catalog record.
7. Joannes de Sacrobosco, Iohannis de Sacrobusto anglici uiri clarissimi Spera Mundi Feliciter Incipit [Gerardi Cremonensis uiri clarissimi Theorica planetaru[m] feliciter incipit…] (Venice:  Franz Renner, 1478). View catalog record. View entire work in the Online Galleries.
8. Bartholomaeus Anglicus, Liber de Proprietatibus Rerum (Lyon, 1480). View catalog record.
9. John Duns Scotus, Scriptum super tertio, Opus Oxoniense, Book 3 (1481). View catalog record.
10. Euclid, Preclarissimus Liber Elementorum… Perspicacissimi in Artem Geometrie (Venice: Ratdolt, 1482). View catalog record.
11. Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon (Venice, 1482). View catalog record.
12. Berenger of Landore, Lumen Anime (Strasbourg, 1482). View catalog record.
13. Alfonso X, Tabulae Astronomicae (Venice, 1483). View catalog record.
14. Isidore of Seville, [Liber Primus [-Vicesimus] Etymologiarum de Summo Bono] (Venice, 1483). View catalog record.
15. Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), Naturalis Hystoriae; Liber Trigesimus Sepiimus & ultimus Finit. Regnante Illustris.  (Venice, 1483). View catalog record.
16. Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De Architectura Liber Primus [-Decimus], ed. Joannes Sulpitius Verulanus (Rome, between 1483 and 1490). View catalog record.
17. Bartholomaeus Anglicus, De Proprietatibus Rerum (Argentine, 1485). View catalog record.
18. Petrus Comestor, Scholastica Historia… Sacre Scripture Seriem Brevem Nimis et Exposita Exponenti (Argentine, 1485). View catalog record.
19. Hyginus, Poeticon Astronomicon (Venice, 1485). View catalog record.
20. Walter Burley, Expositio in artem veterem Porphyrii et Aristotelis (Venice:  Bernardus Stagninus de Tridino, 1485). View catalog record.
21. Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), Naturalis Historiae (Venice, 1487). View catalog record.
22. Peter Lombard, Sentences, with commentary by Henricus Gorkum (1487). View catalog record.
23. Abu Ma’shar, Flores Astrologiae (Augsberg, 1488). View catalog record.
24. Albertus Magnus, Incipit Liber Phisicorum Sive Auditus Phisici (Venice, 1488). View catalog record.
25. Albertus Magnus, Liber Methaurorum (Venice, 1488; Phisicorum Siue Auditus Phisici). Bound with 4 other works by Albertus Magnus. View catalog record.
26. Joannes de Sacrobosco, Iohannis de Sacro Busto Sphaericum Opusculum.  Iohannis de Monte Regio Disputationes contra Cremonensia deliramenta.  Georgii Purbachii Theoricae novae planetarum (Venice:  Johannes Lucilius Santritter and Hieronymus de Sanctis, 1488). View catalog record. Images in the Online Galleries.
27. Abu Ma’shar, De Magnis Coniunctionibus; bound with Flores Albumasaris, ms (Augsburg, 1489). View catalog record.
28. Abu Ma’shar, Introductorium in Astronomian (Augsburg, 1489). View catalog record.
29. Abu Al-Hasan ‘ali ibn Ahmad Al-Balkhi, Kitab Al-Madkhal fi ‘ilm Al-Nujum ([unknown], 1490). View catalog record.
30. Albertus Magnus, De celo [Et] mundo (Venice, 1490). Bound with Albertus Magnus, Liber Methaurorum (Venice, 1488). View catalog record.
31. Joannes de Sacrobosco, Sphaera Mvndi (Venetiis:  Mandato & expensis … Octauiani Scoti, ciuis Modoetiensis, 1490 quarto Nonas Octobris [4 Oct.], 1490). View catalog record. Images in the Online Galleries.
32. Antonius Andreae, Questiones Antonij Andree Super Duodecim Libros Methaphysice (Venice, 1491). View catalog record.
33. Guido Bonatti, Decem Tractatus Astronomiae (Augsburg, 1491). View catalog record.
34. Hortus Sanitatis (Moguntina, 1491). View catalog record.
35. Plato, Opera, with Marsilio Ficino (Venice, 1491). View catalog record.
36. Aristotle, Copulata Super Libros de Anima Arestotelis cum Textu Iuxta Doctrinam Excelletiss (Cologne, 1492?). View catalog record.
37. Alfonso X, Tabule Astronomice Alfonsi Regis. Augustinus Moravus Olomucensis Johanni Lucilio (Venice, 1492). View catalog record.
38. Caius Julius Solinus, De Memoralibvs Mvndi (Venice, ca. 1493). View catalog record.
39. Albertus Magnus, De Anima Libri Tres. de Intellectu et Intelligibili Libri Duo (Venice, 1494). Bound with Albertus Magnus, Liber Methaurorum (Venice, 1488). View catalog record.
40. Aristotle, Clarissima Singularisque Totius Philosophie Necnon Metaphisice Aristotelis; Magis (Paris, 1494). View catalog record.
41. Albertus Magnus, De Celo [Et] Mundo (Venetiis, 1495). Bound with Albertus Magnus, Liber Methaurorum (Venice, 1488). View catalog record.
42. Albertus Magnus, De Generatione [Et] Corruptione (Venetiis, 1495). Bound with Albertus Magnus, Liber Methaurorum (Venice, 1488). View catalog record.
43. Alexander of Aphrodisias, Opera Graece (Venice:  Aldus Manutius, 1495 – 1498). Bound with Aristotle, Aldine Greek edition (Venice: 1495-1498). View catalog record.
44. Ermolao Barbaro, Castigationes Hermolai, in Plinium Castigatissimae: Quum vix Post Romanas: Caeteris (Cremonae, 1495). View catalog record.
45. Pomponius Mela, Cosmographia Siue de Situ Orbis (Venice, 1495). View catalog record.
46. Petrus Tartaretus, Expositio… Super Textu Logices Aristotelis (Paris, 1495). View catalog record.
47. Aristotle, Opera Graece, Aldine Greek edition (Venice: 1495-1498; 5 vols. bound in 6). Also includes works by Alexander of Aphrodisias, Porphyry, Galen, Philo Judaeus, Theophrastus.
48. Aristotle, Opera Latina (Venice:  Octauiani Scoti, 1496; title in catalog is Metahphysics). View catalog record.
49. Niccolò Leoniceno, Nicolai Leoniceni vincentini in librum de epidemia, qua itali morbum gallicum vocant, ad illustrem virum loanem Fraciscum mirandulensem, Concordiæ comitem præfatio (Venice:  Aldus Manutius, 1497). View catalog record.
50. John Duns Scotus, Scotus nouissime cum emendatissimo codice parisino castigatus (Venice: 18 December, 1497). View catalog record.
51. Dionysius Periegetes, De Situ Orbis (Venice, 1498). View catalog record.
52. Valerius Superchius, Oratio de Laudibus Astronomiae (Venice, 1498). View catalog record.
53. Joannes de Sacrobosco, Bartholomi uespuccij . . .Oratio habita in celebrerrimo Gymnasio Patauino (1484, 1518?). View catalog record.
54. Isidore of Seville, Isidori etymologarum opus: idem de summon bono (Venice 1485). View catalog record.
55. Claudius Ptolemy, Almagest, ed. Regiomontanus (1496). View catalog record.
56. Martin Steinpeiss, Lapidarium omni voluptate refertum (Vienna, between 1495 and 1512).
57. Martianus Capella, Opus Martianus Capella De nuptijs philosphie [et] mercurij libri duo (1499). View catalog record.
58. Holy Roman Empire, Bergwerks-Ordnung: vermehret mit einer zweiten Verzeichnuss sowohi der Artikeln, als deren Inhalts nach Ordung der Anfangs-Buchstaben (15??). View catalog record.

1. Abul-Hasan Kūshyār ibn Labbān ibn Bashahri Gilani (971 – 1029), Lugmil al-’usul fi ahkam an-nugum [Principles of astronomy and astrology]. Kushyar ibn Labban, also known as Kūshyār Gīlānī, was a Persian astronomer who is best known for his mathematical work, Principles of Hindu reckoning. This is an Arabic manuscript on paper of the 15th century, with text on both sides, written with black and red ink. 15 lines per page. Small quarto. With astronomical tables and 1 diagram. Vellum. This copy is relatively early and very well preserved: for comparison the copy in Berlin is dated 1569 and the copy in the British Museum comes from the year 1648. Uncataloged.
2. Manuscript, Persian. On paper. Author unknown; medieval; shown right. Possibly by the poet Saadi, who lived in Shiraz, Iran (ca. 1200). View images online. Uncataloged.
3. Erasmus Reinhold (1511-1553), Demonstratio halonis (ca. 1550). Latin. View entire ms online. View catalog record.
4. Michael Servetus (1511-1553), De Trinitatis erroribus (original 1531; copy ca. 1700). Latin. View images online. View catalog record.
5. Nobutoyo, Yahon Hiden. Book about the arrow; 1846 manuscript copy by Hajime Terai from 1556 original written by Nobutoyo, illustrations copied by Odani. (1556-1846a). Japanese. Rice-paper. View entire ms online. View catalog record.
6. Nobutoyo, Koto no sho. Book about “leggings” (cowboy chaps); 1846 manuscript copy by Hajime Terai from 1556 original written by Nobutoyo, illustrations copied by Odani. (1556-1846b). Japanese. Rice-paper. View entire ms online. View catalog record.
7. Bernardino Baldi (1533-1617), Novae gnomonices, libri quinque (1592). Latin. View catalog record. View entire ms online.
8. Bernardino Baldi (1533-1617), Cronica de Matematici (ca. 1596). Latin. View images. Uncataloged. View entire ms online.
9. In triplicem spheram, terrestrem, aeream, et coelestem breves adnotates. Latin. No date, no author. Probably late 17th-century. View catalog record. View entire ms online.
10. [Aristotle, Aquinas, Zacchi] Commentaria in primum panon philosophiae naturalis Aristotelis, De phisico, auditu iuxta mentem Angelici divi Thomae Aquinatis domini Augusti Zacchi, patritii Veneti (1680). Latin. View catalog record. View entire ms online.
11. Metaphysica (1753). No date, author unknown. Latin. View catalog record.
12. Raphaël Bienvenu Sabatier (1732-1811). Anathomia de Sabatiher, copiada em Lisboa por Thomaz Antonio Bibl. Emcadernada em Braga C[o]. Joaquim Antonio (1818). Portuguese. Uncataloged.
13. Ise, Heizo Sadatake (1717-1784), Kasakake zenki. “Secret book about the hunger of the target given continually from ancestor of Ise family.” 1846 manuscript copy by Hajime Terai from original written in 1758 by Sadatake; illustrations copied by Odani. Japanese. Rice-paper. View catalog record.
14. Ise, Heizo Sadatake (1717-1784), Fuku (no) sho. “Secret book about the quiver given continually from ancestor of Ise family.” 1846 manuscript copy by Hajime Terai from original written in 1765 by Sadatake; illustrations copied by Odani. Japanese. Rice-paper. Uncataloged.
15. Baroillet, Rapport du Comité des fortifications, sur une méthode d’écrire en chiffres et sur l’instrument approprié à cet objet [Paris, ca. 1790]. French. (More info.) View entire ms online. View catalog record.
16. Physiologia (1820). Latin. Author unknown. View catalog record.
17. [Louis Agassiz (1807-1873)], Notes of Nine Lectures on the Alps, Glaciers, & Glacier theory, delivered by Professor Agassiz at the Masonic Temple, Boston, 1847. Notes taken by “J.J.D.” English. View catalog record.
18. [Arnold Guyot (1807 – 1884)], Geology Lectures by Prof. Guyot, (1860). Notes in an anonymous hand of lectures at Princeton. English. View catalog record.
19. Jens Rud Nielsen, Memories of Niels Bohr. English. View catalog record. (More about Nielsen.)

In addition, the following manuscripts are part of the Bizzell Bible Collection, which is accessed through the History of Science Collections:

1. Bible. English. Translation of Hebrew Old Testament. [605] pp. 21.5 cm. Black and red ink on paper. Shelf number: 15.1. View catalog record.
2. Missale Salisburgense. Oaxaca, Mexico. Red and black ink on paper. 28.5 x 21.5 cm. [15th century.] Shelf number: 1.2. View catalog record.
3. Book of hours. Black ink on vellum. 16 cm. Red, blue ornamentation, with occasional gold leaf. [15th century, northern France.] Shelf number: 5.36. View catalog record.
4. Book of hours. Black ink on vellum. Many color illustrations, with gold-leaf. 16 cm. [15th century, northern France.] Shelf number: 5.37. View catalog record.
5. Qu’ran. 18–. [522]+ pp. 30 cm. Acquired in the Philippines by David Elzie Wilson, a soldier from Knoxville, Tennessee, during the Philippine Insurrection (1898-1901). Originally on loose leaves, laid in contemporary boards. Shelf number: 1.1. View catalog record.

These lists are subject to ongoing revision.

The header for the blog is taken from a 1535 work by Albrecht Dürer held in the Collections. The transformation of a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional canvas by means of perspective drawing, depicted by Dürer, suggests our aim to transform the three-dimensional space of the History of Science Collections onto the ethereal “canvas” of this blog.

View additional Dürer images at the Collections’ image galleries.