Jesuit Libraries Research Articles

Arsenals of Knowledge: Reconstructing the Contents and Purpose of the Lost Jesuit Libraries of Northern Mexico

Abstract This article examines several libraries assembled by the Society of Jesus in their college and missions in Northern Mexico (in the present-day Mexican State of Chihuahua), where Jesuits have been a constant presence from the seventeenth century, interrupted only temporarily by the Society’s suppression. All their bibliographic collections were transferred, dispersed, or looted after the general expulsion of 1767. Archival materials preserved in repositories such as the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City, however, enable a reconstruction of these libraries. This essay argues that these collections constituted a sort of “cultural oasis” (Michael Mathes). They provided arsenals of knowledge for missionaries in distant places with harsh living conditions and show the strong and lasting bond between Jesuits and print culture even in the most remote and adverse of conditions.

Library of the Jesuit College in Lviv and Its Fate after the Dissolution of the Society of Jesus

The Library of the Jesuit college in Lviv is known as the biggest and best-equipped library in the city. It was founded at the beginning of the 17th century, and after one hundred years, there were approximately 12,000 books. But there was a huge loss of books after a great fire in 1734. After that Jesuits restored their book collection. Historiography says that there were approximately 10,000 books in the library at the time of the dissolution of the Society of Jesus.
 Unfortunately, it is impossible to verify the information about 10,000 books because historians still cannot find an old catalogue of the library. In the article, the author analyzes manuscript III 12719 from the National Library in Warsaw. The author proves that this manuscript is the catalogue of the library of the Jesuit college in Lviv. This catalogue was created in 1774, after the dissolution of the Jesuits. Its author was a former Jesuit monk, Stanisław Chmielowski, who was assigned by Austrian authority to create catalogues of the libraries of the abolished Jesuit colleges. According to this catalogue, the Jesuit library consisted not of 10,000 books but of 5,000. It corresponds to the information from Ludwik Grzebień, the author of the best known research about the Jesuit libraries in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
 After 1713, the Jesuit library in Lviv was still functioning. Due to the order of Vienna’s authority, the Jesuit library was turned into a public library. It was the first public library in the city. At the same time, the library arranged an educational process in schools in the city. As stated by inscriptions in the catalogue, teachers, clergy, and civil servants were the readers of the library. In 1784, the former Jesuit library became a part of the Lviv University Library.

‘Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini in terra aliena?’ Jesuit Re-invention of Scriptural Commentary in a Newly Recovered Text from Seventeenth-Century Quito

A large quantity of manuscripts survives from the vast network of Jesuit libraries established across South America, including many examples of a distinctive kind of Latin Jesuit scriptural meditation. Although the social and economic influence of the Jesuits in South America has been well documented, no study has focussed on the literary and theological interest of these scriptural meditations, or the significant extent to which they innovate scriptural reading in response to the spiritual challenges posed by the new missionary contexts. The submitted article offers a close reading of a fascinating example of this innovative exegetical style by examining excerpts from the Canticum Habacuc Illustratum by Lucas Vicente Imperial (Quito, 1642). While bringing to light the Augustinian models that inspire this particular kind of exegetical reception, the text also shows the nuances of Jesuit biblical exegesis and its specific connection with contemporary and practical needs.

Archiving Jesuit Libraries: Past, Present, and Future

Archiving Jesuit Libraries: Past, Present, and Future

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Jesuit libraries and popular Jesuit literature in Kingdom of Hungary in the 17th century. Interconnection between Hungarian and Polish Jesuit book culture

The authors present the characteristics of Jesuit libraries in the Kingdom of Hungary in terms of their content, with special focus on works by the most influential Jesuit authors, which were among the most numerous ones in Hungarian Jesuit libraries. The authors also draw attention to the most popular titles published by the Hungarian Jesuits in the 17th century, which can be considered bestsellers of Baroque Catholic literature not only in the Kingdom of Hungary, but also abroad. Many of them also found their readers in Poland and were translated into Polish. Furthermore, the authors point to the interconnection between Hungarian and Polish Jesuit book culture and the Jesuit Polonica in Hungarian Jesuit libraries and typographies of the 17th-18th century. The Hungarian book culture does not mean the book culture of contemporary Hungary, but of Kingdom of Hungary. This paper focus on the Jesuits from the Slovak territory, which was a part of Kingdom of Hungary for 800 years (from 11th century to 1918). The essential research sources are the international educational program Ratio Atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Jesu and catalogues of Hungarian Jesuit libraries, located in Slovakia, from the years 1632–1782.

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Jesuit Libraries in the Old and the New Society of Jesus as a Historiographical Theme

Jesuit Libraries in the Old and the New Society of Jesus as a Historiographical Theme

Jezuitské fondy Národní knihovny ČR ve světle provenienčního průzkumu

The paper provides an overview of the provenances of the Jesuit books placed in the historical collection of the National Library of the Czech Republic. As expected, early printed books from former Jesuit libraries form one of the largest provenance groups in the NL collections. So far, 6,398 titles from the abolished Jesuit libraries in Bohemia have been identified. The identification of individual volumes is possible thanks to the relatively consistent ownership notes written on the title pages of the books; other clues are provided by specific bookbinding or donor inscriptions. In addition to the library of the Clementinum College, it has been possible to find fragments of the libraries of the Jesuit college in Český Krumlov, Chomutov, Jindřichův Hradec, Jičín, Kutná Hora, St Ignatius College in Prague, the colleges in Cheb, Hradec Králové, Litoměřice, Březnice, and the Professed House in the Lesser Town of Prague. Groups of books from the Jesuit residences in Bohosudov, Doupov, Golčův Jeníkov, Košumberk, Liběšice, Opařany, Ostředek, Stará Boleslav, Svatá Hora near Příbram, Tuchoměřice and Žampach have been documented as well. Of course, this overview of the preserved and identified fragments of Jesuit libraries is not complete. In addition, the libraries contained manuscripts and incunabula, but this research focuses on the collection of early printed books, especially its core, Bibliotheca nationalis.

The European Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project

The European Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project is a census of books once owned by a Jesuit college or house in Europe between the 1550s and 1773. The suppression of the Society of Jesus led to the dispersal of its books, and the ejlpp uses both manuscript inventories and searches in modern libraries to locate the volumes once associated with the Society of Jesus. It is multimedia, digital humanities endeavor, supervised by Kathleen M. Comerford and employing student interns at Georgia Southern University.

On the Order of the Books in the First Uppsala University Library Building

Uppsala University Library received several literary spoils of war that had been taken by Swedish armies from Jesuit colleges and other Catholic institutions in the seventeenth century. This article argues that the first university library building in Uppsala, which was built in two floors, kept good and useful literature on the upper floor, where the books were arranged according to faculties, and literature of less use on the lower, where the books were arranged according to a system similar to those in Jesuit libraries. In Lutheran Uppsala, most Catholic literature was therefore located in the lower library. In previous research on this library, its structure has not been fully acknowledged. Hence, several misleading conclusions have been drawn.

Between faith and science. Jesuit libraries in Europe in the age of Enlightenment. The cases of the Clementinum in Prague and the Zambeccari in Bologna

The iconographic analysis and the comparison between the eighteenth-century decorative cycles in the Jesuit libraries in Prague and Bologna enabled to identify some elements that can enrich the debate about the controversial interests of the Society of Jesus in the scientific studies. From this aspect, the explicit mentions about Newton and Galileo, found in the Bolognese library, are

La Biblioteca del Antiguo Colegio de Santa Catalina de la Compañía de Jesús de Córdoba (España): estudio bibliográfico de las secciones de Historia Profana y Filosofía

El presente artículo se orienta al conocimiento y divulgación de las bibliotecas institucionales españolas que han sido condenadas al olvido y se propone reconstruir la herencia bibliográfica y cultural que las bibliotecas jesuíticas representan dentro del campo de la historia del libro, a partir del estudio de las características de la Biblioteca del antiguo colegio de Santa Catalina de la Compañía de Jesús de Córdoba (España) y sobre la base de la transcripción, identificación y análisis de los fondos bibliográficos histórico y filosófico.

Rediscovering Physical Collections through the Digital Archive: The Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project

Historic library collections offer a rich and underexplored resource for teaching undergraduate and graduate students about new digital approaches, methodologies, and platforms. Their scope and scale can make them difficult to analyze in their physical form, but remediated onto a digital platform, they offer valuable insights into the process of archive creation and the importance of making their content available to audiences that cannot normally access it. The Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project (JLPP) was launched by students, faculty, and library professionals in 2014 to create an online archive of marks of ownership—bookplates, stamps, inscriptions—contained within books from the original library collection of St. Ignatius College, precursor to Loyola University Chicago. The project grew out of student work for a university museum exhibition commemorating the bi-centennial of the restoration of the Society of Jesus (more commonly known as the Jesuits). Utilizing the popular social media image-sharing site Flickr, the JLPP seeks to foster a participatory community of students, scholars, collectors, and the broader public interested in the history of early and modern Catholic print and the intellectual framework and approach of 19th-century Jesuit education. Initially intended to provide students with the chance to learn how to conceptualize, plan, and build a digital archive, the JLPP has proven equally effective for teaching about digital scholarship, shared authority, and, rather unexpectedly, about the materiality of collections in the digital age

Noël Golvers, Libraries of Western Learning for China: Circulation of Western Books between Europe and China in the Jesuit Mission (ca. 1650–ca. 1750). Vol. 1: Logistics of Book Acquisition and Circulation; Vol. 2: Formation of Jesuit Libraries; Vol. 3: Of Books and Readers. Leuven Chinese Studies 23, 26, and 30. Leuven: Ferdinand Verbiest Institute, 2012–15. Pp. 1875. US$234.00 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsNoël Golvers, Libraries of Western Learning for China: Circulation of Western Books between Europe and China in the Jesuit Mission (ca. 1650–ca. 1750). Vol. 1: Logistics of Book Acquisition and Circulation; Vol. 2: Formation of Jesuit Libraries; Vol. 3: Of Books and Readers. Leuven Chinese Studies 23, 26, and 30. Leuven: Ferdinand Verbiest Institute, 2012–15. Pp. 1875. US$234.00 (paper).Thijs WeststeijnThijs Weststeijn Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by History of Humanities Volume 1, Number 2Fall 2016 Sponsored by the Society for the History of the Humanities Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/687979 Views: 84Total views on this site © 2016 by The Society for the History of the Humanities. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Pre-1773 Jesuit Libraries in Peking as a Medium for Western Learning in Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-Century China

The Jesuit model of the ‘apostolate of the press’ in Counter-Reformation Europe chimed with the central position of books and learning in Late-Ming, Qing China, such that the Jesuit Catholic missionaries, from the very beginning of their mission (the early 17th-century) devised a 'master-plan' for a network of libraries with Western books to cover (part of) China. The intention was to support their own research, to propagate 'Western learning' (xi xue), and to attract—in this 'top-down' mission view—Chinese literati to Western culture and religion, in a way that reinforced the missionary enterprise, which was the real (hidden) agenda of the entire strategy. As such, the main libraries, especially the three in Peking, with their (often monumental and splendid) books, became true turning-points of contact and interchange, warranting at the same time for its members social prestige and access to the Court.

The History of Jesuit Libraries in Croatia

The purpose of this study is to provide a historical overview of the Jesuit libraries in Croatia from their foundation to the present. The first known libraries were at Jesuit high schools, called “colleges,” established during the seventeenth century. This article deals with foundation of libraries at the Jesuit colleges in Zagreb, Varaždin, Požega, Rijeka, and Dubrovnik, emphasizing their role supporting education and the dissemination of knowledge. These libraries were witness to a strong influence of Jesuits colleges on the spiritual, educational, and intellectual life of many Croats. Highlighted in this respect is the famous library of the Jesuit school in Dubrovnik (Collegium Ragusinum). After the suppression of Jesuit order in 1773, the colleges were closed, and their libraries scattered and plundered. Nevertheless, many books survived. Portions of the collections of the former Jesuit colleges are today an invaluable part of the patrimony of the largest Croatian libraries.

Libraries of Western learning for China: Circulation of Western books between Europe and China in the Jesuit Mission (ca. 1650 – ca. 1750). By Noël Golvers. 1. Logistics of book acquisition and circulation. (Leuven Chinese Studies XXIII). pp. 679, 2012; and 2. Formation of Jesuit Libraries. (Leuven Chinese Studies XXVI). pp. 559. Leuven, Leuven University Press, 2013.

Libraries of Western learning for China: Circulation of Western books between Europe and China in the Jesuit Mission (ca. 1650 – ca. 1750). By Noël Golvers . 1. Logistics of book acquisition and circulation. (Leuven Chinese Studies XXIII). pp. 679, 2012; and 2. Formation of Jesuit Libraries. (Leuven Chinese Studies XXVI). pp. 559. Leuven, Leuven University Press, 2013. - Volume 25 Issue 3

Books in Exile: The Case of the Jesuit Seminary Library in Jersey, 1880–1945

This article considers the history of the French Jesuit library of Jersey. Founded initially in the Jesuit seminary in Laval, France in the middle of the nineteenth century, it was expatriated to the island of Jersey in 1880 when the anti-clerical laws forced the French Jesuits to leave France. It was in this insular context of exile that the library developed, to become one of the most important Jesuit libraries in Europe of the first half of the twentieth century. The significance of the role of the chief librarian, Father Pedro Descoqs, is here explored in parallel with the history of this French Jesuit library, founded for the pursuit of autonomous religious training.