Jesuit Center Collaborates with Special Collections to Expand Jesuit Rare Book Collection

Jesuit Center Collaborates with Special Collections to Expand Jesuit Rare Book Collection

Professor Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist

In collaboration with The University of Scranton’s Jesuit Center, the Weinberg Memorial Library has obtained eight rare Jesuit-related volumes for Special Collections as part of an ongoing collaboration to strengthen the Hill-Davis Jesuit rare book collection. The Hill-Davis Collection, named in honor of Revs. William B. Hill, S.J. and Royden B. Davis, S.J., provides a representative selection of the types of books produced by Jesuits documenting their wide variety of intellectual, political, and missionary activities.

Drexel, Jeremias. Deliciae gentis humanae Christus Iesus, nascens, moriens, resurgens, Antverpiae: Apud Viduam Ioannis Cnobbari, 1639.

The new acquisitions cover a variety of topics. There is an English translation of a Jesuit history of the church in Japan, an English Jesuit’s attack on the mistaken theology of the English reformation, as well as a commentary and prayers on the life of Jesus, a collection of Jesuit sermons, and the announcement of the death of papal legate sent to China to deal with the Chinese Rites controversy. The recent acquisition also contains the Mexican printing and first translation of the Jesuit Rev. Ignacio de Paredes’s translation of Jesuit Geronimo Ripalda’s Spanish-language catechism into the Mexican language of Nahuatl.

There were also publications acquired that contributed to the suppression of the Jesuits.

Ripalda, Gerónimo.; Ignacio de Paredes (trans.). Catecismo mexicano. Mexico: Imprenta de la Bibliotheca Mexicana, 1758.

The purchase includes a pamphlet produced under the influence of the Marquis of Pombal, chief minister of Portugal, a staunch opponent of the Jesuits. Pombal spread many conspiracy theories about the Jesuits. This item deals with the Jesuit attempt to protect Guarani natives in missions around the Uruguay River from Spanish and Portuguese attacks. Another anti-Jesuit volume contains a collection of six French anti-Jesuit pamphlets bound together for one Mademoiselle de Valanglart. Special Collections and the Weinberg Memorial Library express their thanks to the Jesuit Center for collaborating with the Library by supporting the growth of the Hill-Davis Jesuit Collection. The books are available for research and will be used in exhibits.