Collection highlights, news about acquisitions, events and exhibits, and behind-the-scenes looks at the work and services of Rare Books & Special Collections (RBSC) at Notre Dame.
Historian Gert Gielis has recently explained the importance of these university writings:
“As the first official statements concerning Luther’s heresy, they were imperative steps in branding his teaching as heretical. Conveyed to Rome by Johannes Eck in March, 1520, the academic condemnations eventually influenced the official papal condemnation of Exsurge Domine, issued [by Pope Leo X] a few months later.”
—Gert Gielis, “«Post exactam et diligentem examinationem». How the Louvain Theologians condemned Luther’s Theses (1519): Context, Practices and Consequences,” Annali di Storia delle università italiane 2017, no. 2: p. 121.
The Louvain theologians produced 13 articles and Cologne authored its own set of 10; both faculties presented them to the pope’s representative in Germany, Cardinal Cajetan, for his comments. In early November 1519, the Louvain faculty also sent the text of their condemnation to their Dutch colleague Adriaan Florensz Boeyens, Bishop of Tortosa, who within a few years would become Pope Adrian VI. He answered with a letter on December 4, 1519, expressing his critical views on Luther and supporting the condemnation by Louvain. Both sets of condemnations, along with the letter from Boeyens, were published at Louvain in February 1520. By March 27, Luther had finished a lengthy critique of the universities’ views.
This volume includes the full text of the articles of condemnation issued by both Cologne and Louvain, Boeyens’ letter criticizing Luther, and the first edition of Luther’s rather lengthy reply—which constitutes the majority of the text.
We have identified only three other North American holdings of this Wittenberg edition.
In honor of Labor Day, Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to highlight three recently acquired 1937 issues of the scarce monthly publication Sport Call, The Official Organ of The Workers’ Sports League of America. Published during the 1930s, Sport Call’s tagline explained that it was “a periodical devoted to the physical education of the working class,” and it promoted healthful sports and recreation for laborers and workers.
Front page of Sport Call, February 1937.
During the turbulent years of the Great Depression, Sport Call and the Workers’ Sports League of America (WSLA) were active participants in national and international socialist movements. Headquartered in New York City, the League—through its official journal—offered a decidedly pro-labor view of sports and athletics that critiqued, what it saw as, capitalist exploitation of laborers and athletes. Sport Call also fervently opposed the rising tide of fascist politics during the 1930s and endorsed sports as a potential unifying and democratizing force.
Sport Call supported, for example, a January 1937 conference organized by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) that aimed to establish a permanent Labor Sports Movement. Speaking to more than 150 delegates, Siegfried Lipschitz, President of the Workers’ Sports League, described the principles of Workers’ Sports International—the parent organization of the WSLA. “The Workers’ Sports International,” he said, “is a pillar of world democracy.”
A Jewish German emigré, lawyer, journalist, and activist, Lipschitz knew first hand the necessity of fighting reactionary politics: “The International and its affiliated organizations reject dictatorship in all its forms,” he declared. “To them it is an eternal creed that Labor cannot live and flourish,” Lipschitz concluded, “except in an atmosphere of free speech, free press, and the fullest expression of popular sentiments.” (March 1937, p. 3).
Sport Call well understood the connection between sports and politics, and an anti-fascist theme runs throughout these three issues. In February 1937, the journal editorialized strongly against the upcoming heavyweight championship fight between German Max Schmeling and American James Braddock. The editors wrote that they were “vehemently opposed to the spreading of Nazi propaganda in Sports!,” and they elaborated:
“The fact that Max Schmeling is a Nazi is known everywhere. The fact that Schmeling is a first-class propaganda merchant of Hitler’s is also well known. The opportunity to spread Nazi filth in this country must not be given to Hitler! The Braddock-Schmeling fight must not be staged!”
Similarly, the Workers’ Sports League had advocated for boycotting the 1936 Berlin Olympics in protest of Nazi Germany’s policies. The following year, the League supported and promoted the Third International Workers Olympiad held in Antwerp, Belgium, as an alternative and more egalitarian athletic competition.
In an editorial titled, “Forward to Antwerp,” the March 1937 issue of Sport Call endorsed the call to action of George Elvin, the General Secretary of the British Workers Sports Association. The purpose of the Workers Olympiad, Elvin said, was to promote: “The unity of the people against war; the determination to continue the fight for clean, healthy, and beneficial sport; the maintenance of liberty and democracy.”
Venue for the swimming events at the 1937 Third International Workers Olympiad as pictured in Sport Call March 1937, page 2.
More specifically, Elvin elaborated that there will be “none of those regrettable incidents, which mar other sports meetings. Working class leaders will not refuse the hand-clasp of congratulations to victors as Hitler did to Jesse Owens, because he did not approve of the color of his skin.” (March 1937, page 1).
The Workers’ Sports League and Sport Call consistently participated in anti-fascist events around New York and sought to include sports programming in socialist and pro-labor gatherings. In February 1937, Wilhelm Sollmann, a German politician and a former Minister of Labor in Germany’s Weimar government, gave a lecture in New York City titled, “What After Hitler?” As part of the event, members of the Workers’ Sports League put on a sports exhibition.
Athletes at Anti-Nazi Meet: Members of the Workers’ Sports League pose with American flags and a banner reading: “Welcome son of German soil, may freedom be yours” (March 1937, page 5).
Sport Call also favorably covered the Second Annual World Labor Athletic Festival held on July 11, 1937, at New York City’s Randall Park. More than 20,000 “trade unionists and sports fans,” according to the journal, attended and participated in the meet. The cover of the July 1937 issue of Sport Call featured members of the Workers’ Sports League performing “their rhythmic calisthenic drill.”
In addition to supporting national and international causes, the Workers’ Sports League also promoted the health benefits of recreation. Sport Call regularly printed health and recreation tips for readers and workers. In February 1937 (page 4), an article encouraged “Exercise in Winter” and featured a picture explaining, “It’s a lot fun and warmer than you think!”
A letter to the editor of the March 1937 issue further discussed the importance of the participatory and egalitarian nature of labor sports organizations:
“The Workers’ Sports League, building upon its program of solidarity with the working class and its aspirations, physical development of the masses rather than individual “stars,” real amateurism rather than quasi-professionalism, equal welcome to all regardless of race and color, and democratic organization control, can be built into a mighty organization—and become itself the “official” sports movement.” (March 1937, page 6)
These Sport Call issuesare available to researchers. RBSC welcomes new donations to expand our holdings of this scarce and important title.
Note about Sport Call publication history: This hard-to-find and relatively obscure journal is held by few repositories. It apparently began publication as the German-language Arbeiter-Sport in Amerika (Workers’ Sport in America) in about 1930. The journal changed titles to Proletarian Sports and adopted English in 1934, before changing titles again to Sport Call in about 1936.
RBSC is closed Monday, September 1st, for Labor Day.
Rare Books and Special Collections welcomes students, faculty, staff, researchers, and visitors back to campus for Fall 2025! We want to let you know about a variety of things to watch for in the coming semester.
This exhibition traces the global journey of Dante’s masterpiece through rare and valuable printed editions, highlighting how translators, artists, and printers have popularized and reshaped the Commedia. These volumes reveal a dynamic dialogue between Dante’s poetry and the world. A global literary perspective transforms Dante from a monumental yet isolated figure of the European Middle Ages into a central presence in the ongoing international conversation about humanity, the universe, time, eternity, and the power of literature.
This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies and the Devers Program in Dante Studies. It is curated by Salvatore Riolo (Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate) and co-curators Giulia Maria Gliozzi (Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate), Inha Park (Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate), and Peter Scharer (Yale Comparative Literature doctoral candidate). Theodore J. Cachey Jr. (Notre Dame) and Jacob Blakesley (Sapienza Università di Roma) served as consultants on the exhibit.
Few 19th-century antiquarians matched the obsession or eccentricity of English baronet Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). A self-described “vello-maniac” (lover of parchment), Phillipps spent his life and fortune amassing what became the largest manuscript collection of his time. It included more than 60,000 manuscripts and 20,000 printed works.
Upon his death, Phillipps mandated that his collection never be dispersed, nor that any Catholic ever be permitted to view his library. After his will was contested, however, Phillipps’ descendants began the century-long process of ridding themselves of the burdensome trove. This exhibit features five manuscripts that have made their way from the Phillipps collection to the University of Notre Dame, testifying to the fraught legacy of one of history’s most extreme collectors. In this exhibit, three medieval charters, a medieval codex, and an early modern treatise are now available for all to see, in direct contrast to Phillipps’ restrictive wishes.
This exhibit is curated by Anne Elise Crafton, 2024-2025 Rare Books and Special Collections Postdoctoral Research Fellow.
This exhibit displays a medieval sermon composed from a variety of preaching aids and sourcebooks: bibles, summae, florilegia, and other systematized anthologies. The sermon was the most influential vehicle for religious and moral instruction: virtues, vices, canon law, and living the faith all reached the masses in urban centers through preaching. The physical formats of the manuscripts themselves provide insight into pastoral care in the medieval world. This exhibit emphasizes a few of the many items from the Hesburgh Library’s collection of medieval manuscripts created for and used by actual medieval preachers.
This exhibit is curated by David T. Gura, Ph.D., Curator, Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts, Concurrent Professor of Classics and the Medieval Institute.
These and other exhibits within the Hesburgh Libraries are generously supported by the McBrien Special Collections Endowment.
All exhibits are free and open to the public during business hours.
Special Collections’ Classes & Workshops
Throughout the semester, curators will lead instructional sessions related to our holdings to undergraduate and graduate students from Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Holy Cross College. Curators may also be available to show special collections materials to visiting classes, from preschool through adults. If you would like to arrange a group visit and class with a curator, please contact Special Collections.
Events
This program is free and open to the public.
Friday, September 12 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm | Exhibit Open House: Drop in to meet and speak informally with curator Salvatore Riolo (Notre Dame Italian Studies doctoral candidate) about the new exhibit, Mapping Global Dante in Translation. Learn how translators, artists, and printers have popularized and reshaped the Divine Comedy over the centuries and across the world and discover the Library’s many Dante editions.
Remembering the Harrisburg TrojansThe First Women’s Political PartyDiscovering Fianna: The Voice of Young IrelandReading the Gay Rodeo Ephemera Collection for Pride MonthSome of the recent acquisitions highlighted on the blog in the past year.
Anticipated Closures
Rare Books and Special Collections is regularly open 9:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. The department will be closed for the following holidays and events:
September 1, for Labor Day (Monday)
November 27–28, for Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday)
Our last day open before the campus closure for Christmas Celebration will be Tuesday, December 23. We will reopen on January 5, 2026.
Para quienes trabajamos en Libros Raros y Colecciones Especiales (RBSC, por sus siglas en inglés), siempre es emocionante redescubrir los libros, manuscritos, materiales efímeros y otros objetos de nuestras colecciones, así como recuperar las importantes historias que cuentan. Sin embargo, a menudo es aún más emocionante ver a nuestros usuarios hacer lo mismo. Desde estudiantes curiosos de todas las edades hasta investigadores y académicos de cerca y de lejos, ellos son la razón por la que preservamos y cuidamos estos materiales. La creación de conocimiento es un esfuerzo colaborativo, y las Bibliotecas Hesburgh se esfuerzan por estar en el centro de ese proceso.
Un hermoso ejemplo de los frutos de nuestra misión tuvo lugar este pasado mes de julio, cuando RBSC tuvo el gran honor de recibir al Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli, un destacado especialista en las literaturas e historias intelectuales del período colonial de Bolivia y Perú. Nacido y criado en Buenos Aires, Argentina, el Dr. Eichmann asistió al Colegio San Miguel (Buenos Aires), obtuvo su licenciatura en Letras en la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina) y luego su doctorado en Filología Hispánica en la Universidad de Navarra (España). Es un autor prolífico, con numerosas publicaciones que incluyen libros (tanto monografías como ediciones académicas), artículos en revistas científicas y capítulos de libros, y ha editado más de veinte libros y volúmenes de revistas. Actualmente, el Dr. Eichmann es Profesor Titular de Literatura en la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Presidente de la Sociedad Boliviana de Estudios Clásicos; y Director de la revista Classica boliviana.
El Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli en la Sala de Lectura, comparando un facsímil del texto impreso de la crónica de Mendoza con la versión manuscrita resguardada en RBSC.
Durante sus días en RBSC, el Dr. Eichmann compartió con entusiasmo explicaciones sobre lo que estaba viendo, leyendo y aprendiendo. Planea continuar trabajando con materiales de nuestras colecciones—en particular, con manuscritos de la Colección de Historia Peruana José Durand—y espera inspirar a sus estudiantes en Bolivia a hacer lo mismo. Generosamente aceptó conceder esta breve entrevista en español (traducida al inglés con la ayuda de Chat GTP).
PPQ: Entiendo que Ud. llegó a Notre Dame para realizar una estancia de investigación en el de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. ¿Nos puede contar un poquito sobre ese programa y sus actividades ahí?
AEO: Vine al Nicola Center porque es un lugar privilegiado para conocer el estado actual de lo mejor que se ha investigado en torno a la ética y a las tradiciones intelectuales del universo cristiano. Formé parte de un grupo de personas venidas de Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador y México, unas 30 en total, entre estudiantes de máster y de doctorado y profesores de distintas universidades. Vinimos liderados por el Dr. Joaquín García Huidobro, de la Universidad de Los Andes (Chile).
Estuvimos dos semanas completas, trabajando de 8.00 a.m. hasta las 20.00. Nos propusimos turnarnos para que, cada día, uno de nosotros ofreciera una breve charla […] Después de la charla había opción de hacer preguntas o comentarios. […] El otro compromiso (fuera de avanzar cada quien en su propio trabajo de investigación) consistía en leer, cada día, el trabajo de otro […], para contribuir con nuestras observaciones y sugerencias. Esto le permitió a cada uno ampliar y, a menudo, precisar, el enfoque, la perspectiva, etc., de su propio trabajo. Se aprende muchísimo de esa manera, y se avanza mejor. Es una dinámica muy enriquecedora.
Yo llegué con la intención de avanzar en el estudio del neo estoicismo en autores de los siglos XVI y XVII, del virreinato del Perú (sobre todo, de lo que hoy es Bolivia). El neo estoicismo es una corriente de pensamiento que, al menos en España y en Hispanoamérica, estuvo muy ligada a la lectura de las epístolas morales de Séneca y las obras de Tácito. Sin duda avancé en lo que me había propuesto, pero los hallazgos en Rare Books me “obligaron” a ocuparme de ellos. Ya volveré al neo estoicismo. Esto no podía esperar.
PPQ: ¿Cuáles son algunos de los materiales más interesantes que examinó en Rare Books and Special Collections? ¿Cómo se relacionan con sus investigaciones previas y/o actuales?
AEO: Estuve interesado en textos producidos en el virreinato del Perú durante los siglos XVII y XVIII. Como siempre ocurre con una colección que no conoces, llegas con algunas expectativas, pero lo más importante es estar abierto a la sorpresa. Y esto es lo que puedo decir, sin duda alguna, que encontré.
Hay, por ejemplo, unas piezas teatrales breves del siglo XVIII, compuestas en Lima, que sirven para “abrir” un espectáculo teatral. En una de ellas se indican los nombres de los actores y actrices que la pusieron en escena. Entre otros nombres, aparece el de “Michaela Villegas”, que fue una conocida actriz de Lima, a quien llamaban “la Perricholi”. Esta y otras piezas de teatro me llamaron la atención. En 2002 tuve la fortuna de encontrar, en Potosí, junto con mi colega Ignacio Arellano, de la Universidad de Navarra, 25 piezas teatrales manuscritas. Hicimos la edición de todas ellas en 2005. Todo lo relacionado con la actividad teatral del periodo es algo que interesa, por este motivo, entre otros. […]
PPQ: ¿Cuál fue el descubrimiento que más le impactó? ¿Piensa seguir investigándolo?
MSH/LAT 0001, Caja 1, Carpeta 33 (se guarda por separado). Manuscrito, Luis Antonio de Oviedo y Herrera, “La Vida de Santa Rosa de Lima […]”, siglo XVIII.
AEO: Lo que más me sorprendió fueron dos volúmenes manuscritos que fueron escritos por autores del siglo XVII en el virreinato del Perú. Uno de ellos lleva por título “Vida de Santa Rosa”, y se trata de “Vida de Santa Rosa de Santa María, natural de Lima y patrona del Perú. Poema heroico”. Efectivamente, es poesía épica, en octavas reales (como era normal), y es una pieza apasionante que se extiende a lo largo de 11.300 versos. El autor, Luis Antonio de Oviedo y Herrera, fue corregidor de la Villa Imperial de Potosí, y estando allá organizó las fiestas de canonización de santa Rosa, en 1672. Se conocen dos ediciones del siglo XVIII de este poema, la de Madrid (1711) y la de México (1729). En la Fundación Lázaro Galdiano está el manuscrito que sirvió para la edición de 1712. En México no hacía falta hacer un manuscrito, porque bastaba con seguir al pie de la letra la edición madrileña, con la misma distribución de texto por cada página. Y es lo que hicieron, como era lógico. Pero aquí, en Rare Books, encontramos otro manuscrito, con una distribución textual distinta, que no dio lugar a ninguna edición que conozcamos. Es sorprendente, auténtica, una rareza, y estoy decidido a trabajarla.
MSH/LAT 0001, Caja 1, Carpeta 16 (se guarda por separado). Manuscrito, Diego de Mendoza, “Chronica de la Provincia de San Antonio de los Charcas […]”, siglo XVII.
El otro hallazgo es un manuscrito de más de 800 páginas. Es la “Chrónica de la Provincia de San Antonio de los Charcas del Orden de nuestro Seráfico Padre San Francisco …”, escrito por fray Diego de Mendoza. Se cree que el autor nació en el Cusco, y sabemos que escribió la crónica en el convento de esa ciudad. Es una obra imponente, con muchas referencias eruditas, que consta de tres libros. Está escrita principalmente para la edificación: después de exponer, en el libro primero, la historia general de la orden en América y particularmente en la provincia de Charcas (que coincide aproximadamente con lo que hoy es Bolivia), los libros II y III los dedica a exponer la “vida y virtudes” de una gran cantidad de personas, varones y mujeres, españoles, criollos e indios, que pertenecieron a la orden religiosa (tal vez sea más exacto decir “órdenes”, en plural) de los franciscanos.
Lo que me llama poderosamente la atención es que el texto impreso, que se publicó en Madrid en 1665 y que es (al menos hasta donde llegan mis noticias) el único testimonio conocido, se aparta en muchísimos casos de la versión manuscrita, que es la que tenemos aquí. Tengo bastantes motivos para pensar que esta versión es de puño y letra de Diego de Mendoza. Lleva su firma en una de las páginas preliminares, y se pueden reconocer los trazos de su firma en la forma de las letras, a lo largo del texto.
Epílogo
Como estudiante de posgrado en la UCLA, estudié los muchos mundos del Virreinato del Perú y quedé absolutamente fascinada con la Virgen de Copacabana. (Aún lo estoy.) Así fue como conocí por primera vez el trabajo del Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli. Además de los diversos estudios que ha publicado sobre esta Virgen, también produjo, junto con su colega Hans van den Berg, O.S.A., una excelente edición de la Historia del célebre santuario de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana, escrita por el fraile agustino Alonso Ramos Gavilán y publicada en Lima en 1621. Aunque RBSC no conserva un ejemplar de la crónica de Ramos Gavilán, le pude mostrar al Dr. Eichmann nuestros ejemplares de dos obras relacionadas: Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana. Poema sacro, de Fernando de Valverde (Lima, 1641) y De diva virgine Copacauana in Peruano Novi Mundi regno celeberrima…, de Ippolito Marracci (Roma, 1656). Fue una alegría conocer finalmente en persona al Dr. Eichmann, y quiero agradecerle por su entusiasmo y generosidad. —PPQ
Meet a Visiting Researcher in Special Collections: Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli
For those of us who work in Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC), it is always a thrill to rediscover the books, manuscripts, ephemera, and other objects in our collections, and to recover the important stories they tell. Often, however, it is even more exciting to watch our patrons do the same. From inquisitive students of all ages, to researchers and scholars from near and far, they are the reason we preserve and steward these materials. Knowledge creation is a collaborative endeavor, and the Hesburgh Libraries strive to be at the center of it.
A beautiful example of the fruits of our mission occurred this past July when RBSC had the great honor of welcoming Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli, a leading specialist in the literatures and intellectual histories of colonial Bolivia and Perú. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Eichmann attended Colegio San Miguel (Buenos Aires), earned his Bachelor of Arts from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), and then his doctorate in Hispanic Philology from the Universidad de Navarra (Spain). He is a prolific author, having published numerous books (both monographs and scholarly editions), journal articles, and book chapters, and has edited more than twenty books and journal volumes. Currently, Dr. Eichmann is Professor of Literature at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; President of the Sociedad Boliviana de Estudios Clásicos; and Director of the journal Classica boliviana.
Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli in the Reading Room, comparing a facsimile of Mendoza’s printed chronicle with RBSC’s manuscript version.
During his days in RBSC, Dr. Eichmann enthusiastically shared explanations of what he was seeing, reading, and learning. He plans to continue working with materials in our collections—in particular, manuscripts from the José Durand Peruvian History Collection—and hopes to inspire his students in Bolivia to do the same. He generously agreed to this brief interview in Spanish (translated into English with the help of Chat GTP).
PPQ: I understand that you came to Notre Dame for a research stay at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. Could you tell us a little about that program and your activities there?
AEO: I came to the de Nicola Center because it is a privileged place to learn about the current state of the best research being done on ethics and the intellectual traditions of the Christian world. I was part of a group of about 30 people from Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Mexico, including master’s and doctoral students as well as professors from various universities. We came under the leadership of Dr. Joaquín García Huidobro from the Universidad de los Andes (Chile).
We spent two full weeks working from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We took turns so that each day one of us gave a brief talk […] After the talk, there was time for questions or comments. […] The other main task (aside from progressing in our own research) was to read someone else’s work each day […], offering our feedback and suggestions. This allowed each of us to broaden or, quite often, sharpen the focus or perspective of our own work. You learn a great deal this way, and it helps you make real progress. It’s a very enriching dynamic.
I came with the intention of advancing my study of neo-Stoicism in [the works of] 16th- and 17th-century authors from the Viceroyalty of Peru (especially what is now Bolivia). Neo-Stoicism is a school of thought that, at least in Spain and Spanish America, was closely linked to the reading of Seneca’s moral epistles and the works of Tacitus. I definitely made progress in what I had set out to do, but the discoveries in the Rare Books collection “forced” me to focus on them. I’ll return to neo-Stoicism later. These materials couldn’t wait.
PPQ: What were some of the most interesting materials you examined in Rare Books and Special Collections? How do they relate to your past and/or current research?
AEO: I was interested in texts produced in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the 17th and 18th centuries. As always happens with a collection you’re unfamiliar with, you arrive with certain expectations, but the most important thing is to be open to surprise. And that, without a doubt, is what I found.
For example, there are some short theatrical pieces from the 18th century, composed in Lima, which served to “open” a theatrical performance. In one of them, the names of the actors and actresses who performed it are listed. Among those names is “Michaela Villegas,” a well-known actress from Lima, nicknamed “La Perricholi.” These and other theatrical pieces caught my attention. In 2002, I was fortunate to find, in Potosí, together with my colleague Ignacio Arellano from the University of Navarra, 25 handwritten theatrical pieces. We published an edition of all of them in 2005. For this and other reasons, anything related to theatrical activity from that period is of particular interest to me. […]
PPQ: What was the most striking discovery you made? Do you plan to continue researching it?
MSH/LAT 0001, Box 1, Folder 33 (housed separately). Manuscript, Luis Antonio de Oviedo y Herrera, “La Vida de Santa Rosa de Lima […],” 18th century.
AEO: What surprised me the most were two handwritten volumes written by authors from the 17th century in the Viceroyalty of Peru. One is titled “Life of Saint Rose,” and it is actually called Life of Saint Rose of Saint Mary, native of Lima and patroness of Peru. Heroic Poem. It’s indeed an epic poem, written in ottava rima (as was standard), and it’s a fascinating piece that runs to 11,300 verses. The author, Luis Antonio de Oviedo y Herrera, was the magistrate (corregidor) of the Imperial City of Potosí, and while there he organized the festivities for the canonization of Saint Rose in 1672. Two 18th-century editions of the poem are known: one from Madrid (1711) and one from Mexico (1729). The manuscript used for the 1712 edition is housed at the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano. In Mexico, a separate manuscript wasn’t needed since they simply followed the Madrid edition exactly, with the same text layout per page. That’s what they logically did. But here, in Rare Books, we found another manuscript with a different textual layout, which, as far as we know, was never published. It’s surprising, authentic—a real rarity—and I’m determined to work on it.
MSH/LAT 0001, Box 1, Folder 16 (housed separately). Manuscript, Diego de Mendoza, “Chronica de la Provincia de San Antonio de los Charcas […],” 17th century.
The other find is a manuscript of over 800 pages. It’s the Chronicle of the Province of Saint Anthony of Charcas of the Order of Our Seraphic Father Saint Francis…, written by Fray Diego de Mendoza. The author is believed to have been born in Cusco, and we know he wrote the chronicle in a convent in that city. It’s an imposing work, full of scholarly references, consisting of three books. It was written primarily for edification: after presenting in the first book the general history of the Franciscan order in the Americas, and particularly in the province of Charcas (roughly what is now Bolivia), books II and III are devoted to presenting the “life and virtues” of a great many people—men and women, Spaniards, Creoles, and Indigenous people—who belonged to the Franciscan order (perhaps more accurately, “orders” in the plural).
What grabs my attention is that the printed text, published in Madrid in 1665, and (at least to my knowledge) the only known version, differs in many instances from the handwritten version we have here. I have several reasons to believe that this version is in Diego de Mendoza’s own handwriting. His signature appears on one of the preliminary pages, and you can recognize the traces of his signature style throughout the text.
Epilogue
As a graduate student at UCLA, I studied the many worlds of the Viceroyalty of Peru and was absolutely enthralled by the Virgin of Copacana. (I still am.) This is how I was first introduced to the work of Dr. Andrés Eichmann Oehrli. In addition to the various studies he has published on this Virgin, he also produced, with his colleague Hans van den Berg O.S.A., an excellent edition of the History of the Celebrated Sanctuary of Our Lady of Copacabana, written by the Augustian friar Alonso Ramos Gavilán, and published in Lima in 1621. While RBSC does not steward a copy of Ramos Gavilán’s chronicle, I was able to show Dr. Eichmann our examples of two related works: Fernando de Valverde’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Copacabana. Sacred poem (Lima, 1641) and On the Divine Virgin of Copacabana, most celebrated in the Peruvian kingdom of the New World…, by Ippolito Marracci (Rome, 1656). It was a joy to finally meet Dr. Eichmann in person, and I want to thank him for his enthusiasm and generosity. —PPQ
Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Bt, by Alexander George Tod (albumen carte-de-visite, late 1860s-early 1870s)
National Portrait Gallery, London; Photographs Collection, NPG x12731
Few 19th-century antiquarians matched the obsession of English baronet Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). A self-described “vello-maniac” (lover of parchment), Phillipps spent his life and fortune amassing what became the largest manuscript collection of his time — over 60,000 manuscripts, plus 20,000 printed works.
Driven by a fear of biblioclasm, Phillipps’ believed he was preserving manuscripts from destruction. This, however, came at a great cost. Life at his estate, Middle Hill, was characterized both by the extreme debts and temper of its master. Phillipps feuded with nearly everyone, including neighbors, tradesmen, tax collectors, scholars, Catholics, curators, his father, wives, daughters, and especially his son-in-law, James Haliwell. Despite near-constant financial ruin, he continued to buy relentlessly, often enlisting his daughters to help catalog and transcribe his acquisitions.
The summer Spotlight Exhibit (running from May through August), Bibliomania: The Library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, features five items from this impressive collection.
Three of the items in this exhibit are medieval English documents known as “private charters” — that is, records of transactions between private citizens.
According to these documents, Ch_ang_01_12 (above) and Ch_ang_01_13 (below), on October 28, 1264, a man named Thomas conveyed vast tracts of land in Yorkshire to his daughters, Ramette and Berthe.
Despite his vast collection, Phillipps infamously rarely read the items in his library. Indeed, one of the great criticisms levied against the collector was that he simply hoarded manuscripts without the ability or interest to use them. An exception, however, were charters. Driven by a passion for genealogy, Phillipps was known to scour deeds for names and places for use in studies of pedigree, which he published with his own private press.
Yet, notwithstanding this personal interest, thousands of the deeds in his collection went uncatalogued during his lifetime. Only after his death did his grandson, Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick, receive legal permission to organize the collection for sale, at which point over 26,000 items were finally given their iconic Phillipps numbers. To streamline the process, Fenwick often gave the same number to related items, such as Ch_ang_01_12 and Ch_ang_01_13, both catalogued as Phillipps no. 27,951.
You can see the hand of Thomas FitzRoy Fenwick on the exterior of Ch_ang_01_09, the third charter in this exhibit. Ch_ang_01_09, which records a 14th century transaction between Robert of Cawthorne to Nicholas and Walter del Brom, is in its original “docketed” form — a pre-modern filing system in which documents were folded and labeled. Above the labels of “Scelmthorpe” (Skelmanthorpe, a nearby town) and “Lanc” (perhaps referencing the Lancaster family, lords of Skelmanthorpe), Fenwick wrote the number “29,202.” See the video below for how this charter unfolds!
Although Phillipps often described himself as a “vello-maniac,” he also owned many paper manuscripts. The other two items in this collection — both bound paper codices — tell us even more about the extensive Phillipps collection.
This French manuscript (MS Fr. c. 2) contains the poem “The Song of Bertrand of Guesclin,” one of the last examples of the Old French epic tradition. This Chanson, copied in 1464, tells the story of Breton noble Bertrand, who rose to fame during the Hundred Years War. Phillipps acquired this copy from the library of Richard Heber (d. 1833). Though unable to afford the 1,700 manuscripts in the collection, Phillipps persuaded the auction house to postpone sale until he could amass the appropriate funds, which he finally did in 1836. The shelfmark affixed to the spine, by Phillipps or his daughters, identifies this manuscript as the 8,194th item in his library.
Finally, although you might associate the early modern era with the advent of the printing press, people continued to write the majority of their works by hand for centuries. The final item in this collection is one such manuscript.
In 18th century Europe, vampirism was a hotly debated topic. The concern was so great that in 1739 Pope Clement XII asked Giuseppi Antonio Davanzati to examine the subject. Though skeptical of such creatures, Davanzati’s Dissertazione sopra I Vampiri (MSE/EM 1005-1B) is often credited with introducing the word vampire to the Italian language.
In his first catalogue of his library, Phillipps claimed to have acquired this copy of the Dissertazione (Phillipps no. 5,485) in 1830, when he purchased 1,560 items from the library of Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (d. 1827). The manuscript does not appear in the original catalogue of the Guilford sale (Phillipps claims it was included informally), and so we must take him at his word.
Upon his death, Phillipps’ will mandated that his collection never be separated, nor that any Catholic ever be permitted to view the collection. These wishes proved untenable, and over the next century, his vast library was slowly dispersed. Today, as this exhibit attests, fragments of his hoard reside in institutions worldwide — including the Hesburgh Library.
After earning a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Anne Crafton undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Hesburgh Libraries’ Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC), where she spent a year cataloging a diverse collection of previously undocumented materials. The opportunity was made possible through the College of Arts & Letters’ 5+1 postdoctoral fellowship program, which offers a postdoctoral fellowship to any student who finishes and submits their dissertation in five years.
This edition includes for the first time a scathing attack on the Protestant Reformation by Gabriel de Saconay (1527-1580), which elicited a reply from Jean Calvin. In his preface, Saconay offers a polemical summary of the previous 45 years, including discussions concerning Calvin, Luther, and Zwingli.
Also reproduced in the preface are letters by Erasmus and St. John Fisher concerning the work, as well as a letter from Pope Leo X that appeared in the preface of the first edition.
We have identified only six other North American holdings of this edition.
In observance of LGBTQ Pride Month, Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to highlight the recently acquired Gay Rodeo Ephemera Collection (MSSP 10128). Containing programs, posters, fliers, and other printed material, the collection documents the history of rodeo organizations and rodeo events by and for LGBTQ people.
Souvenir Program, 2nd Annual Golden State Cowboys Round Up.
One of the earliest organized groups of gay rodeo enthusiasts was the California-based Golden State Cowboys (GSC) founded in 1969. In the introduction to the 1972 Souvenir Rodeo Program for the 2nd Annual Golden State Cowboys Round Up (MSSP 10128-01), GSC President Ernie Wilbanks described the group’s early history and explained the organization’s mission:
“Admittedly, we have had problems and growing pains but we have never lost our self respect and hopefully can become an even greater source of community pride. Without a goal no race is ever won and we believe the same criteria can apply to an organization without a purpose. Our purpose is one of friendship in performing those facets of service to our community that promote the honor and acceptance of our fellow man.”
Images of social events and activities from the Golden State Cowboys 1972 program.
A relatively small social organization for fans of rodeo and rodeo culture, the Golden State Cowboys folded by about 1976. Other organizations soon sprung up in the late 1970s and early 1980s—particularly in Nevada, California, and Colorado—that sponsored some of the first rodeos that explicitly featured and celebrated LGBTQ rodeo participants.
Although originating in the Western United States, organized gay rodeos slowly spread around the country. One of the earlier significant gay rodeos was held in New York City in Madison Square Garden on Saturday, October 1, 1983. Sponsored by the pioneering gay rights organization, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc., the “World’s Toughest Rodeo” was an AIDS Benefit fundraiser (MSSP 10128-002).
The cover of the program for the World’s Toughest Rodeo (left), and page 5 (right) with the following dedication: “We dedicate this special evening to the memory of our many loved ones who have died and to the lovers, families, and friends who have endured these losses. We salute their courageous spirit and extend our continued support. Unity has given us this strength.”
Paul Popham, the President of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc., described the purpose of community-building activities like the “World’s Toughest Rodeo” in the program for the event:
“What emerged as a horrifying disease that sapped our physical strength has resulted in newly-found strength in other areas. We have discovered communal strength, spiritual strength, and political strength. We find that we are truly more powerful than we had ever dreamed. By transcending the various social boundaries that kept us apart as strangers, we find that we are not only a nation, but an entire world of brothers, sisters, and friends.
A battle it has been and continues to be. But as we march, in greater numbers, and with greater courage, love, and hope, our victory seems more possible with every step.”
Gay rodeos increased in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the founding of the International Gay Rodeo Association (IGRA) in 1985. The IGRA sponsored the first International Gay Finals Rodeo competition in Hayward, California, in September 1987. RBSC’s Gay Rodeo Ephemera Collection includes a production copy of the poster for the inaugural IGRA championships (MSSP 10128-08-F2).
The collection includes other programs, posters, and pieces of ephemera that demonstrate the proliferation of gay rodeos. The holdings include, for example, a poster for the 1994 12th Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo sponsored by the Colorado Gay Rodeo Association (MSSP 10128-09-F2) and the program for the 1996 North Star Regional Rodeo and Great Northern Shindig in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, sponsored by the North Star Gay Rodeo Association (MSSP 10128-06). As seen on these two items, the newfound popularity of gay rodeos attracted corporate sponsors that helped to fund these events.
The Gay Rodeo Ephemera Collection is open and available to researchers. RBSC welcomes new donations to expand the contents of this important collection.
During the Middle Ages, the sermon was the most influential vehicle for religious and moral instruction: virtues, vices, canon law, and living the faith all reached the masses in urban centers through preaching. The term arspraedicandi (art of preaching) describes the literary genre of treatises that provide techniques (artes) and instruction for preaching. In addition to the composition of the sermon, artes praedicandi also address how a preacher should comport himself, what to study, and even how to speak and gesture while preaching. Numerous treatises from the twelfth- and thirteenth-century on the topic survive composed by well-known masters like Alan of Lille, Richard of Thetford, Humbert of Romans, and Ranulf Higden, but many anonymous examples exist.
The June-July spotlight exhibit displays a medieval sermon composed from a variety of preaching aids and sourcebooks, and emphasizes a few of the many items from the Hesburgh Library’s collection of medieval manuscripts created for and used by actual medieval preachers.
During the thirteenth century a new, more thematic type of sermon originated in the medieval universities, particularly the University of Paris: the scholastic sermon (sermomodernus). Likewise, new religious orders focused on preaching were created: namely the Franciscans in 1209 and Dominicans in 1216, who were in need of instruction and books. This resulted, especially in Paris, in an outpouring of different types of manuscripts need for sermon composition and preaching. Pandect Bibles (all biblical books in one volume) became pocket sized and portable, and a host of preaching aids were produced. For example, knowledge was systematized into reference manuals (summae) and textual anthologies (florilegia), both of which were used in composing sermons.
According to Sigfried Wenzel’s method of analysis (2015), a typical scholastic sermon can be outlined like this:
Thema is announced (quote from Scripture that the sermon builds on) Protheme (prepares audience and capture their good will) Oratio (prayer for divine assistance, often Hail Mary or Our Father) Thema is repeated Bridge passage (adapts the thema to the intention of the sermon) Introductio thematis (why the thema was a good choice; helped by proverb, simile, quote, story) Diuisio thematis (thema divided into parts; meaning of the thema unfolded) Confirmatio (confirmation or proof of divisions; often with sentence from Scripture) Prosecutio (thema developed with subdivision, subdistinction, elaboration, examples, etc.) Vnitio (combination of all the parts) Conclusio (closing formula with a prayer asking for God’s grace)
Some sermon collections enjoyed broad circulation and different traditions of use. For example, ca. 1240 Philip the Chancellor composed 330 scholastic sermons on the Psalms while he was chancellor of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. These sermons originated within the university milieu, but continued to have a robust afterlife. The fragmentary copy currently in the Hesburgh Library’s collection (cod. Lat. b. 11), once was part of the Servite Library at San Marcello al Corso in Rome ca. 1382–1402, where it was used in the formation of its novices despite being over one hundred forty years old. The Servites added an ownership inscription when the manuscript entered the collection at San Marcello. By 1402 the starving friars were selling books to survive and the library burned down in 1519. A later owner erased the inscription and obscured the medieval provenance of the manuscript, which was later dismembered in Cleveland, Ohio by biblioclast Otto F. Ege. Using ultraviolet light, the erased text can be revealed and for the first time the Servites’s ownership is known.
Cod. Lat b. 11. Ultraviolet light reveals the erased inscription: conuentus sancti Marcelli alme urbis Seruorum sancte Marie. The inscription identifies the Servites of San Marcello al Corso as former owners of this sermon collection.
Martin Luther King, Jr., John C Bennett, Henry Steele Commager, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Speak on the War in Vietnam. New York: Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, 1967.
To commemorate Memorial Day 2025, Rare Books and Special Collections highlights an anti-war booklet published in 1967 by Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (CALCAV).
CALCAV formed at the end of 1965 for clergy and laity from three mainline American religious traditions—Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish—to work ecumenically to express dissent from the US government’s policy in Vietnam and, eventually, in other conflicts around the world. On April 4, 1967 CALCAV organized a mass meeting at the interdenominational Riverside Church in New York City. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had just accepted the co-chairmanship of CALCAV, gave one of his most important statements against the war in this speech, “Beyond Vietnam.” He was joined by other well-known clergy and public intellectuals, including the historian Henry Steele Commager and Rabbi Dr. Abraham Heschel of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Three thousand people attended the event.
Wanting to capitalize on King’s new role in the organization and public attention from the Riverside Church program, CALCAV quickly published 100,000 copies of this 31-page booklet. In the introduction, CALCAV declared “We feel that a time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.” In the booklet, the organization included the four addresses given at that program as well as a speech King had made a few months earlier in Los Angeles, “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam.”
To underscore the group’s seriousness and broad cultural reach, CALCAV invited the public intellectual, theologian, and Union Theological Seminary professor, Reinhold Niebuhr to write the foreword to the publication. In it, the pastor and ethicist observed that although some Americans regarded US involvement in Vietnam as part of the nation’s international responsibility, Niebuhr argued that America in Vietnam was “an example of the ‘illusion of American omnipotence.'” He also defended King’s position of nonviolent resistance to evil, calling it “a real contribution to our civil, moral and political life.”
CALCAV used its publication to defend King from criticism. His anti-war stance had attracted censure from both allies in the civil rights movement and critics in the mainstream press. Just two days after the Riverside Church meeting the New York Times attacked the minister’s position in an editorial (April 7, 1967). CALCAV included a Q&A section at the end of the booklet in which they invited King’s fellow speakers to respond to the New York Times. Commager, Herschel, and John C. Bennett, President of Union Theological Seminar and the fourth speaker, challenged the Times‘ assessment of King by asserting emphatically, “Dr. King was not in error when he said: ‘The bombs in Vietnam explode at home; they destroy the dream and possibility for a decent America.'”
A happy Memorial Day to you and yours from all of us in Notre Dame’s Special Collections!
Rare Books and Special Collections is closed today (May 27th) for Memorial Day and will be closed on July 4th for Independence Day. Otherwise, RBSC will be open regular hours this summer — 9:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.
Best wishes to the 2025 graduates of the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Holy Cross College, from all of us in Rare Books and Special Collections.
We would particularly like to congratulate the following students who worked for Special Collections during their time on campus:
Lucas Bernardez (ND ’25), Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Analytics
Claire Bosch (ND ’25), Bachelor of Arts in History and Theology
Caterina Calderon Gonzalez (ND ’25), Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, with a Supplementary Major in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
José Hurtado (ND ’25), Bachelor of Architecture
Kendall Manning (ND ’25), Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science
Andres Mena Carroll (ND ’25), Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Maeva Morro (ND ’25), Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing
Jorge Ruiz Valdivia (ND ’25), Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, with a Supplementary Major in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Anna Sofia Sanson Zoufaly (ND ’25), Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering
Both images: MSE/EM 110-1B, Diploma, University of Padua, 1690
RBSC will be closed next Monday, May 26, for Memorial Day.
