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.
Join Professor Guyda Armstrong (University of Manchester) and Dr Giles Bergel (University of Oxford) for an interactive workshop showcasing new digital methods for studying early modern printing. This session will introduce the research questions and first findings of Envisioning Dante c. 1472-1630: Seeing and Reading the Early Printed Page, funded by the UK government (c. £1 million; 2022-25). Participants will be given practical, hands-on demonstrations of the techniques and new digital tools developed by the project for analyzing and comparing early printed books.
This exhibition highlights stories of survival, contemplation, competition, protest, and learning, from six distinct collections in Rare Books and Special Collections. Each section, presented by a different subject curator, focuses on an example of how people over time and in different places, construct community and cultivate hope.
Curated by Rachel Bohlmann, Ph.D. (Curator, American History and American Studies), Gregory Bond, Ph.D. (Curator, Joyce Sports Research Collection), David T. Gura, Ph.D. (Curator, Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts), Matthew Knight, Ph.D. (Irish Studies Librarian and Curator), Natasha Lyandres (Curator, Rare Books & Special Collections), and Payton Phillips Quintanilla, Ph.D. (Librarian and Curator for Latin American and Iberian Studies).
This and other exhibits within the Hesburgh Libraries are generously supported by the McBrien Special Collections Endowment.
Rare Books and Special Collections welcomes students, faculty, staff, researchers, and visitors back to campus for Spring ’26! Here are some things to watch for in Special Collections during the coming semester.
Special Collections Welcomed a New Postdoctoral Research Associate during the Fall 2025 Semester
Ruben Celani (Photo by Matt Cashore / University of Notre Dame)
Ruben Celani, Ph.D., joined the Hesburgh Libraries in October as a postdoctoral research associate in Italian Studies and Zahm Dante Collection curatorial fellow. He works in Rare Books & Special Collections as a subject liaison for Italian studies and curator of the Libraries’ extensive rare Italian collections, while also pursuing his own academic research.
Prior to joining the Hesburgh Libraries, Celani served as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Literary Studies at Ghent University in Belgium. He holds a Ph.D. from Ghent University in Literary Studies with specialization in Italian Studies, as well as a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Archival and Library Sciences from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” Ruben has experience working in libraries in Rome, The Hague, and Antwerp.
This exhibition highlights stories of survival, contemplation, competition, protest, and learning, from six distinct collections in Rare Books and Special Collections. Each section, presented by a different subject curator, focuses on an example of how people over time and in different places, construct community and cultivate hope.
Curated by Rachel Bohlmann, Ph.D. (Curator, American History and American Studies), Gregory Bond, Ph.D. (Curator, Joyce Sports Research Collection), David T. Gura, Ph.D. (Curator, Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts), Matthew Knight, Ph.D. (Irish Studies Librarian and Curator), Natasha Lyandres (Curator, Rare Books & Special Collections), and Payton Phillips Quintanilla, Ph.D. (Librarian and Curator for Latin American and Iberian Studies).
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day (January 19th), the birthday of Jackie Robinson (January 31st), and Black History Month (February), Rare Books and Special Collections is pleased to highlights examples from its collection of souvenir fan pennants from the Negro Baseball Leagues. The colorful collectible felt souvenir pennants represent leading Black baseball teams of the 1930s and 1940s and feature large screen-printed graphics of African American baseball players in action.
Curated by Gregory Bond (Curator of the Joyce Sports Research Collection).
Created across multiple centuries, geographies, and cultures, pre-Hispanic clay sellos (flat and cylindrical stamps and seals) are celebrated as the earliest manifestation of Mesoamerican print culture. This cross-repository Spotlight Exhibit presents a selection of sellos stewarded by the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art; two emblematic publications of sello designs, preserved in the Hesburgh Libraries’ Rare Books and Special Collections; and contemporary examples of sello-inspired visual arts.
Curated by Payton Phillips-García Quintanilla (Librarian and Curator for Latin American and Iberian Studies).
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 regular hours.
Special Collections’ Classes & Workshops
Throughout the semester, curators will teach 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 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.
In her speech to celebrate the opening of Christine Dunlap Farnham’s Archive at Brown University, feminist historian Joan Wallach Scott reflected on the lack of attention to women’s personal collections and archives that memorialize their lives.1 The exhibit “Social Media Networks in the 19th and 20th Centuries: The Albums of Esmeralda Cervantes, Teresa Puelma de Orrego, Luz de Sagaceta, María Enriqueta Camarillo,” recently installed in Rare Books and Special Collections (Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame), seeks to build on Scott’s insights by highlighting women’s friendship albums and scrapbooks as vital historical documents that deserve a place on display.
Curated by members of the upper-level Spanish course “Women’s Culture in 19th Century Latin America” at the University of Notre Dame, this exhibit focuses on preserving and showing the importance of women’s stories through material culture. In this course, we explore the cultural and intellectual contributions of women in 19th- and early 20th-century Latin America, examining how gender shaped ideas of citizenship, sexuality, and education in post-independence societies. Among our study of literature, periodicals, and other women’s public interventions, albums emerge as a novel object for understanding 19th- and 20th-century sociability.
19th century albums were typically blank books that served as repositories for various collectible objects and writings. For women, in particular, albums were a crucial medium for engaging with writing and visual culture, shaping identity, and creating bonds outside the domestic sphere. Pages within the albums vary in content, including personal letters, poetry, pieces of artwork, and autographs, among others. Each album serves as a tangible representation of the illustrious life of the woman who curated it.
As part of the coursework, we were also introduced to the fascinating world of Rare Books and Special Collections, a space that allowed us to work hands-on with the friendship albums and scrapbooks of four women from the 19th and early 20th century Hispanic world held at the Notre Dame’s archives: Esmeralda Cervantes, Luz de Sagaceta, Maria Enriqueta Camarillo, and Teresa Puelma de Orrego.
Researching them revealed a challenging but fruitful journey. We found that women’s stories were poorly cataloged or entirely absent from historical archives, while the information on similar works of male counterparts from their time were easily accessible through a simple Google search. This lack of documentation is not accidental but rather revealing of a greater theme: the historical discrimination of women in academic spaces and historical accounts, even among elite women. Traditional academia has undervalued their work, and left it outside of the literary canon. Our research, however, reveals the profound importance of their activities in shaping the culture and politics of their era. By reconstructing women’s stories through their friendship albums and scrapbooks, objects often dismissed as trivial or not relevant outside the private sphere, we engage in an act of recovery and critical analysis. Each page becomes evidence of an intellectual world that has always existed but was never fully recognized. Our goal is not simply to display their work but to restore women’s historical presence by centering the very objects and writings that belonged to them.
Album coverFirst page of the album signed by Argentine writer Adolfo Mitre during Cervantes’s visit to Buenos Aires.Letter signed by Spanish writer and feminist Emilia Serrano, who was also traveling in Latin America during Cervantes’s tour.Album amicorum de Esmeralda Cervantes, 1875-1877 (MSH/LAT 0094)
The album belonging to Clotilde Cerdá (1861–1926), better known by her artistic name, Esmeralda Cervantes, meticulously documents her highly publicized Latin American tour between 1875 and 1877. Born in Barcelona, she had achieved renown across Europe as a prodigious harpist by the age of fourteen. The prominent selection of “Esmeralda” rather than “Clotilde” to be hand-embroidered on the album’s center signifies her wish to delineate her professional trajectory from her private identity, asserting that she be primarily remembered for her musical accomplishments. Though the velvet cover has faded with time, the enclosed collection of drawings, poems, and dedicatory letters—all paying homage to her—preserves the intellectual and artistic worldview she cultivated through her art.
Album coverPoem in English with botanic motifs adorning the page. Albums were usually multilingual and spoke of the transnational connections of their owners.Album amicorum de Teresa Puelma de Orrego, 1851-1893 (MSH/LAT 0119)
The album of Teresa Puelma de Orrego, who was born in Santiago de Chile in 1861, offers a glimpse into the upper-class world of Chile during the 19th century. She was the daughter of an aristocratic family and lived most of her life in Chile. Her album contains a collection of letters and signatures from prominent politicians and generals, family mementos, and prayers in French, English, and Spanish. Notable entries include a condolence letter from Chilean President Jorge Montt and a hand-drawn map of the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), fought between Chile and an alliance of Peru and Bolivia and originated from a territorial dispute. The album itself is highly ornate: the cover is made of thick dark green fabric with her name embroidered in gold thread on the front. There is little information about her other than what exists in this album, inviting us to “read” the silences surrounding her as part of the historical record itself, and work to fill in those silences with our own original research.
Album coverPainting by Roberto MontenegroPoem by Jesús Valenzuela, 1904Album de recuerdos de la Señorita Luz Sagaceta, 1904-1905 (MSH/LAT 0095)
Luz Sagaceta was born in 1886 in Mexico City and was eighteen years old when her album was assembled. Through newspapers and the works in her album, we know that she was part of Mexico’s Porfirian elite. As members of this social class, she and her family were well-known enough to be noted in print culture and had the means to travel. Her album reveals the privilege she possessed, a privilege few women enjoyed: the opportunity to create an album, a subtle space of authorship. Luz’s album includes contributions from authors such as Jesus E. Valenzuela, Amado Nervo, Ruben M. Campos, and Jesus Urueta. These authors dedicated poems to her; some were inspired by Luz’ beauty, while others addressed topics of personal significance, such as the important women in their lives. This demonstrates that Luz had sufficient significance for them to offer genuine, personal tributes.
Album coverTitle page of the first volumeClippings of portrait and literary profile of the author published in the literary journal Album de Damas, Mexico, 1908.Juicios de prensa acerca de María Enriqueta y de sus libros: recortes y copias de opiniones publicadas en diarios y revistas de varios países, 1897-1940 (MSH/LAT 0118, t. 1-3)
Maria Enriqueta Camarillo, a celebrated Mexican novelist, poet, translator, and educator, used her meticulously kept albums to showcase her multifaceted talents, intellectual collaborations, and commitment to community, offering an analogue to contemporary social media. These collections, filled with her work, scholarly praise, sketches, and photographs, functioned as social connectors, highlighting her versatility, her international image, and the significant professional and personal relationships that were central to her life and Mexican culture. For the modern reader, engaging with Camarillo’s scattered yet beautiful albums provides an invaluable perspective—a welcome into a 19th-century life that otherwise might not have been fully told—and serves as a formative lesson in accepting historical complexity and narrative ambiguity rather than seeking immediate, structured answers.
Exploring the lives of these women through their albums was an enlightening experience. As a class, we were able to travel back in time to learn about their lives and gain insight into the society of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first step of this process was reading about our albums from materials provided in class. Then, we had the chance to step outside of the classroom and into Special Collections to work with the physical albums. Working closely with library staff, curators, and specialists allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in the materiality of women’s archives. We gained tangible access to the lives of these women, feeling the texture of the album fabrics and carefully turning their pages.
Curating the physical exhibit proved equally enriching, as we took ownership of every step: from item selection and display design to writing introductory texts and labels—a long process requiring intensive collaboration with library specialists. This hands-on experience transformed us from simple student observers into the main actors of a historical recovery project, contributing to something larger that the audience would later enjoy.
The influence of these albums is still evident today in the digital tools and platforms we use to curate and preserve our own memories. Digital content, including posts on Instagram and videos on YouTube, effectively creates a personal digital archive—a collection of memories that visually represents an individual’s most significant social ties and interests, essentially acting as a form of “writing with scissors,” as coined by Ellen Gruber Garvey. While the medium has transformed from handwritten cursive to the digital scrapbook, the fundamental purpose—to preserve selfhood and community—endures, allowing these personal archives to leave a lasting impact on all who encounter them.
The project extended this hands-on approach to a general audience through the “Create Your Own Album Page” activity held on specific dates. This initiative has been a great source of direct and immediate feedback from visitors, including library staff, faculty, and students. Their most frequent reaction has been surprise and delight that the archives are not only part of an undergraduate class but also the inspiration for a collective and participatory project.
With this activity, the archives are truly brought to life. Our proposal of thinking of the albums as the precedent of social media creates a more direct, intimate connection with every visitor: guests are invited to contribute their own unique page to a communal album. Contributions have spanned songs, original poems, verses by renowned writers in various languages, thoughtful collages, dedications to loved ones, and letters—mirroring the rich and diverse content found in the 19th- and 20th-century albums we studied. Visitors of this exhibit become active participants in the enduring legacy of “writing with scissors,” experiencing firsthand the fundamental human impulse to curate and share selfhood.
Bella Barraza, Isabella Cioffi, Ryan Farrell, Meghan Garrity, Luke Grantz, Sophia Hohman, Marshall Horton, Ella Johnson, Kate Kirwan, Elizabeth Larsen, Felipe Nino, Thomas Phillips, Monica Schleg and Jhoseline Trejo, enrolled in ROSP 40790, Women’s Culture in 19th-Century Latin America, taught byVanesa MiseresPh.D. (Associate Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures).
This exhibit 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 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.
MSH/LAT 0095 (Luz de Sagaceta)
The current spotlight exhibits are Social media networks in the 19th and 20th centuries/ Las redes sociales de los siglos XIX y XX, curated by the students (Bella Barraza, Isabella Cioffi, Ryan Farrell, Meghan Garrity, Luke Grantz, Sophia Hohman, Marshall Horton, Ella Johnson, Kate Kirwan, Elizabeth Larsen, Felipe Nino, Thomas Phillips, Monica Schleg and Jhoseline Trejo) enrolled in ROSP 40790, Women’s Culture in 19th-Century Latin America, taught by Vanesa Miseres Ph.D., and Bibliomania: The Library of Sir Thomas Phillipps, curated by Anne Elise Crafton (2024-2025 Rare Books and Special Collections Postdoctoral Research Fellow).
All exhibits are free and open to the public during business hours.
RBSC will be closed December 2 from 11:00am–2:30pm for the Hesburgh Libraries and ND Press Christmas Luncheon, and during the University of Notre Dame’s Christmas Break, December 24, 2025–January 2, 2026.
Rare Books and Special Collections houses one of the most comprehensive yet least explored collections dedicated to Rubén Darío. The Nicaraguan poet is a central figure in Latin American and world literature; however, many of his texts have deteriorated over time, and reliable academic editions of his works are scarce. Under the direction of María Rosa Olivera-Williams, the University of Notre Dame has partnered with the Archivo Rubén Darío Ordenado y Centralizado at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero in Argentina to produce four critical editions of Darío’s writings. Since 2022, the Rubén Darío Collection has been the site of multiple research projects led by Olivera-Williams that have included significant digitization and stabilization work of the materials by RBSC staff.
These projects have resulted in compelling findings that have been widely celebrated by the international academic community. The first of these projects culminated in the publication of Opiniones in 2024, a collection of Dario’s journalistic writings accompanied by an introduction and critical annotations from the renowned essayist Graciela Montaldo of Columbia University. The book received the seal of excellence from the MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions, which guarantees the publication’s philological rigor.
The Rubén Darío Collection played a key role in the development of the book because it provided access to the original publications of its chapters, which appeared in the pages of the Argentine newspaper La Nación between 1904 and 1906. The collection also preserves a lesser-known portrait of Rubén Darío that was used as a medallion on the back cover of La vida de Rubén Darío escrita por él mismo (The Life of Rubén Darío Written by Himself), a critical edition published in 2021.
La Nación Suplemento Ilustrado, April 1903 (MSN/LAT 0092-30)Photograph of Rubén Darío, July 1912 (MSN/LAT 0092-10)
“The Rubén Darío: Critical Editions Project” has received tremendous support from a broad community of specialists at numerous international conferences and seminars. At these events, various members of the project team presented significant advances in their research. These conferences include the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (2024 and 2025), the International Congress of Comparative Literature at Adolfo Ibáñez University (2024), the International Congress of the Modern Language Association (2025), and the Northeast Modern Language Association conference (2025). Attendees have praised the project for its comprehensiveness and rigor, the quality and depth of its research, and its potential to open new avenues of inquiry in different fields. Our work has also revitalized studies in the field of literary modernism. As a result of this project, several team members have published works in the form of dossiers or individual articles in specialized journals, with more in progress. Notably, the monographic issue of the journal Chuy, coordinated by Olivera-Williams in 2024, has emerged as a significant achievement.
As part of the symposium, the Hesburgh Library will present the latest developments in the publication of Rubén Darío’s prose works, including the critical edition of Peregrinaciones, edited by Beatriz Colombi of the University of Buenos Aires. This edition was made possible by the materials in the Rubén Darío Collection at Notre Dame and will be presented by Rodrigo Caresani, one of the directors of the Complete Works project.
This exhibit 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.
Drop in to one of this month’s Exhibit Open Houses to meet and speak informally with one of the curators of the fall exhibition, 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.
This exhibit 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.
Opening November 5, our next spotlight exhibit will feature several friendship albums being studied this semester by Notre Dame students in a class taught by Vanesa Miseres (Romance Languages & Literatures).
We join the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month.
From our Latin American and Latino Studies Archives: Celebration and Resistance
2025 has seen various local and community-based annual public celebrations of Latino heritage scaled-down, postponed, or cancelled altogether out of fears for the safety of participants and community members. Other public celebrations have gone on as planned, with some organizers even rearticulating their yearly “Grito de Independencia” (the September 15th commemoration of the “Cry of Independence” from Spanish colonial rule, specific to the Mexican context) as “Grito de Resistencia” (“Cry of Resistance”). Both paths, however, are guided by a spirit of solidarity, and informed by a history of perseverance, that predate—and are poised to persist beyond—any formal federal recognition of the diverse cultures, accomplishments, and contributions of Latinos in the United States.
Inspired by that same spirit and history, we present three examples, preserved in Notre Dame’s Rare Books and Special Collections, of historical moments when Latino communities organized celebrations of resistance—both public and private, and throughout the calendar year—in direct response to histories and realities of persecution, oppression, exclusion, and erasure.
1969: “La Fiesta de los Barrios”
“The Fiesta De Los Barrios is the Fiesta of all of our people. For the first time the heritage of our cultural past and the richness of our cultural present will be expressed through the creative talent and skill of our barrio artists, writers and performers. […] It is this pride in ourselves and confidence in our future that has made this magazine and indeed the entire Fiesta possible.”
The name “La Fiesta de los Barrios” carries multiple references: it was a community celebration, a literary journal, and an aspiration for the future. The actual “fiesta” took place in early May, 1969, at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the LA Walkouts: a watershed movement through which Mexican American students protested systemic racism, abuses, and neglect on their campuses, and demanded inclusive and unbiased curricula. (For an introduction to the Walkouts, we suggest you watch thisRetro Report hosted by PBS, or this excerpt from PBS’s Latino Americans.)
The journal by the same name, or Fiesta Magazine (MSH/LAT 0099-61), memorialized select verse, prose, and drawings created by community members and event participants, representing a diversity of voices and experiences. And finally, it was the hope, as articulated by photographer Pedro Arias in one of the journal’s opening essays, that all peoples of Mexican descent living in the United States could overcome generational and cultural divides to work together toward common goals: “Y entonces será un día de fiesta, será una FIESTA DE LOS BARRIOS, pero una Fiesta de Los Barrios permanente […]” (And then it will be a day of celebration, it will be a FIESTA DE LOS BARRIOS, but a permanent Fiesta de Los Barrios […]) (7).
1984: “A benefit for Casa El Salvador Farabundo Martí”
“Casa El Salvador Farabundo Martí is a solidarity committee of Salvadoran refugees living in the U.S. Our goals are to inform people about the situation in El Salvador and Central America, to promote friendship with our people, and to discourage U.S. intervention in our country.”
In December 1984, the Chicago-based, refugee-led organization called Casa El Salvador Farabundo Martí hosted a benefit dinner and invited allies and supporters to “share this season of peace with the people of El Salvador.” El Salvador itself, rather than celebrating a season of peace, was deep in a brutal civil war marked by widespread human rights abuses: far from a conflict confined to fighting between armed factions, the government’s military and paramilitary death squads—trained and funded by the United States government—broadly targeted civilian non-combatants. Meanwhile, only a minuscule portion of refugees fleeing El Salvador were granted asylum in the United States. This combination of domestic U.S. policies, enabled by controversial Cold War rhetoric, sparked passionate peace, solidarity, and anti-intervention movements across the country. A snapshot of those efforts, and the array of allies that were involved in them, are captured in this small poster (MSH/LAT 0120 U.S./Central America Cold War Ephemera Collection).
San Francisco’s first annual “Encuentro del Canto Popular” (“Gathering of Popular Song”) was organized by volunteers from the community newspaper El Tecolote in 1982. The event was inspired by the life and legacy of Víctor Jara, a Chilean educator, activist, and singer-songwriter who was one of the founding figures of Chile’s—and, ultimately, Latin America’s—nueva canción (new song). This folkloric genre was imbued with such deep social commitment that it became an international movement (the Smithsonian offers an introduction to la nueva canción in their Folkways series). Jara was kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, and executed by Chile’s military just after the U.S.-backed coup that ousted the democratically-elected president, Salvador Allende, and which began the 17-year military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Acción Latina, a community organization based in San Francisco’s Mission District that grew out of El Tecolote, took part in U.S.-based protests against Pinochet’s regime (as can be seen in this post from the Bancroft Library, which now preserves a substantial Acción Latina archive), as well as later solidarity movements. The poster featured here was created for the Encuentro’s 20th year, celebrated in 2001 under the stewardship of Acción Latina. Its lineup of musicians from Nicaragua for this “tribute to 20 years of culture and resistance” was a nod to the protest and dissent expressed in both Nicaragua and the United States following the CIA-led formation in 1981 of the Contras (an umbrella organization of anti-Sandinista combatants), a covert project that ultimately culminated in the Iran-Contra Scandal. The musician wearing the symbol of the United Farm Workers on her shirt speaks to solidarity within and between Latino communities.
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
Rare Books and Special Collections welcomes students, faculty, staff, researchers, and visitors back to campus for Spring ’25! Here are a variety of things to watch for in Special Collections during the coming semester.
Special Collections Welcomed Two New Curators in the Fall 2024 Semester
In addition to stewarding the Hesburgh Libraries’ Irish Studies collections in both general and specialized collections, Knight works with other University faculty members to foster the use of these materials broadly across campus within the larger field of Irish Studies teaching and instruction.
The new Irish Studies Librarian and Curator brings deep expertise in the field of Irish Studies, teaching, and librarianship, including in special collections. He previously served as an Associate Librarian at the University of South Florida and holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Celtic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University in addition to an M.A. in Library Science from the University of South Florida.
Phillips Quintanilla is responsible for stewarding the Libraries’ Latin American and Iberian Studies collections in both general and specialized collections. She works within the Libraries and across campus to foster the use of the collections broadly within the fields of Latin American Studies and Iberian Studies teaching and instruction. She also supports Latino Studies students and faculty in collaboration with Rachel Bohlmann, American History Librarian and Curator of North Americana.
Phillips Quintanilla brings deep expertise in the field of Latin American and Iberian Studies and teaching, as well as experience in the cultural heritage sector — particularly in areas of provenance and the stewardship of special collections. Before joining the Hesburgh Libraries faculty, she worked as a Research Specialist in the Pre-Hispanic Art Provenance Initiative at the Getty Research Institute. The new librarian and curator holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures with a specialization in transatlantic early modern literatures and cultures, as well as an M.A. in Spanish from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy from Occidental College.
Fall 2024 Exhibition — Notre Dame Football Kills Prejudice: Citizenship and Faith in 1924
Continuing through the end of January.
“Notre Dame football is a new crusade: it kills prejudice and stimulates faith.”
— Rev. John F. O’Hara, C.S.C., Prefect of Religion, Religious Bulletin, November 17, 1924
In the fall of 1924, the University of Notre Dame found great success on the football field and confronted a dangerous and divisive political moment. The undefeated Fighting Irish football team, cemented forever in national memory by Grantland Rice’s legendary “Four Horsemen” column, beat the best opponents from all regions of the country and won the Rose Bowl to claim a consensus national championship. Off the field, Notre Dame battled a reactionary nativist political environment that, in its most extreme manifestation, birthed the second version of the Ku Klux Klan. Sympathizers of this “100% Americanism” movement celebrated white, male, Protestant citizenship and attacked other groups—including Catholics and immigrants—who challenged this restrictive understanding of American identity.
In the national spotlight, Notre Dame leaders unabashedly embraced their Catholic identity. They consciously leveraged the unprecedented visibility and acclaim of the football team to promote—within the very real political constraints of the era—a more inclusive and welcoming standard of citizenship. Attracting a broad and diverse fan base, the 1924 national champion Fighting Irish discredited nativist politics and helped stake the claim of Notre Dame—and Catholics and immigrants—to full citizenship and undisputed Americanness.
Curated by Gregory Bond (Curator of the Joyce Sports Research Collection, Rare Books and Special Collections) and Elizabeth Hogan (Senior Archivist for Photographs and Graphic Materials, University Archives).
Spring 2025 Exhibition — Tragedies of War: Images of World War II in Print Visual Culture
Opening mid-February.
Based predominantly on recently acquired Rare Books and Special Collections European holdings, the exhibition commemorates the end of the Second World War (1939-1945) and explores a diverse assortment of themes including Nazi racial ideology, the Holocaust, Children in War, Resistance, Liberation, and Memories of War. By examining these topics through images created for personal use by ordinary people and for state-sponsored propaganda purposes, the exhibit presents a visual narrative of the war’s profound impact on individuals and societies, offering deeper insight into how war was experienced and remembered.
Curated by Natasha Lyandres (Curator, Rare Books & Special Collections), Jean McManus (Catholic Studies Librarian, University Archives) and Julia Schneider (German Language and Literature and Italian Studies Librarian, Hesburgh Libraries).
Spring Spotlight: Building a Campus Boycott to Support Midwestern Farmworkers
Opening end of January.
In 1980, the University of Notre Dame became the first major university to boycott Campbell Soup products in support of Midwestern farmworkers represented by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (Toledo, OH). In a few short months, a small and dedicated cohort of students tapped into a growing movement and convinced the campus to act in solidarity.
Curated by Emiliano Aguilar (Assistant Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Latino Studies).
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 regular hours.
Special Collections’ Classes & Workshops
Throughout the semester, curators will teach 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 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.
Upcoming Events
Thursday, January 16 at 5:00pm | The Spring 2025 Italian Research Seminar and Lectures will begin with a lecture by 4th-year Ph.D. student in Italian Rookshar Myram (University of Notre Dame) titled: “Forging Effigies in the Commedia: Deification as Artistry.”
We join the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month.
“Todas las competencias deportivas, no solamente las internacionales o las interestatales, sino también las interpoblaciones, deben servir para estrechar los lazos de amistad y nunca para distanciar a los pobladores o fanáticos.”
“All sporting competitions, not only international or interstate ones, but also local ones, should serve to strengthen the bonds of friendship and never to distance the residents or fans.”
The September 3, 1953, issue (page 1) of the Mexico City-based magazine Beisbol: Semanario Especializado (Baseball: Weekly Special) published this article lamenting the increasingly bitter and antagonistic rivalries between baseball teams and spectators in Mexico. The editors encouraged their readers to find common ground through sports and urged fans to temper their intensity.
The magazine did acknowledge the centrality of fan participation during baseball games, but it urged moderation in cheering:
“Un encuentro de beisbol sin gritos ni alaridos, es como una cerveza sin espuma; ésta es indispensable para que la cerveza se apetezca… pero tampoco gustará usted de tomarse una cerveza que sea pura espuma.”
“A baseball game without shouts and screams is like a beer without foam; the foam is essential for the beer to be appetizing… but you would not like to drink a beer that is pure foam.”
The editors concluded dramatically: “… después de un encuentro beisbolero, cuando se haya disipado el olor de la pólvora, los contrincantes deben darse la mano y seguir siendo amigos.” (“…after a baseball game, when the smell of gunpowder has dissipated, the opponents must shake hands and continue being friends.”)
Baseball fans, including a man wearing a mask and holding a flag, watch the “Coastal Classic” between teams from Mazatlán and Culiacán, two cities in the state of Sinaloa, on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Source: Beisbol January 14, 1954, page 17.
Rare Books and Special Collections recently acquired nine issues of Beisbol: Semanario Especializado dating from 1953 and 1954. Beisbol, edited by Salvador Mondragón, a prominent Mexican baseball administrator and booster, was published from about 1946-1957. Mondragón was involved for many years with running the country’s professional leagues, as well as organizing Mexico’s amateur teams for international competitions.
Beisbol covered all aspects of the sport. Many issues focused on the professional Mexican Leagues in both the summer and winter seasons. But the magazine also covered other subjects of interest to Mexican baseball fans, including semi-pro and amateur baseball, Mexican and Latin American players who competed in other leagues, news from the American major leagues, foreign teams that visited Mexico, historical baseball stories, and many other topics.
A small sampling of articles from the profusely illustrated magazine gives a good sense of the range of subjects covered in Beisbol.
The November 12, 1953, issue (pages 8-9 and 18-19), for instance, provided in-depth coverage of the recent visit of Jackie Robinson’s Stars, a barnstorming club of American major leaguers, minor leaguers, and Negro Leaguers led by the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson and Cleveland Indians outfielder Luke Easter. The magazine featured a two-page spread of photos of the American players.
The magazine printed a two-page article “El Parque ‘Carta Clara’ Recibe Maquillaje” (“The Park ‘Carta Clara’ Receives a Makeover”) in its September 3, 1953 (pages 28-29), issue about renovations at Carta Clara Park in Mérida. The author of the article extensively interviewed the field manager/groundskeeper, Carlos “Licho” Ponce, about the changes and improvements being made to the stadium.
Beisbol also routinely featured a small “Sección de Softbol” (“Softball Section”). The coverage usually focused on men’s softball, but the April 8, 1954, issue included a lengthy story about a new amateur women’s softball league (that was sponsored, in part, by the Hipódromo de las Américas, a prominent Mexico City horse racing track). According to Beisbol, the organizers of the Asociación Femenil de Softbol (Women’s Softball Association):
“… han realizado una magnífica labor, llena de penalidades, para organizar este campeonato en la cual se han abierto los brazos a las jovencitas que tuviesen deseos de jugar a la pelota y no contasen con elemento para hacerlo…” (page 30).
“…have done a magnificent job, full of hardships, to organize this championship in which they have opened their arms to the young girls who had wanted to play ball and did not have the resources to do it…” (page 30).
The issue featured numerous photographs (pages 32-34) of opening day and action from the first games.
Each issue of Beisbol: Semanario Especializado featured remarkable full-color cover illustrations drawn by artist Guillermo Ley. Ley’s eye-catching images humorously commented on important current events in Mexican baseball.
The August 20, 1953, cover illustration, for example, depicted the in-season travels of Cuban pitcher Aristónico Correoso. Correoso had been released by two teams in La Liga Mexicana (Mexican League) during the 1953 season before signing with Tuneros de San Luis in La Liga Central (Central League) and leading his new team to the top of the standings.
The cover of September 24, 1953, editorialized about outfielder Humberto Barbón’s recent decision to leave the Campeche Pirates of la Liga Peninsular de Yucatan (the Yucatan Peninsular League) to play for a team in Havana, Cuba. The illustration shows “el tesoro de los piratas” (“the treasure of the pirates”) waving goodbye and departing Mexico in a boat rowed by the manager of the Havana team.
Ley’s intricate and attractive illustrations and caricatures commented on many different topics of the day and likely helped to draw readers’ attention to the magazine. On November 12, 1953, his cover illustrated the race between the six teams of the Veracruz Winter league vying for the championship, and on April 6, 1954, Ley’s cover showed underdog Venezuela bursting the Mexican team’s balloon by winning the baseball gold medal at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Beisbol: Semanario Especializado is an important source documenting the post-World War Two history of baseball in Mexico and throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America. These scarce issues—Worldcat finds only one other institution with any holdings of Beisbol—are open and available to researchers in Rare Books and Special Collections.
