Last Monday, Theology and Religious Studies Librarian Taras Zvir published a post describing the many books that Mullen Library was able to purchase with funds from a bequest of former Professor of Church History Msgr. Robert Trisco (1929-2023). Msgr. Trisco’s generous gift has enabled Taras to strengthen and bring up to date the library’s holdings in church history, a field of study that is central to the heart of this university.
The University’s Rare Books collection also benefitted from this extraordinary bequest, and we would like to join Taras in celebrating Msgr. Trisco’s extraordinary generosity. With funds from the Trisco bequest, we were able to add two new items to the Rare Books collection.
The first is a volume documenting preparations for a 1772 procession marking the Feast of the Assumption in Rome. Although this is primarily a manuscript, there are several printed documents pasted into the text. The printed material was composed by the Magister Cæremoniarum Apostolicarum (Master of Apostolic Ceremonies) Francesco Gaetano Diversini. Diversini’s life and career are little known, but it seems likely that in addition to authoring its printed texts, he also drafted the manuscript portions of the document.
The second acquisition Rare Books has made using funds from the Trisco bequest is a copy of Michael Lochmaier’s Parrochiale Curatorum printed in 1497. Lochmaier was a cannon at the cathedral in Passau, Germany, and in this text he provided guidance on the responsibilities of pastors. This particular edition, the second of this work, was produced by the Leipzig-based printer Conrad Kachelofen. It represents an exciting addition to the Rare Books collection’s incunabula, or books printed in Europe before the year 1501.
To make an appointment to view either of these volumes, or other items in the Rare Books collection, please send an email to lib-rarebooks@cua.edu.