A common experience for students, parents, and alumni of most American universities is receiving a copy of their institution’s alumni magazine in the mail. These publications, ranging from annual newsletters to quarterly magazines, are a fixture of academic outreach and public relations. But more than just serving as a connection between campus and alumni, these Read More

At the beginning of the summer, Rare Books received a bequest of thirteen antiquarian works from the personal collection of Msgr. John F. Wippel, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy [1]. The collection includes eight works printed before or during the year 1500 and features titles by Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Peter Lombard, Duns Scotus, Anselm, and others. Read More

Over the past year, Special Collections staff continued tackling conservation challenges that have arisen within the University’s Rare Books collection. Our past conservation projects can be seen in: “Part I”, “Part II”, “Part III”, and Part IV. As in years past, we have continued working alongside Quarto Conservation and have another incunabulum (a book printed Read More

This morning (July 31, 2025), our staff awoke to the news that Pope Leo XIV has approved St. John Henry Newman to be bestowed the title of Doctor of the Church. As of the time of this writing, there are 37 Doctors of the Church with Newman set to become the 38th. These figures, ranging Read More

Catholicism in Scotland was almost extirpated in the wake of the Reformation of 1560, banning Mass and abolishing the authority of the Pope. New laws changed a millennium of worship, and although the Presbyterian Church was not fully established until  1682, Scottish religious life was forever altered. Scottish universities were closed to Catholics and priestly Read More

John Francis Wippel (1933-2023) was a priest, philosopher, professor, and former provost (then named academic vice president) who cast a long shadow on the campus of The Catholic University of America (CUA). We in Special Collections are especially grateful to the late Monsignor, and his estate executor, for bequeathing us his personal papers, which include Read More

Catholic University’s Museum, an integral part of Special Collections, which also include Rare Books, is the proud home of a remarkable ancient Italian vase, a fourth century B.C. red-figure calyx krater. According to scholar Linda Safran (1), it was created by an artist referred to as the ‘Nazzano Painter,’ who was Faliscan, an Italic people Read More

“New developments in industry, new techniques striking out on new paths, changed relations of employer and employee, abounding wealth among a very small number and destitution among the masses, increased self reliance on the part of workers as well as a closer bond of union with one another, and, in addition to all this, a Read More

The history of the American labor movement, with its British antecedents and its evolutionary relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, has been a major focus of Catholic U’s Special Collections, including the University Archives and American Catholic History Research Center, for more than three quarters of a century.  Testament to this effort is displayed online Read More

As a special collections library on the Catholic University campus, we naturally collect materials that fit within the educational mission of the University. We have materials on Catholic history, canon law, and theology. But we also have collections that extend beyond the sacred, and that includes a small collection of vintage children’s literature. The most Read More