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

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

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

Donations have always been the main way for our rare book collections to grow. Books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and parish histories, donated by generous benefactors over many decades (including such great friends of our Library as Msgr. Arthur Connolly, James Card. Gibbons, Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, to name a few), became the lifeblood of our holdings. These Read More

The desire to form communities and act together is inherent in people. This can encompass various aspects of our lives: work, family, sport, recreation, and, of course, faith and spiritual life, which may be manifested not only through affiliation with a specific church or denomination but also through a local community of people who, sharing Read More

Over the past year, Special Collections staff has continued addressing conservation challenges that arise within the Catholic University’s Rare Books collection. You may see our past blogs on the topic in “Part I”, “Part II”, and “Part III”. As in years past, we have continued working alongside Quarto Conservation and have another surprising sampling of Read More

It is often hard to forget your first encounter with a truly antique printed book, looking impressive with its wooden boards and brass clasps, or a medieval manuscript that breathes even more ancient history. Most of us experience this deep feeling of almost reverent awe at looking at or touching it with one’s bare hands Read More

There is perhaps no more famous book to come out of the first age of printing (barring the Gutenberg Bible of course), than the Liber Chronicarum — or, as it is more commonly known, the Nuremberg Chronicle. Published by Anton Konberger in 1493, the Nuremberg Chronicle was an ambitious project even from its conception. Its goal Read More

Every year, on the week of the 22nd day of September, the passionate community of J.R.R. Tolkien’s enthusiasts gather together all around the world to pay tribute to the creator of Middle-earth. This date wasn’t selected arbitrarily. On September 22nd,  Bilbo and Frodo famously celebrate their concurrent birthday in the first chapter of The Lord Read More

Our guest blogger is Alexus Eudell, a graduate student in Library and Information Science (LIS) at the Catholic University of America, who completed her LIS practicum at the Rare Books in the Summer of 2023. I began my internship with the Rare Books department with Alex Audziayuk, the Rare Books Librarian, on June 7, 2023. Read More