Posts with the tag: John Hughes

The Archivist’s Nook: Rare Book Acquisitions, 2019-2020

Stacks in Rare Books, Mullen Library, May 2019, Taken by W. J Shepherd. Special Collections, Catholic University.

Rare Books was formally added to Special Collections in May 2019, joining the University Archives, Museum, and Manuscripts, also known as the American Catholic History Research Collection. New acquisitions have been a challenge while operating in a climate of budget and staff limits even before the onset of the COVID Crisis. However, we are pleased to report on four recent notable arrivals. Purchasing rare books, including pamphlets, is not a matter to be taken lightly. Several factors have to be accounted for, such as the reputation of the seller, price and provenance of the item, as well as whether the item has already been digitized or is available in print copies from other libraries. While the Rare Books collection at Catholic University is strong in many subject areas, we are looking to expand our Anti-Catholic literature, the Catholic Apologetics defending the Faith, and acquire more Spanish and indigenous language items from both North and South America.

A Sermon Preached in the Church of St. Augustine, in Philadelphia, on the 31st of May, 1829, at A Solemn, Religious Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Emancipation of The Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland.’ By the Rev. John Hughes. Special Collections, Catholic University.

The first of the aforementioned acquisitions is a sermon pamphlet obtained in October 2019 from David Lesser of Fine Antiquarian Books in Woodbridge, Connecticut. Titled ‘A Sermon Preached in the Church of St. Augustine, in Philadelphia, on the 31st of May, 1829, at A Solemn, Religious Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Emancipation of The Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland.’ By the Rev. John Hughes. Spanning 28 pages, it is in good condition and only lightly foxed. Born in Ireland, John Joseph Hughes became the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving from 1842 to 1864. He was known as ‘Dagger John’, both for his following of the Catholic practice wherein a bishop precedes his signature with a cross, as well as for his aggressive personality. At the time of this sermon, he was the pastor of a church located in Philadelphia. He dedicated his sermon to Daniel O’Connel, who was known as ‘The Liberator,’ due to his tireless lobbying for Catholic Emancipation in both Ireland and Great Britain.  Philadelphia had been a center of anti-immigrant political unrest. Hughes’s address to this largely Irish-American congregation reminded them of the oppression that was historically directed towards Roman Catholics, and celebrated the British Parliament’s recent granting of fuller civil rights towards Catholics.

Catecismo y declaracion de la Doctrina Cristiana en lengua Otomi, con un vocabulario del mismo idioma. Megico: impreso en la oficina de ciudadano by Joaquin Lopez Yepes in 1826. Special Collections, Catholic University.

The second new addition was a book purchased in February 2020 from Rulon-Miller Books of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Written by Joaquin Lopez Yepes and published by Alejandro Valdes in 1826 in Mexico, it is a Catechism and Dictionary (Catecismo y declaracion de la Doctrina Cristiana en lengua Otomi, con un vocabulario del mismo idioma. Megico: impreso en la oficina de ciudadano) in both Spanish and the indigenous language of Otomi. This first edition has 254 pages, with a dictionary spanning pages 93-251. It is comprised of red morocco backed marbled boards, and has a smooth gilt spine that is laid out in six compartments. Otomi differs in structure from other languages spoken in Mexico, as it strongly resembles the languages of Eastern Asia. Luis de Neve y Molina was the first to establish a system of characters in 1767, which has been retained. Otomi is a monosyllabic language, which is still spoken today by nearly two million inhabitants of central Mexico. The author was a native Mexican and a religious brother of the Franciscan College at Pachuca. Many consider his vocabulary to be the most complete ever published in this language.

A Relation of the Bloody Massacre in Ireland; Acted by the Instigation of the Jesuits, Priests, and Friars, who were Promoters of those Horrible Murders, Prodigeous Cruelties, Barbarous Villanies, and Inhuman Practices Executed by the Irish Papists upon the English Protestants: With an Account of the Spanish Inquistition. London: Rowland Reynolds, 1689. Special Collections, Catholic University.

The third recent arrival is a pamphlet from Paul Dowling of Liber Antiquus, Early Books & Manuscripts, located in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was purchased in May 2020 and is titled A Relation of the Bloody Massacre in Ireland; Acted by the Instigation of the Jesuits, Priests, and Friars, who were Promoters of those Horrible Murders, Prodigeous Cruelties, Barbarous Villanies, and Inhuman Practices Executed by the Irish Papists upon the English Protestants: With an Account of the Spanish Inquistition. London: Rowland Reynolds, 1689. This first edition is bound in recent quarter calf and marbled boards and has a spine label. There are four known copies in the United States, residing in the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Newberry Library, and at Yale and Harvard universities. The first leaf is soiled with marginal repairs and is illustrated with five woodcuts, two show images of mayhem and three depict torture scenes as practiced by the Spanish Inquisition. The first part was apparently issued as a news report in 1641 while the second part on the Inquisition is original. In this sensational account, the Irish are alleged to have tortured Protestants by drowning thousands and compelling family members to kill their own kin: “Wives were forced to hang their own husbands, and mothers to cast their own children into the waters.” This book was published in response to the tumult in Ireland that followed the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Catholic Ireland had to accept the military occupation and endure the rule of the Protestant regime of William of Orange. In 1689 several London printing houses recirculated pamphlets that had originally published in 1641 during the Irish Rebellion. Although readers of the republished Relation of the Bloody Massacre in Ireland were not provided with an introduction, they were able to recognize its relevance towards the present situation.

Requeste Presentee au Roy par Messieurs les Cardinaux, Princes, Seigneurs, & des Deputez de la ville de Paris, & autre villes Catholiques associez & unis pour la deffence de la Religion Catholique Apostolique & Romaine. May 23, 1588. Special Collections, Catholic University.

The fourth new acquisition is a Catholic League pamphlet printed in French, dated May 23, 1588, and purchased in July 2020 from Robert Heron of Three Gables in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. It’s English title is Presentation to the King by Cardinals, Princes, Lords, and Deputies of the City of Paris and other Catholic cities associated and united for the defense of the Catholic Religion (Requeste Presentee au Roy par Messieurs les Cardinaux, Princes, Seigneurs, & des Deputez de la ville de Paris, & autre villes Catholiques associez & unis pour la deffence de la Religion Catholique Apostolique & Romaine). In 1576, Henry, duc de Guise, formed the Catholic League to eradicate all French Protestants. On May 12, 1588, known as the ‘Day of the Barricades,’ King Henry III was forced to flee Paris to escape a popular uprising called by de Guise. This rare 16-page pamphlet was most likely printed in Lyon from the original which was published in Paris. It was a plea to the King, now in refuge at the royal Chateau de Blois, to embrace the Catholic cause in the Wars of Religion, which developed as the Reformation spread across Europe into France. Although Henry III made a formal reply to this request, he also took direct action by summoning de Guise and his brother, a Cardinal, to de Blois before Christmas of 1588 where he had them both killed. This led to many more League pamphlets and Henry’s assassination on August 1, 1589 by a Dominican friar. This pamphlet is unbound, protected by a brown paper cover, and in good condition even though the first few pages are somewhat dirty from frequent handling over the past 400 years.

In conclusion, these four new acquisitions, published in four countries, in four languages, across four centuries, represent the diversity of our ever growing collection of Rare Books at The Catholic University of America. We are dedicated to providing preservation, maintenance, and above all, access, to these cultural treasures and we invite you to contact us with any questions you might have.

The Archivist’s Nook: Civil War Catholics – Patriotism on Trial

Undated chromolithograph of Brigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher (1823-1867), commander of the Irish Brigade, Fenian Brotherhood and O’Donovan Rossa Papers, American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives.

The mixed legacy of heroic sacrifice and bitter division of the American Civil War continues to permeate popular culture and political discourse. As a growing minority in the 1860s, making up about ten percent of the United States population concentrated in the north, Catholics were embedded in this conflict. Their relatively unknown story was recently and expertly addressed by historian William B. Kurtz in his book Excommunicated from the Union: How the Civil War Created a Separate Catholic America. As Kurtz relates, amidst fears Catholicism was incompatible with republican government, the Civil War gave Catholics a chance to prove their loyalty, with nearly 200,000 serving as Union soldiers, fifty-three priests as chaplains, and over six hundred nuns engaged as nurses. Unlike later wars, especially World War I, there was no national coordination by the hierarchy, though many bishops were supportive, as were many in the Catholic press. In Rome, Pope Pius IX was neutral, considering the war a minor affair. A 2015 post from The Archivist’s Nook related the war’s influence on the grounds of what became The Catholic University of America while this post examines the war more broadly, using archival holdings and museum artifacts from Catholic U’s Archives.

Catholic convert Orestes Brownson (1803-1876), who supported the Republicans and the war via his influential Brownson’s Quarterly Review. Oil painting on canvas by Gustave Kinkelin, 1869. Gift of C.S. Hewit, 1890. This piece currently on display in the reading room of the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives in Aquinas Hall. Photo courtesy of Shane MacDonald.

Antebellum anti-Catholicism and the question of Catholic patriotism during the Mexican War was a rehearsal for similar debate during the Civil War. Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and resulting secession of southern states, many notable Catholics, such as New England publisher Orestes Brownson and Archbishop John Hughes of New York, strongly supported the Union, as did most Catholic men. Catholic civilians took pride in symbols of their patriotism from the celebrated Irish Brigade to notable high-ranking generals William S. Rosecrans and Philip H. Sheridan. Battlefield interaction and the comradeship of soldiers often weakened religious prejudice as did the service of chaplains and nurses. Notable chaplains included future Minnesota archbishop John Ireland, Notre Dame alum Peter Cooney, and William Corby, who famously gave absolution to Union troops at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.  Nuns, serving as nurses, were largely from the Sisters of Charity, but also Sisters of the Holy Cross, such as Mother Angela Gillespie, a cousin of William T. Sherman whose wife was also Catholic.  

Father Cooney’s Military Field Mass titled ‘Atlanta Campaign-Army of the Cumberland.’ Father Cooney was a member of Congregation of the Holy Cross, C.S.C. Gift of Fr. Eli Lindesmith, ca. 1912. This piece currently on display in the reading room of the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives in Aquinas Hall. Photo courtesy of the Catholic News Service (CNS).

However, like most other Democrats, Catholics tired of the war’s bloody toll by 1863 as many resisted emancipation, suspension of civil liberties, and the military draft. While many northern Catholics disliked slavery, they were reluctant to support Republican abolitionists who were often hostile to Catholicism, and there were fears after Republicans eliminated slavery they would next attack Catholics. Notably, Archbishops Hughes of New York and John B. Purcell of Cincinnati, respectively, as well as General Rosecrans supported emancipation while Paulist priests Isaac Hecker and Augustine Hewett bravely confronted Irish-Catholics rioting in New York City against the draft in 1863.  In the 1864 presidential election, Catholics tended to support General George B. McClellan rather than Lincoln, though the latter’s victory in the polls, as well as military victory in the field by armies that still included thousands of Catholics, many of them Irish and German immigrants, successfully concluded the war.  Unfortunately, Lincoln’s tragic assassination complicated matters as many of the conspirators were Catholics, including Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.  

Nuns serving as nurses was a Catholic war contribution appreciated by non-Catholics, and none more so than the U.S. Surgeon General William A. Hammond, one of their strongest advocates. Daughters of Charity nursing staff at the Satterlee General Hospital in Philadelphia, c. 1862-1865, Courtesy of the Daughters of Charity Province of St. Louise, St. Louis, Missouri. Thanks also to William B. Kurtz.

After the war, anti-Catholicism remained strong as additional immigrants from southern and eastern Europe settled in ethnic neighborhoods thus furthering isolating Catholics from mainstream America. Catholic apologists publicized their wartime sacrifices celebrating chaplains and the Irish Brigade while ignoring slavery and the draft riots. Despite his defeat at Chickamauga, Rosecrans rather than the less pious and far more successful Sheridan became the greatest Catholic Civil War hero as the most prominent devout Union officer and Catholic Civil War memory largely became an Irish memory with non-Irish, especially German Catholics, overlooked. Catholics would find new opportunities to demonstrate their loyalty in two world wars.  In 1917 the bishops created the National Catholic War Council to present a united front and patriotic image in World War I. Despite a resurgence in the 1920s, Anti- Catholicism declined thereafter because of the Church’s unequivocal patriotic response to World War II. By the twenty-first century, overt prejudice was no longer a pressing issue and Catholic Americans honor their ancestors without the need to prove their faith’s compatibility with modern American society.