Brenner Library
Special Collections
Bonaventure Collection | Genosky
Local History Collection
National Catholic Band Association | Hyatt
Folklore Collection
Rare Book Collection & Incunabula | Steck
Spanish-American Collection
Tibesar Japanese Collection
Bonaventure
Collection
The Bonaventure library is a unique, highly specialized
collection of rare research tools, covering early Christian
and Medieval history and theology. It includes over 4,000
volumes. Examples of titles in the Bonaventure Colllection
include the monumental series of Migne, Patrologia Latina
et Graeca, as complete a collection as possible of the writings
of the Greeks and Latin Fathers-some 220 volumes for the
Latin and 180 volumes for the Greeks. To supplement this
series there is the more recent Corpus Christianorum which
provides the best critical texts available of the Latin Fathers.
The Corpus Christianorum is an on-going project of the Belgian
Benedictines. Add to these the rare and valuable Pauly-Wissowa
collection of 60 volumes.
There are also 13 highly specialized encyclopedia series
on the lore of the ancient world and early Christian theology.
Some highlights include the Cabriol-LeClercq Dictionnaire
d'Archeologie Chretienne in 15 volumes; also the Dictionnaire
de Spiritualite and the Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique,
and the Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum.
Of special interest is an excellent nucleus of Franciscan
studies and journals. For instance, the monumental works
of St. Bonaventure, Alexander of Hales, Duns Scotus, Wadding's
Annals and Scriptores. These titles are all available through
the library's on-line
catalog.
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Genosky
Local History Collection
The Genosky Local History collection was created by Fr.
Landry Genosky, O.F.M. (1914-1994) from his study of the
history of the city of Quincy, Illinois highlighting the
Civil War and the Steamboat Eras. The Genosky collection
contains documents and photographs dated from 1830-1980 and
measures about 75 linear feet.
Fr. Genosky was a professor of history at Quincy University
(1960-1975) and a noted Civil War historian. He created this
collection through his own research efforts and from donations
from many local families. The collection consists of letters,
legal documents, research reports, newspaper clippings and
scrapbooks. There is also an extensive photograph collection,
in several rare photographic formats, containing portraits
and city views as local businesses, public buildings, schools,
homes, etc. The Genosky Collection is partially organized
and is available to researchers. The Collection has been
organized into three major divisions: secondary source documents
as booklets, clippings and research reports; primary source
documents as letters, diaries and legal papers; and photographs.
As of this time, a complete archival guide to the Genosky
Collection is not available, so researchers should contact
the archivist, Patricia Tomczak, for advise before visiting
the collection.
Some more inforamtion may be found at: Genosky Local History collection
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National
Catholic Band Association
The National Catholic Band Association (web site at http://www.catholicbands.org/)
founded in 1953 promotes the Catholic School Band. The founding
and offical documents, records, schedules and photographs
from the association are housed in the archives of the Brenner
Library. The collection totals about 15 linear feet of documentation
and were donated to the archives by Ms. Pam Potter of Quincy
Notre Dame High School in Quincy, Illinois. The collection
was addded to the archives in May of 2004 and is availabe
for viewing by appointment.
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Hyatt Folklore
Collection
The Hyatt Folklore Collection, created by Dr. Harry Hyatt
(1890-1980), is unique among folklore collections in the
United States because it largely consists of data related
to the study of African-American folklore. It contains notes,
letters, documents, scrapbooks, and photographs collected
in travels and research conducted by Dr. Hyatt in North Africa,
Europe and the United States between 1920-1970. Of special
interest are the audio tapes, numbering over 100 cassettes,
which contain interviews with several tellers of folktales.
Dr. Hyatt is also interviewed on a few of the tapes discussing
his life's work and so provides a valuable oral history and
background to the document collection.
The total collection measures about 25 linear feet and although
it is not fully available to researchers, parts of the collection
may be viewed with prior permission from the archivist, Patricia
Tomczak.
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Rare
Book Collection and Incunabula
The rare book collection occupies a special temperature
controlled room in the library and numbers 4,000 volumes.
Among these will be found 57 of the oldest and rarest books
in print. These prized 57 are called "Incunabula" and
are registered with the United States Library of Congress.
"Incunabula" is a Latin word meaning "in
the cradle", refering to the cradle days of printing
- from the invention of movable type to the turn of the century,
from 1450 to 1500.
Close to 50 years ago, the Franciscans began to assemble
the old and rare books from their different houses in the
United States. Four thousand were collected, all printed
before 1850, and housed in St. Louis. When Brenner Library
was complete, these books were moved to their new home on
the Quincy University campus.
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Steck Spanish-American
Collection
In the course of his life as a writer and professor at the
Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Fr. Francis Boria
Steck, O.F.M. (1884-1962) began to collect books pertinent
to his work resulting in what is now called the Fraborese
Library. This collecting resulted in some 5,000 volumes concentrating
on four specialized areas: Mexican History (mainly 17th and
18th century literature), the Spanish-Borderlands (the states
of the deep South and Southwest, areas of Spanish Colonial
and especially Franciscan activity), French Colonial with
a predominant emphasis on the middle 1650's, and Latin America,
again centering on Franciscan missions. The book portion
of the Steck Collection is available through the library's
on-line catalog.
The Steck Collection also includes archival materials as
slides on the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the cathedrals
and churches of Mexico and the Franciscan missions in the
Spanish Borderlands. Also in the archival collection are
Fr. Steck's original manuscripts and notes, letters, documents
and photographs. The archival collection measures 28 linear
feet. This collection is not open to researchers at this
time, but questions may be forwarded to the archivist, Patricia
Tomczak.
Of special note are many rare volumes contained in the book
portion of the collection such as, Jorquemada's History of
the Spanish Indies (1723 edition), the complete Jesuit Relations,
Pandectas Spanish-Mexican General Laws (1823), Mendieta's
History of Mexico, Sagra's History of the Island of Cuba
(1842) as well as many other volumes now out of print. The
biography section covers the fields mentioned quite adequately.
Pertinent periodicals also are found in the collection, making
it one of the best private collections, covering the four
areas, in the midwest. These too are available through the
library's on-line catalog.
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Tibesar
Japanese Collection
The Tibesar Japanese Collection was created as a result
of the missionary work of Fr. Leopold Tibesar a Maryknoll
missionary to China and Japan between 1927-1959. Fr. Tibesar
(1898-1968) was a member of a large, well-known Quincy family
which included his brother, Fr. Seraphin Tibesar former president
of Quincy University. Fr. Tibesar was a missionary to China
(1927-1932) and to Japan (1933-1940 and again in 1946-1959).
During World War II, Fr. Tibesar returned to the United States
and went with his Seattle parish of Japanese Americans and
Japanese immigrants into an interment camp in Minidoka, ID.
After the war, he returned to Japan and served as head of
several Catholic charities involved in the rebuilding of
that country.
The Tibesar Japanese Collection consists of letters, documents,
about 200 books (most in Japanese), photographs and artifacts
including coins and art works. The collection measures about
30 linear feet and is not open to researchers at this time,
however questions may be forwarded to the archivist, Patricia
Tomczak.
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