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
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 Collection 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.
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 information may be found at: Genosky Local History collection
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 official 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 added to the archives in May of 2004 and is available for viewing by appointment.
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.
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", referring 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.
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 Guadeloupe, 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.
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.
