The Library

Since the foundation of the Province of St. Joseph in 1805, the Dominican friars have utilized a variety of different means to educate men for the priesthood. From private tutorials in theology, to the first formal organization of a Studium attempted in 1834, the theological education of Dominicans, and their preparation for ordination as Catholic priests, remains a fundamental concern for the Province. And while the institution, which would in time become the Dominican House of Studies, has existed in a variety of different places from antebellum Kentucky to the frontier of Ohio, the library collection has provided a remarkable thread linking together the various forms theological education has taken in the Province of Saint Joseph during its over 200 year history.

With the arrival of French revolutionary troops into Belgium, the fate of the English Dominican province in exile appeared bleak. Yet, it was at this moment in history that the American Dominican priest, Fr Edward Dominic Fenwick, OP (1768--1832), a native of Maryland, and in Belgium for his theological studies, conceived the idea of establishing a branch of the Order in the United States. With the blessing of the Master in Rome, Fenwick and three confreres set sail for America in 1804. They were coming with the intention of establishing in the United States, not only the Dominican Order, but a secular college as well.

Sent by Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore to work among a substantial community of Catholics in Kentucky, the friars founded St. Thomas College for the education of young men. Almost immediately, vocations came forward to join the fledgling province. Education of this sort required a theological library, and while we will never know the extent of the collection, it may have initially amounted to no more than a single bookcase. Interestingly enough, a few titles from this proto--collection still survive in the Province today.

As time went on and the number of Dominican students increased, so did the need for additional theological works. The American Dominicans attempted to ease this shortage by accepting gifts from the continent and also by purchasing texts printed here in America. Fortunately, the European Dominicans greatly helped to remedy this deficiency through benefactions to the library in Kentucky. Bishop Luke Concannen, OP (1747--1810), of New York, who died before ever reaching his See, was the first to will his personal library to the American province. Around 1812, his books arrived in Kentucky. While no titles can be attributed to this gift, historical records state that it consisted mostly of small French and Spanish devotional works.

However, the most important benefaction to the Province of St. Joseph occurred in 1835. In the previous year, the Master of the Order, Fr Maurice Benedict Oliver, OP, had established for the first time a formal Studium at St. Joseph's (founded in 1818) in Somerset, Ohio. It was to this community that Bishop Francis Joseph O'Finan, OP (1772--1847), assistant to the Master, gave his personal theological library:. It is quite probable that this benefaction consisted in as many as 2,000 volumes, and this was his first of apparently three gifts of books to the Province. Of this gift, nearly 200 books survive today. What is all the more amazing, is that at this time the entire collection was housed, along with the Dominican friars, in a three room log cabin.

Although the library grew tremendously with the gift from O'Finan, the Province was not in a position to open the formal Studium in 1834. So, on 18 January 1839, the new Master, Fr Thomas Hyacinth Cipoletti, OP, re-authorized the opening of the Studium at St. Joseph's. Fortunately, European Dominicans had begun coming to work in the Province and they brought with them their personal theological libraries. Of these, two deserve mention here. Fr Eugenio Giacinto Pozzo, OP (1808--1862), arrived in the US from Italy. He was well educated and highly motivated. His education was put to good use when on 17 September 1841 he was appointed the first Regent of Studies for the Province of St. Joseph and its first Studium professor.

The other Dominican was Fr Joseph Sadoc Alemany (1814--1888). A Spaniard, he arrived in the Province in 1840 ostensibly to work with Bishop Richard Pius Miles, OP (1791--1860), of Nashville. After a term as Prior Provincial, he was appointed the first bishop of San Francisco in 1850. Although he left the Province, some of his books did not; they became part of the Studium library. He was not the only Dominican who left books to the collection when he departed. The year after the death of Fr Thomas Martin, OP (1794--1859), the 1860 Provincial Chapter ordered that all his books be sent to St. Joseph's.

Lastly, books passed into the Studium library from other collections. From 1850--1862, the Dominicans at St. Joseph's conducted a secular college. Not only did the school have its own library, but by the late 1850's there were two literary societies on the campus, the Philopedians and the Phil--Historic Society, both of which maintained libraries whose holdings together were around 1,500 volumes. When the college closed, these collections became part of the Studium library.

In addition, sometime before 1863 pieces from the library of St. Athanasius Seminary in Nashville (functioned 1843--1848), were brought into the Dominican Studium library. St. Athanasius Seminary had been founded by the Dominican bishop, Richard Pius Miles. Items originating in this collection carry a distinctive bookplate.

The early history of the Dominican Studium collection ended on 18 January 1864 when a disastrous fire destroyed the Priory. The theological collection was saved through the heroic efforts of the friars, but by 1866 it was clearly no longer possible to continue teaching all the brothers at St. Joseph's. Some of the students were transferred back to Kentucky. The Studium had, in a certain sense, come full circle. The friars, however, began building again; the Dominican Studium was like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The Library's collections cover several main areas of interest: they support the academic programs of the House of Studies, the study of the history of the Dominican Order and the Province of St. Joseph, the study of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, the journal literature needs of the faculty and students, and the programs of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

The collection totals over 74,000 items, including materials in English, as well as various foreign languages (primarily Latin, Italian, German and French). Holdings in all areas consist of many formats: monographs, serials, audiovisual materials, microforms unpublished and manuscript materials and electronic resources. On CDROM the Library offers the ATLA Religion Indexes, Index Thomisticus, the Catholic Desktop Library's Church Documents: Conciliar and Post-Conciliar, the Past Masters edition of the Collected Works of St. Thomas Aquinas in English, and the Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II.

The Library is open to the public and welcomes visitors. In addition to its own patrons, the Library is used by students and faculty of other seminaries and programs who value the Library for its rich collections, quiet atmosphere, and helpful staff.

The General Library Collections. The bulk of the Library's holdings supports the pastoral and academic programs of the Dominican House of Studies which is formally known as the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and which offers the M.Div., M.A. in Theology, S.T.B., and S.T.L. degrees. This core Collection numbers 56,000 volumes and consists of extensive, up-to-date holdings in the areas of doctrinal and moral theology and philosophy and a growing collection in preaching. A subset of this collection is the philosophy collection of the former Dominican House of Philosophy in Dover, Mass., which was transferred to the Library in 1971. The special collections, or rare book holdings, of the Library consist of over 2300 volumes of monographs, 39 incunabula, and 22 manuscripts.

The Dominicana Collection. The Dominicana Collection is a large research collection specializing in Dominican studies. Highlights of the holdings are: liturgical books (including a parchment elephant folio choir volume), the acts of the Chapters and statutes of provinces, critical editions of the works of Saint Catherine of Siena, Catherine de Ricci, and Savonarola, the sermons of Lacordaire, the histories of provinces, convents and churches, and studies on the Order's spirituality and missionary work. The collection also includes works by and about the cloistered, contemplative Dominican nuns and their communities.

The Thomas Aquinas Collection. The Thomas Aquinas Collection consists primarily of books and periodicals and supports graduate research in Thomistic studies, both of St. Thomas and Thomism.

The Periodical Collection The Library collects comprehensively in the area of Dominican periodical publications, including journals published by Dominican laity. Doctrine and Life from Ireland, La Vie Spirituelle from France, Teologia Espiritual from Spain, W Drodze from Poland, and Skepticos from Nigeria are a few of the titles representing the worldwide influence of the Order.