Jesuit Libraries
Abstract
The Society of Jesus began a tradition of collecting books and curating those collections at its foundation. These libraries were important to both their European sites and their missions; they helped build a global culture as part of early modern European evangelization. When the Society was suppressed, the Jesuits’ possessions were seized and redistributed, by transfer to other religious orders, confiscation by governments, or sale to individuals. These possessions were rarely returned, and when, in 1814, the Society was restored, the Jesuits had to begin to build new libraries from scratch. Their practices of librarianship, though not their original libraries, left an intellectual legacy which still informs library science today. While there are few European Jesuit universities left, institutions of higher learning administered by the Society of Jesus remain important to the intellectual development of students and communities around the world, supported by large, rich library collections.
Keywords
Society of Jesus; evangelization; early modern European evangelizationDOI
10.1163/9789004517370ISBN
9789004517370, 9789004462809, 9789004517370Publisher
BrillPublisher website
https://brill.com/Publication date and place
2022Classification
Christian mission & evangelism
Library & information sciences
Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700
Church history
Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church
Religious groups: social & cultural aspects