Special Collections News

Kay Lopez joined the Library in April as Part Time Cataloguer and Part Time Public Services Librarian. She will be dividing her time between Special Collections and Reference. Kay received her MLS from Rutgers University and a MS from Boston University. She has had both corporate and public library experience and is eager to learn the many aspects of academic libraries. Her most recent position was as branch manager at one of the smallest libraries in Pennsylvania, the 1200 sq. ft. building serving the Smithfields area in the Poconos as part of the Eastern Monroe Public Library, so moving up to the University of Scranton is a big change.

 

The Heritage Room will host an exhibit of the works of Sinclair Lewis from the Stephen R. Pastore Collection. In 1930 Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters." His major novels include Main Street, Babbitt, Arrowsmith, and Elmer Gantry. Stephen Pastore is a Sinclair Lewis collector and author of Sinclair Lewis: a Descriptive Bibliography. The bibliography is being republished by the University of Scranton Press. There will be a reception at a date yet to be announced in conjunction with the publication of the book. Stephen Pastore is an author and book collector living in Waverly and has graciously allowed the Library to exhibit works from his collection in the past. The exhibit is scheduled to run October 1 through December 20.

 

The Jesuit Community has donated a copy of Vita Christi by Ludolphum Saxonium published in Lugduni by Iacobum Huguetan in 1556. Ludolph of Saxony, also known as Ludolph the Carthusian, was a 14th century ecclesiastical writer. Some scholars have claimed that Ludolph was the original author of the Imitation of Christ, one of the most famous medieval books. While that attribution is seriously contested, there is no doubt that Ludolph's Vita Christi was a significant influence upon the Imitation of Christ. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, The Vita Christi is not only a biographical work "but at once a history, a commentary borrowed from the Fathers, a series of dogmatic and moral dissertations, of spiritual instructions, meditations, and prayers, in relation to the life of Christ from the eternal birth in the bosom of the Father to His Ascension." The book was tremendously influential and was republished many times. However, only two other copies of this edition are recorded in WorldCat. Special Collections wishes to express its gratitude to the Jesuit Community for this donation and for its substantial support of the Hill-Davis Jesuit Collection.