November 14, 2003

Alumnus donates rare books to Loyola

Rare 17th and 18th-century books fill shelves in the special collections library thanks to the generosity of Christopher Eck, A'88. Eck, a practicing archaeologist and attorney, donated the collection, which includes 10 beautiful European imprints written between 1679 and 1792.

The oldest in the collection is the Missale Romanum, which was published in Venice in 1679. Preserved in its original binding, the Missale Romanum is a Latin record of celebrations, feasts, chants, and music printed in red and black. The red ink indicates instructions to the priests. The Missale, which includes intricate woodcut head and tail pieces, is one of two books not found in any other libraries.

The second oldest in the collection is a 1680 edition of Isaac Barrow's A Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy printed in England. Others include Gospel Sonnets or Spiritual Songs a Protestant dissenter's book of hymns and versified songs, and The Collects Epistles & Gospels both written in English. For these books to " be written in English is a significant and radical departure," says Paul Powell, rare books librarian and archivist.

Especially prized is the inclusion of a 1782 edition of the St. Ignatius spiritual exercises printed in Latin. The collection also includes numerous documents relating to Charles Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Sunday Angleton, A'04, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications