Unique Heritage Collection ‘Library of Cardinal d’Alsace’ Fully Catalogued

Recently, the bibliographic details of the last volume from the rich collection of Thomas Philippe d’Alsace (1679-1759), archbishop of Mechelen (Malines) were entered into the electronic catalogue of the University Library. This means that the ‘Leuven’ part of this extraordinary book collection, preserved in the Maurits Sabbe Library, can be consulted more easily to its full extent.

The history of the so-called ‘Library of Cardinal d’Alsace’ dates back to the early 18th century. When he was appointed archbishop, Thomas Philippe d’Alsace decided to house his private book collection in his palace in Mechelen and to make it disponible for the seminarists. The library of D’Alsace, a remarkable reference collection, contained both earlier and contemporary works from different domains divided into various sections: Bibles and Exegetical works, publications on Patristics, Theology and Canon Law as well as Civil Law, History, Philology, Philosophy and Exact Sciences were avidly collected. A Catalogus haereticorum with “heretical” texts concluded the collection. In 1738 Alsace donated his library to the St Rombouts Chapter and so the library attained, quite exceptionally for its time, a semi-public character.

The bibliophile Cardinal also took care of his books: most were bound in calf leather with a typical decoration in gold stamping. Many bindings bear the coat of arms of the golden stamp of d’Alsace on the boards. The collection with its walls of glittering golden backs is a real eye catcher in the Archive of Precious and Rare Books of the Maurits Sabbe Library.

The French Revolution dispersed the exceptional collection, which originally numbered nearly 9,400 titles. 22 cases were disposed of by the French revolutionary regime and ended up in libraries in Paris but also in the Royal Library in Brussels and a few other libraries. About five hundred volumes, especially legal titles, ended up in the library of the Town of Mechelen and are now kept in the Town Archives of Mechelen. The rest was added to the library of the Grand Seminary of Mechelen.

Thanks to the efforts of, among others, emeritus professor Luc Dequeker, the collection of early printed books of the Grand Seminary (including an important part of the Library of Cardinal d’Alsace), was deposited in 1969 at the library of the Faculty of Theology of the KU Leuven. Making accessible this very extensive collection is a long process that will continue in the coming years. The processing of the nearly three thousand titles from the Collection d’Alsace  in the Maurits Sabbe Library is a first important step.

British Library Buys Oldest Intact Book for 9 Million GBP

Photo: St Cuthbert Gospel © British Library

The British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom has purchased the oldest intact book. The so-called Gospel of St Cuthbert dating from the 7th century A.D. contains a manuscript of the Gospel of John according to the Latin translation of the Vulgate. Bound in red leather, the manuscript is in remarkably good condition and is very readable. Marginal notes dating from the late seventh century mark four passages (Jn 5:21; 6:37,51 and 11:21) which were used during the office for the dead.

For over 400 years the book was in the coffin of St. Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral and was only discovered in 1104, during the transfer of the relics of the saint. After the dissolution of the monasteries during the English Reformation (1536-1541) the book was lost again. In the eighteenth century it was owned by Earl George Henry Lee who donated it to a Jesuit of the English Jesuit College in Liège and thus the English Province of the Jesuits became its owner until its recent acquistion by the British Library.

The purchase was made possible by a major fundraising campaign by the British Library during the past year. This highly successful campaign (the largest ever in history) collected about half of the price (in total 9 million pounds!). The British Library has had to dig deep into its pocket more than once in the past for the acquisition of masterpieces from the British national religious heritage. In 1994, they paid little over one million pounds to obtain the (then) only known (nearly) complete copy of the oldest printed English New Testament (translated by William Tyndale, printed in Worms in 1526). This was at the time the largest sum ever paid for a book, now far surpassed by this recent acquisition of the St Cuthbert Gospel. The book will be temporarily exhibited to the public in the British Library.

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The entire manuscript can be admired at the site of the British Library.

Source: British Library, British Library Digitised Manuscripts

Photos: © British Library Press Service