The Vatican Library and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1827-1947) 8821008495, 9788821008498

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STUDI 100. Tavole e in dicl generali dei p rimi cento volumi di "Studi e testi", 1942 (rist. 1973), pp. XXII, 182. 200. Tavole e indici generali dei volumi 101-200 di "Studi e testi", 1959 (rist. 1987), pp. 151. 323. Tavole e indici generali dei volumi 201-300 di «Studi e t esti», a c ura di P. V ian. 1986, p p. V, 160. 328. A Catalogue of Canon and Roman Law Manu­ scripts in the Vati can Lib rary. Co mpiled at the In stitute of M edieval Ca non la w under the direction of S. Kuttner, with the aid of the Deutsches Historisches Institut Rom, under the direction of R . Elze . V ol. II : Co dices V aticani latini 2300-2746. 1987, pp. xxx, 366. 329. Miscellanea Biblio thecae Apostolicae Vaticanae. I. 1987, pp. 258. 330. Carboni, F. In cipitario della l irica it aliana de i secoli X V-XX. V . Bi blioteca A postolica V aticana. Fondi Boncompagni, Borghese, Bo rgiano latino, Capponi, Carte Belli. 1988, pp. 256. 331. Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae. II. 1988, pp. 329. 332. Piazzoni, A. M. - Vian, P. Manoscritti Vaticani latini 14666-15203. Catalogo sommario (Cataloghi so mmari e i nventari de i fo ndi ma noscritti, 1). 1989, pp. xxviii, 305. 333. Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae. III. 1989, pp. 370. 334-335. Carboni, F. Incipitario della lirica italiana dei secoli XV-XX. VI-VII. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Fondo: Patetta. Parte prima: A-M. Parte seconda: N-Z. e Biblioteca d ell'Ambasciata di Spa gna presso la San ta Se de. 19 90, pp . 1091. 336. La «Raccolta prima» degli Autografi Ferrajoli. Introduzione, inventario e indice a cura di P. Vi an (C ataloghi so mmari e in ventari de i fondi manoscritti, 2). 1990, pp. XXV, 2 75. 337. Alteri, G . Tipologia d elle m onete della R epubblica di Roma (co n particolare rife rimento al denario). 1990, pp. 350, 126 tav. 338. Miscellanea Biblio thecae Apos tolicae Vaticanae. IV. 1990, pp. 399. 339. Pagano, S. I I pr ocesso d i En dimio Calandra e l'inquisizione a Mantova n el 15 67-1568. 1 991, pp. xxi, 406. 340. Tihon, A . L e «G rand C ommentaire» de Theon dAlexandrie aux tables faciles de Ptolemee. Livres II et III. Edition crit ique, traduction, commentaire. 1991, pp. 367. 341. Enee Silvii Pic colominei pos tea Pi i pp . II D e viris illustribus, edidit A. van Heck. 1991, pp. xvi, 122. 342. Ceresa M. Bibliografia dei fon di man oscritti della Biblioteca Vaticana (1981-1985). 1991, pp. XLV, 6 96. 343. McCormick, M. Five Hundred Unknown Gloss­ es from the Palatine Virgil (The Vatican Library, MS. Pal. lat. 1631). 1992, pp. IX, 118, taw. 16. 344. Schreiner, P. Texte zur spatbyzantinischen Finanz- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte in Handschrif-

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TESTI ten der Biblioteca Vaticana. 1991, pp. 529, taw. 12. 345. Wright, D . H. Codicological N otes on the Vergilius Romanus (Vat. Lat. 3867). 1992, pp. 139. 346. The Atina Dossier of Peter the Deacon of Monte Cassino. A Hagiographical Romance of the twelfth Century by H. Bloch. 1998. p p. 351 tav. 29. 347-348. Barlaam Calabro, Opere contro i Latini. Introduzione, stor ia dei tes ti, ed izione cr itica, traduzione e indici a cura di A. Fyrigos. Vol. III, 1998, pp. xxxvi, 772, tav. 16. 349-350. Carboni, F. Inc ipitario della li rica italiana dei secoli XV -XX. VIII-IX. Accademia Na zionale d ei L incei e Bib lioteca C orsiniana d i Ro ­ ma. Parte prima: A-M. Parte seco nda: N-Z. 1992, pp. 751. 351. Le Ra ccolte Ferrajoli e Menozzi degli Auto­ grafi Ferrajo li. Int roduzione, inventario e in­ dice a cur a di P. Vi an (C ataloghi so mmari e inventari dei fondi manoscritti, 3). 19 92, pp. XXXVI, 6 77. 352-353. Jacov, M. Le missioni cattoliche nei Balcani durante la guerra di Can dia (1645-1669). 1992, Vol. I-II, pp. LVI, 720 + 787. 354. Le Raccolte M inervini e Odorici degli A uto­ grafi Ferraj oli. In troduzione, inventario e in­ dice, a cura di P. Via n (C ataloghi so mmari e inventari dei fondi manoscritti, 4). 19 93, pp. lxxiii, 447. 355-356. de Bla auw, S. C ultus et de cor. L iturgia e architettura ne lle R oma tardoantica e medievale. Vol. MI, 1994, pp. 924, tav. 26. 357-358. Ancient and Medieval Book Materials and Techniques (Erice. 18-25 September 1992) edited b y M. Ma niaci et P. F. M unafo. Vol. III, 1993, pp. 450 + 483. 359. Manfredi, A . I co dici la tini di N iccolo V. Ed i­ zione de gli inv entari e ide ntificazione de i ma­ noscritti. 1994, pp. xcii, 600, tav. XI. 360. Grafinger, Ch . M. D ie A usleihe vat ikanischer Handschriften und Druckwerke (1563-1700). 1993, pp. LIX, 726, 29 tav. 361. Buonocore, M. Bibliografia retrospettiva dei fondi manoscritti del la Bi blioteca V aticana. I. 1994, pp. 568. 362. Fohlen, J. - Petitmengin, P. L'«Ancien fonds» Vatican Latin dans la nouvelle bibliotheque Sixtine (ca. 1590-ca. 1610). 1996, pp. 115, tav. 4. 363. Fusconi, G. La fortuna delle «Nozze Aldobrandini». Da ll'Esquilino al ia Bib lioteca Vaticana. 1994, pp. 406, tav. 93. 364. Enee Silvii Piccolominei postea Pii pp. II Carmina, edidit A . va n Hec k. 1994, pp. X XIV, 248, tav. 11. 365. Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vat icanae. V. 1997, pp. 379, tav. XLVIII. 366. Yu, D . Catalogo delle opere cinesi mis sionarie della Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (XVI-XVIII sec.). 1996, pp. IV, 1 79.

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THL VATICAN LIBRARY AND THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE

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STUDIE TESTI 455

NICOLETTA MATTIOLI HARY

THE VATICAN LIBRARY AND THE CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE

THE HISTORY, IMPACT, AND INFLUENCE OF THEIR COLLABORATION (1927-1947)

crnA DEL VaTICANO Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 2009

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This hist ory honors the mem ory of His Holine ss Pope Pius XI, President Nicho las Murr ay Butler, Dr. William Warner Bishop, Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam, Cardinals Giovanni Mercati and Euge ne Tisserant, and the ma ny other scholarly men and women who contributed to the development and reorganization of the Vatican Library in the 20th century. It is dedic ated to Las zlo Bela Hary (1 926-2002), my husba nd of fi fty years, who with his support and enco uragement made this work possible.

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TABLE OF CONTENTs

Preface, by Leonard E. Boyle, O.P

Page

Acknowledgments List of Plates List of Figures and Tables Quotations and Notes Introduction

ix Xlll xv xvii xix 1

List of Chapte rs: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XTV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.

The Vatican Library in Modern Times .... The Offer of t he Carnegie Endowment , . , President Butler Selects William Warne r Bisshop The Bishop Report Monsignor Tisserant's Visit to America . . . Months of Planning and Action (May-Augu:st 1927) ... A Period of Dialogue and P reparation (Sept:ember-November 1927) The Selection of the American Cataloging Team The Cataloging Expedition to Rome A Dictionary Catalog for the Vaticana's Pririted Books The Innovations and Changes of 1928 .... An International Congress of Librarians and Progress on the Cataloging Projects Monsignor Tisserant's Appointment to Pro-Prefetto .. The Publication of the Norme and the Collapise of the Salone Sistino A Period of Reconstruction and Quiet Prog:ress Monsignor Tisserant's Second Visit to the U .S. and a Library School at the Vaticana The Library Is Honored with Two New Cat'dinals .... The First Years of F ather Albareda's Prefe:cture (June 1936-August 1939)

» » » » » »

9 37 67 101 135 173

» » » » »

209 245 289 323 357

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383 417

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453 495

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535 575

»

613

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PREFACE

The Vatican Library has seen many changes and has been shifted twice since the day when Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455) set three rooms aside in his extension to the Vatican Palace, with a view to establishing a collection of Latin and Greek texts «for the common convenience of the learned». Nicholas, however, only lived to see one of the three rooms readied, that called the «Bibliotheca graeca», where his modest coat of arms graces the centre of the ceiling. Twenty years were to pass without anything more being done until the Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV (14711484) gave the library an institutional structure, installed Bartolomeo Platina as librarian, and added a fourth room to the original three rooms. This four-roomed library - or rather these four libraries under one roof: a Bibliotheca graeca, latina, communis and secreta - endured for just over a century. Then another Sixtus (and another Franciscan), Sixtus V (1585-1590), built a new library a few hundred yards away across the wide sweep of the Belvedere courtyard or «Theatrum Vaticanum». Where Nicholas V and Sixtus IV had to be content with a straitened lo­ cation for their collection of books, Sixtus V did the thwarted aspirations of his predecessors proud with a splendid and spacious building which was hurriedly painted in thirteen months by a raft of artists: what is today the Salone Sistino or Sistine Great Hall, past which one passes when making the long trek from the Sistine Chapel (of Sixtus IV, of course, not Sixtus V) to the exit of the Vatican Museums. The new library and the new space came just in time, for the sev­ enteenth century was to see a great increase in the holdings of the library.

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* * *

X!

Preface

the Palatine library from Heidelberg in 1623, the librar•y of the Dukes of Urbino in 1(S54, that of C^)ueen Cristina of Sweden in 1690. In fact these and lesser collections soon outgrew 1the Salone Sistino and accommodation had to be found both to the left t(awards the Sistine Chapel and to the right in the direction of the Belvedcare. By the end of the nineteenth century the situation was chaotic, with caches of books all over the Vatican palaces. While, for example, the ma nuscripts happily occupied the splendid wall-cupboards in the Salone Sis>tino a nd adjacent galleries, the printed books for the most part were heiused in rooms of the Borgia apartment some three hundred yards away (above, as it happens, the old library of Nicholas V and Sixtus IV, no‫־‬vv a stoieroom for furniture and seasonal trappings). A. solution was found under Pope Leo III (187£>-1903). The great space under the Salone Sistino which had formerly been the Vatican armoury and is now the Reading Room for printed boo ks, was given over to the library in 1891 to house essential reference works and reading desks. In 1912 the large room just off the old armour}/, wh ich had been the preserve of the compositors of the Vatican printing press, was opened as a reading room for manuscript study, with sixty pla!ces. When shortly afterwards the collection of manuscripts in the Salone J jistino was moved to rooms on the floors above this new study room, the 1•esult was in effect a new and compact library in a new location, the third £iltogether since its foundation. The «second» library, the Salone Sistino 0f Sixtus V, c eased now to be anything more than a showroom, and a glorious one at that, in which to exhibit the more famous of the manuscripts £ind printed books from the busy library underneath it.

It is this third or «Leonine» library that is the setting of the present study by Nicoletta Mattioli Hary. For all its convenience, and for all the brilliant worlt that Franz Ehrle, Prefect from 1895 to 1914, had put into its transfer and organization, there were drawbacks to the «Leonina», not the least of which was lack of access through decent catalogues to the printed books iti general. Scholars wishing to study manuscripts were not badly serve d (and one must remember that for Fr. Ehrle as for the tradition of 1:he library, it was manuscripts not printed books that counted). But for 1the poor relations, the printed books, there was a scattering of partial cat alogues, twenty at

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Preface

XI

least, of particular collections, and these were either p atchy and unrealiable or were reserved to the personnel of the library. The story told so fully here by Dr. Hary is of the move to remedy the catalogue situation and of the happy intervention of the: C arnegie Endowment for International Peace in the history of the libi:ary, in the early years of the pontificate of Achille Ratti, the former Prefeet of the library and successor of Fr. Ehrle (1912-1919), who had becorne Pope as Pius XI in 1922. Dr. Hary is in a good if not unique position to tell the sto!ry. A n ative of Turin, she studied in Budapest, Pisa, Rome and Civitave cchia, and later took a doctorate in letters, with a thesis on the German wnriter Ernst Wiechert, at the Istituto Universitario Orientale at Naples in 1952,a year after her marriage to Laszlo Bela Hary. In that same year she completed the course in library science at the school that had been set up in 1934 at the Vatican Library in the wake of the cataloguing revolution.'Emigrating with her husband to the United States in 1952, she worked in the library of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, for some seven ye*irs, then at the library of the University of Dayton, Ohio, were she was \lead of the cataloguing department from 1965-1986 and has been associa.te director since 1986. Apart from being a professional librarian of long standingl Dr Hary has the advantage over others in that she knows or knew sonle of those who had witnessed the changes in the pontificate of Pius XI, ;ind indeed had been taught in the school of library science by three of 1:hem - Dr. Giuseppe Graglia, Dr. Riccardo Matta, and Dr. Nello Vian - who had studied library science in the United States in the early 1930s, courtesy of the Carnegie Endowment. Much of what she relates here has been long forgotten on both sides of the Atlantic. Those of us who claim to know something of the history of the Vatican Library are familiar with many great names a:nd notable benefactors over the five hundred years of the history of the ] ibrary. But few of us had ever heard of Nicholas Murray Butler, Willisim Warner Bishop, Herbert Putnam, Charles Martel or John Ansteinsson, or for that matter of the role of Andrew Carnegie's peace foundat ion in the modernization of the library, until Dr. Hary returned again to the library some eight years ago. The fifth centenary of the foundation of the Vatican 'Library by Nicholas V in or about 1451 has practically passed unnoticed. It is tempting to think that the present volume, with its detailed account of changes

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My debts are numerous and it is with sincere gratitude that I acknowledge them. First of all, I thank Dr. Paolo Vian, Director of the Department of Manuscripts at the the Vatican Library, for suggesting that I research this still uncovered period of the history of the Vaticana. I am also indebted in a special way to Dr. David Kaser, Distinguished Service Professor of Indiana University, for his expert advice while directing this work during its dissertation stage in 1990-91. During my lengthy research for this study, my work was made possible by the generous assistance of many people. I have fond memories of the many kindnesses of Father Leonard E. Boyle, O.P., Prefect of the Vatican Library, who opened to me the Library's archives over a period of three summers, I also owe gratitude to some individuals who took special interest in my research project, providing me with documents and photographs I needed. They were: Dr. Larry Fabian, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Dr. Luigi Fiorani, Archivist of the Fondazione Camillo Caetani of Rome; Mr. Duane Feinstermann, Archivist of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; Sister Toman King, O.P., Archivist of Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, Illinois; Patricia Cahill, Archivist of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Columbia University Archives, New York, N.Y.; Carol A. Leadenham and Sondra Bierra, of the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, California, and John D. Knowlton, Archivist of the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. I am also grateful to the six Vatican scholars who were willing to be interviewed by me: Prof. Giulio Battelli, Madame Jeanne Bignami-Odier, Prof. Augusto Campana, Dr. Adriana Marucchi, Dr Elena Vecchi Pinto and Dr. Nello Vian.

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XIV

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to the University of Dayton for granting me a sabbatical leave that allowed me to do the research for this work and to my colleagues Fred Jenkins and Mike Krieger for reading this work when it was at the dissertation stage. I thank Anita Michel, Jack O'Gorman, Patty Phipps and Nancy Van Atta for their suggestions. I am thankful to my friend and colleague Cecilia Mushenheim for her long and steady help in editing this work, and to Father Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., editor of St. Anthony Messenger, for revising the last set of galley proofs. Last but not least, I thank the administrators of the archives and libraries who gave me permission to use their papers and photographs. I take this opportunity to thank Cardinal Librarian Raffaele Farina and Monsignor Cesare Pasini, Prefect of the Vatican Library, for sponsoring and supporting the publication of this study. I am also thankful to Father William J. Sheehan, C.S.B., for acting as liaison with the authorities of the Vaticana and to Dr. Ambrogio Piazzoni, Vice Prefect of the Vatican Library, for taking care of the actual publication of this work. I am also deeply indebted to Janet Moyer for updating my voluminous index. It is with gratitude and love that I acknowledge that this work was made possible by the encouragement and assistance of my husband Laszlo and my four children Laszlo, Maria, Francesca and Stephen. Nicoletta Mattioli Hary Dayton, Ohio, July 2008

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LIST OF PLATE!

1. Father Franz Ehrle when ne was Prefect of the Vatican Library 2. The Staff of the Vatican Library on the occa! ion of form er Prefect Achille Ratti's visit in 1922 3. President Nicholas Murray Butler 4. General William Barclay Parsons 5. Duke Gelasio Caetani 6. Henry Smith Pritchett 7. William Warner Bishop 8. The east end of the reference room (Sala di Co nsultazione) in 1927 9. The west end of th e Sala di Consultazione in 1927 10. Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam 11. J.C.M. Hanson 12. Charles Martel 13. The cataloging room of 1928 14. Snapshot of the Vatican catalogers, probably 1:aken during one of their holiday excursions in spring 1928 15. Snapshot of the Vatican cataloging staff taken on the occasion of th e dinner offered to them by Pope Pius XI at the Castell;a Cesari in May 1928 16. Overall view of the Snead stacks while unde r construction (ca. D ecember 1928) 17. Pope Pius XI inspecting the new bookstacks u nder construction (20 December 1928) 18. Pope Pius XI and his entourage on the occasio>n of his official opening of the Library's new entrance on the Cortile del Belvn6, t o which Pitra gave strong leadership, establishing the rules for the cc)mpilation of the catalogs7. Credit for resuming and promoting the pilblication ot printed catalogs and for establishing a plan for this purpose goes to Pitra

1 After a trial perio d, this new R egolamento della Biblioteca Va ticiina was perm anently adopte d with Leo XIII's motu p roprio of Octobe r 1, 1888 . The policy wa s still determining the admini stration of the Libra ry in 1914 . (Paul Ma ria B atimgarten, «The Vatican Library», in The Vatican: Its History, Its Treasures, ed. Ernesto Begni [New York Letters and Arts Publ. Co., 1914], 455). 22 Before that time , the positio n of vice -librarian had been va cant for ma ny years, Jeanne Bignami-Odier, La Bibliotheque Vaticane de Sixte IV a Pie X I. S tudi e testi , 272 [R‫>־׳‬me: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1973], 235). 3 Bignami-Odier, 236-37. 4 Giovanni Battista De Ro ssi, «The Ca talogues of the Man uscripts; in the Vat ican Library». Catholic World 32 (Oct. 1888): 55. De Rossi noted: «The wisdoin of the present reigning Ponti ff, from the early days of his pontificate , animated the officials of the Apostolic Library to renewe d activ ity in liter ary labors». (Ibid.). De R ossi was one of those officials. 5 Ehrle, «Bibliothektechnisches aus der Vatikana», 199. 6 The commission functioned until 1897. (Bignami-Odier, 237). 7Ibid.

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The Vatican Library in Modern Ti

11

and to the well-known archaeologist De Rossi, who was an «honorary» scriptorscriptor of the Vaticana at that time 8. T he catalog;s pu blished by the Library between 1885 and 1893 were the result of thiis plan 9. In 1884 the Pope founded the Scuola di Paleografia e Storia Comparata and in 1885 he opened the Secret Archlives of the Holy See to the world 10. T he decision was welcomed by schoLirs worldwide. It was a sign of great and, maybe, unexpected liberality on the part of the Church to open to international scholarship its unicjue «and vast repository of historical documents. The international charatate, Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro, and the Prefect of the Apostolic Palaces, Cardinal Mocenni, «qui donnent tous les ordres et signent tous .les documents concernant la Bibliotheque» 16. In the fall of 1880, the German Jesuit Father Franz El:irle was sent to Rome by his superiors to consult the manuscript sources of ‫ן‬the soon-to-beopened Vatican Archives. He was then in his middle years and had already distinguished himself with many scholarly publications. Bon1 in 1845 into a devout Catholic family of physicians and scholars of Isny, Wiirttemberg, he had entered the Society of Jesus at the early age of sixteen. After pursuing humanistic studies at Miinster and studying philosophy at J\laria Laach, he returned as a teacher to his alma mater, the Jesuit Gyninasium Stella Matutina at Feldkirch, Austria. Five years later, in 1873, *he was sent to England to study theology at the Jesuit College of Ditt:on Hall, near Liverpool, where he was ordained in 1876. He spent the first years of his priesthood in Liverpool, teaching at the College of St. Fraricis Xa vier and serving as chaplain to the inmates of a local workhouse. In !L878 he moved to Tervueren, in Belgium, where he began to contribute t!d the scholarly review Stimmen aus Maria Laach. His aptitude for researcht pr ompted his superiors to use his talent for study in church history. T1lis marked the beginning of a life devoted almost entirely to historical investigation. It was at this time that Father Ehrle developed the plan for his history of scholastic philosophy and theology. In order to do rese arch in larger libraries, he was allowed to move to nearby Brussels, wher e he published part of his history 17. F rom here he was assigned to Rome .vhere he spent

15 Ibid., 201. 16 Bignami-Odier, 238. In financial matters, the Library was subjec:t to the Prefect of the Apostolic Palaces. 17 Raphael M. Huber, «Franc is Cardinal Ehrle , S.J. 184 5-1934: In Memoriam». Catholic Historical Review 20 (1934-1935): 175-76. In 1873, the Jesuits h ad been forced to leave Germany on account of the Kulturkampf.

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14

Chapter I

fifty years of his life serving the needs of the Church with un usual dedication and ability not exempt of humility. During the decade 1880-1890, Father Ehrle was a steady user ‫י‬of t he Vatican Library and the Archives. The inconveniences he experienc:ed as a user at that time would later prompt him to make changes in fa^/or of readers 18. His extensive research on the papal libraries made hitm an expert on the history of the Vaticana, a knowledge he would late:r find quite helpful. Furthermore, this research drew him close to the adininistration of the two institutions, a relationship that would have an iinpact on his life and on the development of the Library later. These ten years, which were occasionally interrupted by visits to libraries in Ft ance, England, Germany, and Spain, were fruitful for Father Ehrle's res!;arch. He published several articles in scholarly journals and, in 1885, he 1began the series Bibliotheca theologiae et philosophiae scholasticae selecta and founded, with Father Heinrich Denifle, the ./1‫ ׳‬vchiv fut ./Civchcti^c.sc hichte desdes Mittelalters, to which he generously contributed 19. W hile many of his studies dealt with the history of the Franciscan Order, Father. E•hrle's most impressive research was the first large volume of his Historia bibliothecaebibliothecae Romanorum Pontificum, turn Bonifatianae, turn Avenion'.ensis, which appeared in Rome in the spring of 1890. In August of that same year, Father Ehrle was appointed an 01utside member of the Congresso Direttivo, the Vaticana's executive co uncil, which was the cardinal librarian's advisory body. As already mentioned, the Congresso's membership was composed of higher senior members of the Library's staff and, when possible, by some outside scholars. The meetings, which were held at the most once a month, were presidec1 over

18 Ehrle, «Bibliothektechnisches aus der Vatikan a», 200. In 1880 sc ript01•es and foreign scholars were accommodated in a room with beautifully carved wooden p aneling to which benche s were attach ed. In front, but quite detached from the benc he:s, w ere heavy oak tables. Here Father Ehrle was assigned his workplace when he first ente red the Vaticana. Later, he had the heavy tables removed and assigned to the storage of oversized manuscripts, which need to be stored flat. «Noch im Oktober 1880 wurden wir 2-.5 Leser an einen Tisch gewiesen, der unterdessen in der Mitte des Saales, senkrecht zum e Fenster, aufgestellt worden war. Dieses ein zige, gro fie, aber in die gewaltige Mauer vertiefte Fenster, an dessen Seiten die beiden Prafekten ihre Pla tze hatten, hat zi imal in den Kreisen der Historiker eine gewifie traurige Beruhmheit erlangt». (Ibid.). 19 Huber, 176. The Archiv is «a veritable mine of valuable and hitherto unpu! historical documents and literary dissertations from the pens of some of the most 1 scholars of the last decades of the nineteenth century». (Ibid.).

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Plate 1. - Father Franz Ehrle when he was Prefect of th e Vatican Library. (From The Back of Books, by William Dana Orcutt.)

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The Vatican Library in Modern Times

15

by the Cardinal Librarian20. Hie appointment marked for Father Ehrle the beginning of his voluntary activities on behalf of the Library21. \mong these, his main endeavors were the moving and rearranging of the printed books and the establishment of a reference collection22. His membership in the Vaticana's executive council prompted bather Ehrle to familiarize himself with the theoretical and practical aspects of library work. With his usual diligence, he pursued theoretical knowledge, reading Fumagalli's works and the Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen. He acquired the practical knowledge he needed by visiting Italian libraries and studying their organization, which was modeled after that of the most progressive countries. He considered to have worked well the prevailing tendency of Italian libraries to avoid experimentation and adopt what other libraries had done with success. He noted about Italian libraries: «Die Bibliotheksvorschriften sind tadellos; ihre Ausfiihrung naturgemafi sehr verschieden je nach der Befahigung der Organe»23. Father Ehrle also benefited from his visits to the Bibliotheque Nationale, where Leopold Delisle, «damals der Nestor unter den grofien Bibliothekaren», and Henri Omont welcomed him «mit echt franzosischer Hoflichkeit und wahrem Wohlwollen». Delisle generously offered Ehrle in-house publications that explained the history and organization of the French national library. Because of the similarity of the two institutions - the Bibliotheque Nationale had a heavily used manuscript reading room - and the common problems they faced, Father Ehrle found his association with the

20 Ehrle,

«Bibliothektechnisches aus der Vatikana», 201-02. Batllori, «E1 Pare Ehrle, Prefecte de la Vaticana: en la seva correspondencia am b el Carden al Rampolla», in Collectanea Vaticana in hono rem Anselmi M. Card. Albareda, ed. by B ibliotheca Apostolica. Studi e testi, 219 (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1962), 1:77. 22 This is how Father Ehr le would later su m up the work he did for the Library between 1890 and 18 94: «il tran sporto e il riordinamento degli stampati, la for mazione della Biblioteca di Consultazione, il riordinamento della Biblioteca del Giubileo nella Sala Matilde, il trans porto della Bi blioteca Bo rghese, la stor ia dell a 2" epoca della Biblioteca Pontificia ...» (Franz Ehrle to Mariano Rampolla del lindaro, 10 November 1894, AJRSI; quoted in Batllori, 1:78). 23 Ehrle, «Bibliothektechnisches aus der Vatikana», 202. The legislation and governmental administrations of the newly established Italian State were the result of an indepth study of similar s tructures in t he most advanced countries. «Diese nun fast allenthalben he rrschende Methode, welche sich in besonnener Bescheidenheit die Erfahrung anderer Lander zu Nu tzen macht und das Ex perimentieren au f eige ne Kosten moglichst zu beschranken sucht, hat auch in Italien die besten Friichte gezeitigt». (Ibid.). 21 Miquel

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16

Chapter I

administrators of the French national library extremely valuable. He noted' «So kam es denn, daft ich selten von Paris zuriickkehrte, ohne daselbst eine niitzliche Neuerung erspaht zu haben»24. Several of these French innovations -such as the wooden sticks to hold open the manuscripts -are still found at the Vaticana today. Shortly after Father Ehrle had joined the Congresso Direttivo, the council decided to transfer the printed books from the Appartamento Borgia to the new Biblioteca Leonina, the great hall below the Salone Sistino - formerly occupied by the arsenal of the papal army - which had been remodeled to house the printed books. Hearing that it would take three to four months to transfer the printed books to their new location, Ehrle researched the matter and submitted a new plan that would do the job in three weeks. He was asked to manage the project but accepted only on the condition that a reference library be established for the users of the manuscripts. He also asked that he be given an assistant who would help him with the transfer of the books and to whom he could entrust the reference collection, as he had no intention of being taken away from his studies once he had completed the assignment. His conditions were gladly accepted, and three weeks later «lagen die Drucke in der neuen Bibliothek in derselben Ordnung und Unordnung, in der sie im Appartamento Borgia gestanden hatttn»25. The actual transfer of the books took only fourteen days. After the stampati were in their new location, Father Ehrle decided to make the best use of the call numbers with which the books were identified as well as of their existing catalogs. As a first step, he had the books of the

24 Ibi d, 202-03. «In Paris wurde erstrebt, was auch Ehrle wollte: der Forschung die Schatze der Bibliothe ken unter den liberals ten Bedingu ngen zu ersc hlieBen. Delisles Autoritat in der Wissenschaft wie in der Bibliotheksverwaltung war unbestritten. Er stand auf der Hohe seines Wirkens, und die Ziele, die er sich gesteckt hatte, waren fast verwirklicht, als in Rom ahnliche Reformbestrebungen einsetzten. Eine aufrichtige Bewunderung und Verehrung verband den Bibliothekar der Vatikana mit dem fast zwanzig Jahre alteren Pariser Ko llegen, und ein lang er freundschaftlicher Verkehr ga b Ehrle die fru chtbarsten Ideen. Der Einfl uS des Par iser Vorbilds erstreckte sich in der Vatikana bis in die Einzelheiten, wie die Zapfen der Biicherbretter, die Lesepulte und die TintenfaBer. Aber nicht Paris allein war gebend: es war fur Ehrle Regel, immer wieder die grojSen Bi bliotheken Europas zu be suchen, Wien, Miinchen, Berlin, London, "nicht als Forscher, sondern als Bibliot hekstechniker", niitzlich e Neuerunge n zu erspahen und vergleichend zu priifen, ob die romisch en Einric htungen auf gleic her Hohe standen ». (Karl Christ, «Kardinal Franz Ehrle». Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen 52 [1935]: 7-8). 25 Ibid, 205.

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The Vatican Library in Modern Times

17

Palatina and ot the Prima Raccolta reassembled, as both collections had call numbers that made them easily identifiable26. Ehrle thought that these two collections, the «schonste» German princely library of the sixteenth century and the oldest portion of the Papal Library were important enough to be kept separate from the rest of the printed books. He believed that besides being kept as separate entities they deserved to be housed in a special room. Deciding the arrangement of the large mass of printed books, Father Ehrle showed respect for tradition and for the history of the individual collections and with this, «das Bestreben, die Kontinuitat des historischen Zusammenhangs zu erhalten oder, wo sie gestort ist, wiederzustellen und auf ihr wiederzubauen». The arrangement he chose for the Vaticana's printed books was one that highlighted them as a «historisch-literargeschichtliches Monument, nicht als Gegenstand allgemeiner Benutzung»27. Under Father Ehrle's direction, books that were appropriate for the Library's reference collection were chosen from the large number of the remaining printed books. The selection was made with the needs and the international character of the users of manuscripts in mind. The large mass of printed books that remained was arranged in a few large classes. However, the establishment of this collection did not materialize without difficulties. Reference libraries were uncommon in 1891; the small refer­ ence collection that existed in the manuscript reading room of the Bibliotheque Nationale was the only model the Vaticana could follow. The decision to establish such a collection forced the Library authorities to make a «folgenschwere» decision, since the «Zweckbestimmung und das AusmaB» of the planned arrangement «konnte nicht festgelegt werden, ohne da£ zugleich Ziel und Zweck der ganzen Vatikana genauer umschrieben ward»28. Until the sixteenth century, the Vaticana was the only library in

26 Ibid., 206. The vol umes of these two co llections were ea sily identifiable from their call numbers. For e xample, the c all number of a book of the P alatina would read : C37 (C me aning cassa, which means crate in Italian). This designation was based on the crate in whic h L. Allacci had packed them in Heidelber g. The volum es of the Prima Raccolta (the co llection that inclu des the Va ticana's 10,000 oldest printed book s), were labeled, for example, 1R/730 (1R for Prima Raccolta, 730 to designate the volume within the collection). (Ibid.). 27 Christ, 5-6. 28 Ehrle, «Bibliothektechnisches aus der Vatikana/, 207.

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18

Chapter I

Rome where scholars could borrow manuscripts and printed books. Since then, many other libraries had been established, charLging the Library's responsibility toward Rome's learned community29. With six Roman libraries collecting printed books, it was not necessaryr that the Vaticana also collect them. The new direction proposed for thf its collections43, Ehrle required that, as an offshoot of their cat:aloging activity, his scriptores engage in independent research. He did nc>t as k for this work because he thought it a c ommendable and «schmuckerides superadditum» to their professional activity, but rather because he ssrw i t as demonstrating the close and steady contact a scriptor needed wit h his own specialty. For this purpose, the workday of the scriptores was5 divi ded into four hours of cataloging and two hours of research in theii: own field. For the publication of the studies which derived from the s Ibid. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid.

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The Bishop Report

115

well. Since half of the manuscripts were described in printed cat alogs, Bishop thought that, whatever their defects, the entries from the ca talogs would be acceptable. He also realized that the publication of thp fo und that the absence both of classification and of subject catalogs made it «utterly impossible to deliver books on any subject of inquiry v/hose authors the reader or the librarians do not already know». He: noted that the classification of the Raccolta Generale was «somewhat detailed but not systematically carried into subdivisions The classification of the Raccolta included a large class of medicine subarranged only by journals and monographs, the latter arranged by height. About the ai•rangement of the monographs, Bishop wrote: «One finds side by side treat ises on obstetrics, surgery, fevers, etc. printed hundreds of years apart in sonle instances*54. At the end of his survey of the printed books, 13ishop corrected himself saying• It is perhaps unfair to say th at there is a complete absence of subject catalogs. A few of the older printed catalogs iin bo ok form have very imperfect subject indexes. But practically i t is true that there is no subject-index to the entire collection55. Bishop went on explaining the reasons why the Vatica have excellent subject catalogs.

Library should

53 Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid.

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The Bishop Report

119

Suggestions. 1. While it seemed impossible to undertake a classifi­ cation of the printed books until more space was available, the modern accessions of the General Collection and one or two of the more modern fondi - one of them the Ferrajoli Collection - should be classified. He also anticipated that the Reference Library would soon need to be reclassified. Realizing that the service of the Library would benefit from a rather close classification, Bishop suggested the adoption of a modern expansive classification. While recognizing that the Library of Congress classification had some limitations for a library that was so different, he thought that it «offered the best basis for adaptation to the needs of the Vatican Library»56. 2. According to Bishop, «the greatest single need confronting the Vaticana at the moment was «a General Catalog covering the entire col­ lection of printed books». The necessity for this catalog was so imperative that he «ventured» some details. While he thought that it might be best to catalog the incunabula separately, all the other printed books should be included in this general catalog of authors and subjects. Such a catalog required careful planning since future as well as present book holdings needed to be considered57. Bishop «unhesitatingly» recommended a card catalog with inter­ national size cards58. He noted that «printed catalogs of certain parts may appear very desirable later59, but even so, a card catalog must be the basis

56 Ibid. 57 Ibid.

58 Ibid. The intern ational size ca rd wa s the com monly known 3" x 5" (12.5 x 7. 5 cm.) card. Bi shop explained that this card w as then « universally adopted in the United States, Grea t Britain, and Belgi um, and used for the great printed ca rd catalogs of the Library of Congress, the Berlin State Library, the Royal Library at the Hague and a score of American libraries». He also added that, «To adopt any other size would be at once to cut off the possibility of making use of international cooperation in cataloging in the years to come. Within a very few years one may expect to buy printed catalog cards of this size with the books purchased, both new, and (possibly) old». Bishop also said: «There will be an inte rnational clearinghouse for print ed cards - perhaps at Bru ssels - in a few y ears. Any printed cards which can be bought will be an immense saving over written or typewritten cards . I can as sure the Vat ican of the cordi al coop eration of the Lib rary of Congress, and, I think, of the Prussian State Library». H e also added: «A minor consideration - but important in cost - is the fact that card cata log cas es for the in­ ternational size can be bought far more chea ply than they can be made for irregular sizes». (Ibid.). 59 Ibid. Bishop also suggested that «Owing to their historic interest and value, after the completion of the General Catalog, it would be highly desirable to publish catalogs of

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120

Chapter IV

of any satisfactory printed catalog». For this catalog to be good, the old catalog entries could not be simply copied or cut up and pasted from the old printed catalogs. A thorough revision with the book in hand was imperative. He anticipated the possibility that in many cases little revision would be required; in other cases, completely new cards woulc1 b e needed. Based on his experience, he noted that such a task was n!ever merely a copying job. Bishop trusted that Library of Congress priiited cards and catalog entries from the Preussische Staatsbibliothek coulc j be obtained for a large percentage of the Library's modern books. He was confident that two-thirds of the more modern Ferrajoli Collection cc5llld be cataloged with catalog entries from these libraries60. It seemed to Bishop that the General Catalog «should follow in the main the American and British codes (adopted in 1908), using the Iteman code (issued in 1922) and the Prussian |nstruktionen to interpret iit to local conditions». He noted that, whereas the British and American c< jdes required the English form of a name, the Vatican code should use the Italian form. Modern cataloging practice was tending toward unifornnity; thus, the recently adopted Italian code resembled its American and British counterparts. He saw small difficulty in making the adaptations required by the special character of the Vatican collections, and emphasized the importance that the rules of the General Catalog «b>e in line with possible future development of international catalog?ing practice*. Bishop thought that it would be better for the General Cat alog to have separate author and subject files, leaving open the ques tion whether the subject catalog «should be in the form ordinarily use d in America, or an alphabetico-classed catalog»61.

certain of the separate colle ctions, certa inly the great catalo g of the Palatine Lil Drary should be completed — with a full subject index, as wel l as an author index -• and published as soon as possible. As it n ow stands it is almost useless. Given these addit:ions, it would at once rank with the world's important bibliographies, as well as permit th'־‬1). 90 Eugene Tisserant to his fam ily in Nanc y, 5 June 1927 [lettre circulaire no. 7); quoted in Pop, «Etudes et missions scientifiques du Cardinal Tiss!srant», 757. 91 Eugene Tisserant to Henry S . Haskell, 24 M ay 1927. C (JA 94024; also a noth«:r letter of Tisserant to Hashell, 2 June, 1927. CUA 94028. 92 Eugene Tisserant to his fam ily in Nanc y, 5 June 192 7 (ilettre circulaire no. 7); mentioned in Pop, 758. In his dia ry, Tisserant wrote the fol lowring d escription of Ann Arbor: «La ville d'Ann Arbor semble toute particuliere. C'est um: ville sans commerce ou Industrie, qui n'exi ste que p ar son U niversite. Celle-ci a ete f ond ee il y a u n peu plus de cent ans par un sulpi cien fran gais, le P. Rich ard, et un paste ur ‫י‬presbyterien. lille a pns

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160

Chapter V

he traveled to Detroit, where he visited the Public Library built in 1921 and its two newest branches. Here he noted how the public library was providing for the city's growing population by building ne^w bra nches as new neighborhoods were added to that lively metropolitan: are a. During his visit to Detroit, he also went to see the library of the University of Detroit, a Jesuit school. The next day he left Ann Art jor, traveling overnight to Chicago, where he arrived on Sunday morning, 5 June93, In Chicago, as suggested by the itinerary prepared for h im by Bishop, Tisserant stayed at the Congress Hotel on Michigan Avn et une administration presque completement feminine, bibliotheque c:entrale et succursales de quartier manifestent une activite surpren ante». In Cleveland he was shown around from 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.IVI. a nd was invited to the commencement ceremony of Western Reserve L'niversity's library school. He also attended the annual alumnae dinner, n on ce for all»21. It is also useful to note that Bishop kept General Parson s informed of the activities regarding the enterprise he had appareintly set in motion 22. By the first week of June, Bishops health had takeri a turn for

respects to you and of putting m yself at your ser vice for any co nferences ‫ ־‬that you ma y desire in conne ction with matter s of comm on intere st. I have rejoic ed to receive from Cardinal Gasqu et the kind ly assur ance that he was propo sing that, with my w ife and daughter, I have the honor of being received by His Holiness the Pope». (Ibid.). 19 Giovanni Mer cati to Herbert Putnam, 7 June 1927. LC. From th is> note, which Monsignor Mercati wrote by hand in Italian, it is not clear what Putnam's invit ation was for. A note ad ded to it later state s that it was tra nslated ora lly by Charles M ar tel (pro bably when Putnam returned to the Library of Congress after his trip to Europe). 20 Herbert Putnam to William Warner Bishop, 28 July 1927. MHC. 21 William W arner Bishop to Hen ry S. H askell, 8 June 1927. Carbon copy, MHC. In his prompt reply to this letter, Haskell suggested: «Use your own judg merit with regard to taking up with the Lib rary of C ongress during Mr. Putnam's absence thf: cooperation of its officials. I am sure that you could decide this matter better than I coulid». (Henry S. Haskell to William Warner Bishop, 10 June 1927. MHC). Bishop decided trt, His Holiness would decide in favor of the collaboration. If the Libra ry's and the Endowment's wish should materialize, the Prefect and T:isserant would prepare together the answers to the individual proposals rnade by Pritchett during his visit at the Vatican, «regolandoci in tutto s;econdo quello che ci sembrera piu utile per gli studi e per gli studiosi». Sinee this was the Endowment's and the Library's common goal, Mercati thought that it would be easy for the two parties to understand each other'(4 On 1 July Monsignor Mercati acknowledged to Bishop the receipt of some publications of the University of Michigan's Clements Library, which the librarian had sent to the Vatican after his return to the United States. In this letter, which was written in the writer's usual gerltle and humble style, Mercati also said that Tisserant had written to hini of the many kindnesses the librarian and his family had shown him, and he thanked him for that too. In the same letter the Prefect wrote tha t Buder had recently been at the Vatican and had informed him of the «piroposte pratiche», which he had passed on to his superiors (certainly CCardinal Gasquet and the Pope, perhaps also Cardinal Ehrle). Mercati mentioned

42 Nicholas Mur ray Bufler to Wil liam Warn er Bish op, 5 July 1927. Carl l copy , CUA 93985. 43 Giovanni Mercati to Nich olas Murr ay Butler, 15 July 1927. CUA 9 3S i; typ ewritten copy, CUA 93988. 44Ibid.

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Months of Planning and Action

191

to Bishop that His Holiness had given serious consider;ition to Butler's «practical»«practical» proposals5 and that he had expressed that 1:o Butler in the audience he had given him on 25 June. The Pope, howe\rer, had decided to wait for Tisserant's return and for his report befcire making any announcement. .According to Monsi^nor 1\1crcii11‫ י‬this dec!sion to wait was not only out of consideration tor Monsignor Tisserant and «altri», but also because the Pope was anxious to hear from Tisserant himself about the impressions and ideas he had received from his visit to America45. It is not completely clear who these «others» were, but it can t>e assumed that, because of the strong nationalistic sentiment that existedI in Italy at that time, the I loly See had to use great caution in announcing its collaboration with the Carnegie peace foundation. Mercati thought that Tisserant's report was extreme]ly important for «all»«all» decisions that would be made and for the beginniing of the work. The Prefect concluded his letter by telling Bishop that the: answer to each of the points presented to him by Butler would be decideid to gether with Monsignor Tisserant, and he ended the letter thanking him for «everything» 46. T his letter reveals the importance the Pope gave to Monsignor Tisserant's overseas tour, and from this one can infer that tlis Holiness was prudently waiting for the information on the organizati(i>n of American libraries that Tisserant would bring back before decid ing whether to accept the collaboration. The letter is also indicative of the confidence and trust the Prefect had in the American librarian. While convalescing from his recent surgery, Bishop continued to work on the Vatican project. Tisserant was interested in !securing for the Vatican catalogers the same reference books he had seeri in the Catalog Room of the Library of Congress. In order to do this he 1reeded to order from the Library of Congress the printed cards for these: books. Bishop also offered to take up with the Surgeon General's Offic:e the matter of obtaining a copy of its library's printed catalog, which he thought would be useful for cataloging the Vaticana's medical books. U1aable as he was to leave Ann Arbor, he nevertheless wanted to meet cince more with Tisserant. As it was seen, Bishop proposed to him that he come to see him for a short visit before sailing for Italy, stressing the d7-28»). MHC. Monsignor Mercati's paper was reported here in summary; the few quotsitions were used to give a sample of Merc ati's style and to add emphasis to the text.

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Chapter IX

Library. The Vatican librarians were fearful that, even with the Endow­ ment's aid, it would be difficult to secure capable men willing to do the work. They also thought that it would be hard to find and maintain a «giusto mezzo» between working on the existing inventories with their insufficient or uncertain information and wanting to verify and note every detail direcdy from the manuscripts76. The Vatican authorities had considered the Endowment's offer to sponsor the cataloging of the manuscripts. They had been assured that the choice of the staff and the direction of the project would be left to them. However, they thought that it would be prudent to review the project again and to have men who were trusted by the Endowment, such as Richardson, think further on the appropriate course to follow. The Li­ brary authorities also requested that the Carnegie experts give a detailed demonstration of how they intended the proposed indexing to be done, using as a model one of the Library's better printed catalogs. The authorities' hesitation to agree to a «summary» index of manuscripts is not surprising, since the American proposal must have been unexpected, and the method proposed by Bishop was contrary to that followed at the Vaticana for decades. At Bishop's request, Elinor Mullett Husselman had cataloged in Ann Arbor the first four codices of the Palatini Graeci described by Henry M. Stevenson11. Her catalog cards and the doubts she confronted while doing the indexing were discussed by Bishop, Mercati, and Tisserant in one of their conferences on the manuscripts. Since, in that confer­ ence, some «modificazioni e limitazioni» were proposed and accepted, it was found desirable to have additional experimental cataloging done, this time on manuscripts on different subjects, and especially on some containing miscellaneous works. The job was assigned by the Prefect to Valentino Capocci, formerly professor of Roman law at the University of Urbino. It was hoped that this additional sampling might reveal new difficulties and that it might also help to find solutions. While waiting for the results of this second experiment, Mercati thought that it was ad-

76 Ibid.

77 Ibid. Huss elman's experimental cataloging of four Greek codices of the Pal atine collection wa s sole ly base d on the descript ion of the manuscrip ts given by Henry M. Stevenson in his C odices manuscripti Palatini Graeci Bibliothecae V aticanae. Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae codices manu scripti recensiti (Ro me: Ex Typ ographeo Vaticano, 1885).

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The Cataloging Expedition to Rome

311

visable «trattare alquanto la questione in generale e rile:varne la portata, accioccheacciocche si vegga se e fino a cjuale punto convenga all2i Va ticana ed alia DotazioneDotazione Carnegie impegnarsi nell interesse della buo;na riuscita». The Prefect also added that for the moment it was impossible: to estimate even roughly how much work and time the project would rec juire, «ma si puo almenoalmeno intrawedere dove andremo a battere col capo e 1ottare»78. In his memorandum, A/lonsignor Adercati went on to say that he was omitting to describe the «utilita somma di un tale indice perche manifesta e fortemente sentita» not only by them at the Vatican Iibrary but by all those who needed to know whether a given work wject to the same difficulties of scientific catalogs, in case one wanted to ascertain the identity of the writings as is done in the printed catalogs; b) The diversity of subjects and languages, and the scripts of all ages would require special expertise; c) The difficulty of finding competent subject spe‫׳‬cialists who were also paleographers, since the scriptores, who were well qualified for the work on the index, could not be taken away from their regular assignment either temporarily or just part-time. Their work on the scientific catalogs ot manuscripts proceeded very slowly and wa s of primary im

78 Ibid. While it was too early to es timate the extent and dura tion of the prop osed project, Monsignor Mercati wanted to have at least some idea of the 1difficulties that could be expected and was ready to fight them. 79 Ibid. The work that was being planned seemed to Me rcati almost «a reve rsal of the natural order of things». The Greek phrase he quoted is oft en found in ancient rhetoric and Is als o used in Eng lish (C f. Webs ter's New I nternatio,nal Dictionary of th e English Language. 2nd ed., unabridged (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. I^lerriam Co., 1958).

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Chapter IX

portanceportance for the Library and for research. In concluding5 his observations, MercatiMercati noted that the difficulties just mentioned woul‫׳‬d inevitably cause great delay, but that too much delay would not only coiitinue the current uneasiness but could be dangerous, or even fatal to the completion of the enterprise, since «essendo mutabili uomini e cose, 0 conviene fare, e subito, ogni sforzo per vincerle 0 rinunziarv1» *'‫'׳׳‬. Monsignor Mercati noted that, as agreed, the first step was to make it possible for the Vaticana to secure a special staff of a t least six capable men who would stay on the project until its comply;tion. He recommended that, if possible, this special staff should not 1se changed, since they would produce better and faster once they had g ained experience, Since there were no courses or books for the training (af s uch catalogers or for the compilation of manuscript catalogs, and beeause there was no agreement on rules, Mercati thought that it was advisable to prepare precise written instructions for the manuscript catalog(;rs who would be hired, perche le persone dotte, quali ci occorrono, sia perch{j curanti della sostanza anzitutto, sia perche pio agili ed awezzi a cercare cio che loro preme dovunque possa essere, non hanno sempre qilella regolarita e quella scrupolosita di minuzie che nelle indicazioni biibliografiche e d'importan/a primaria81. In his memorandum, Mercati spelled out som!s of the rules he wanted to be followed in describing the Vatican man uscripts. In brief, they were: 1) The rules adopted tor the printed books shoulc1 also be followed for the manuscripts, which contain so many works tllat are either less well known or completely unknown. While warnin g that being too detailed in indexing the manuscripts could greatly del!ly the completion of the project, the Prefect noted the pitfalls of not 1being sufficiently detailed. He added that, in the case of the manuscripts, it would be useful to have added entries for each item of a well-known work, such as the single epigrams of Martial, the letters of other people irlcluded in famous

80 Ibid. This statement, too, evince s Monsigno r Mercati's willingness to try to resolve the problems he saw in connection with the indexing of manuscripts. 81 Ibid. The statement shows how well Mercati knew scholar!> and the w ay they do research.

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The Cataloging Expedition to Ror

313

correspondences, each discourse of Aristides, each epigram of the AntologiaAntologiaAntologia Pcilcitinci, or each document of the ac:ts of an Ecumenical Council, etc. He noted that such analytical entries could be very useful, but warned the Endowment that doing this woul d greatly increase the work. The Vatican authorities did not «dare» to of )t for that much detail unless their «wise advisers» agreed (the Prefect wa!5 probably referring to Bishop and Richardson) 82; 2) Monsignor Mercati observed that should tlley follow the rules of the «indici degli stampati», they would have t() record the titles of manuscripts m the language and form used in the c:odex, rather than in a uniform Latin form (as had been done by Hussselman in the sample cards). At the very most, uniform titles for works that were universally known,known, such as the Kovati and the J-ltud, could be given in Latin. But were this rule to be adopted, some serious difficulty woul d still be encountered, since in the printed catalogs even the titles of le!ss-known works were always given in Latin, and the title used in the man uscript was given only when it varied from the one used in the printed catalog. Therefore, in order to assign a title, the compilers of the new car!i index would need to refer either to the Vatican printed catalogs or to the manuscript. This, too, would be time-consuming, and the Prefect warited the opinion of the Endowment's trustees on the matter; 3) If it were decided to use titles in their origirlal language and form, Mercati assumed that the same abbreviations that were permitted in the catalogs of printed books could be used for the mainuscripts, where titles were often verbose and several lines long. H come to Rome on behalf of the Endowment had been made afte r consulting with Monsignor Mercati and receiving his approval 32. T he well-known and respected director of the Swedish Royal Library had come with a precise and important charge: to advise on the best mettiod of compiling a catalog of the Vatican incunabula33, Collijn had estiimated that working on the project would take about three weeks, Once hy. MHC. After a conference with Angus Macdonald in N ew York, Bishop had succeeded in getting him to gr eatly reduce the fi rm's bid for the V atican Li brary's new stacks. On :28 April he had just recei ved a cable fro m Monsig nor Tisse rant, informing him that t]be Library had accepted the bid of Sne ad & Co. Bisho p was «not ver y confid ent in tlbe structural excellence of the variou s European stacks, wh ose make rs were submit tijag bids», and he «got Snead & C ompany to cut out all their profit, in view of t he advertisLag value to them of this contract». Accordin g to him, the decisio n to buy from Snej ad definitely insured a good stack. (Ibid.). 38 William Warner Bishop to Eugene Tisserant, cable, 25 April 1928. Draft, MHC

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Chapter X

Snead answer recd» 39. U ndoubtedly, Snead's price reducti(an and Bishop s recommendation had some bearing on the Pope's de O O'CJ ao o J3 d< ( tion were read by a dozen specialists in different countries and compared. with different copies, which gave the best quality control to the bibliogra phic data. The Katalog was also concerned with the literary aspect of eactl inc unabulum. Therefore, under the name of the author and the tide of the work there was reliable information about the author's life and work. Also nlentioned were the authors of the dedications and those of the introductionis, as wel l as all typographers and publishers. When two or more incunabula were bound together, all the works were cited and described; 7) The difference between the method used by the B ritish Museum and the Gesamtkatalog rested primarily on the designateon of the type and the bibliographic description of the text. The British Museum cited the different types by the number of millimeters required f or twenty lines of text, while the Gesamtkatalog followed Haebler's Type?trepertorium M, numbering the types chronologically and in sequence. In the British Museum Catalogue, the descriptions were always given i n tondo, while the Gesamtkatalog used the schwaback (a kind of gentler ( jothic type) to describe printings in Gothic type with the abbreviations similar to those of the old types, the tondo for the incunabula printed in Rcman type;

65 The British Museum Catalogue, which began publication in 19 waf stil l being published in 2002. 64 Konrad Haebler, Typenrepertorium der W iegendrucke. Sammli y bibliothekwissenschaftlicher Arbeiten. (Leipzig, 1905-24).

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A Dictionary Catalog for the Vaticana's Printed Bo‫׳‬

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8) Among the beneficial international activities that had developed after World War I, Collijn considered intellectual cooperation most noteworthy.noteworthy. Bibliography, library science, and libraries had started to have important roles as intermediaries in that activity. By 1928 the need was being felt for standardization in bibliographical sy:stems, such as cataloging, classification, and terminology Collijn believed that an international system that would meet all needs could als(3 b e found tor cataloging incunabula. I~Ie recommended the metho(i used by the GesamtkatalogGesamtkatalogGesamtkatalog with the variations needed for an Italian c atalog. He was sure that once completed the Gcsuffitkutcilog would rep.lace Hain65 to become the standard incunabula catalog, and that it woulc1 be cited in all future works on early printed boolcsj 9) Although the other catalogs of the Vatican Library were written in Latin, the official language of the Holy See, in tlle case of the incunabula, the catalog should be written in Italian. Collijn noted that Latin bibliographic terms were more or less «frutto d'in\/enzione», and that they varied depending on the authors who used them . Di fficulties ;n finding appropriate terms made it troublesome to use theiri corr ecdy; 10) Due to the existence of such great publications as tihe Catalogue of the British Museum and the Gesamtkatalog, Collijn thought that the future catalog of the Vatican incunabula could be less detailed. The:re was no need «to fill up» this catalog with all the bibliographical, t ypographical, historical, and literary information that was available in thos!: two works, or elsewhere. According to Collijn, it was enough to compile an alphabetical index of the incunabula, which would include: 1) Author arid title (or title only if the work was anonymous); 2) Place printed, pr:inter and year printed (when they were known or could be ascertained t hrough bibliographic research). Size; 3) Bibliographical cross-r eferences; 4) Description of the copy or copies, if there were more tha:a one copy (in the different fondi); 5) Provenance; 6) Old and current call numbers66. In five pages of his «memorandum», Collijn gave d(^tailed instructions and examples on the way to describe the needed information. He also noted that incunabula previously unknown, or not yet fully de-

65 Ludwig Friedrich Theodor Hain, Repertorium bibli ographi,cum: In quo libri omnesomnes ab arte typographica inventa usque ad annum MD. typis expressi, ordine alphabetico velvel simpliciter enumerantur vel adcuratius recensentur (Stuttgart: J.G. Co tta, 1826-1838). 66 Collijn, Report.

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Chapter X

scribed, would require complete and detailed descriptions according to the rules of the Gesamtkatalog. As a practical demonstratioii of the method he w^as recommending for the future catalog of the Vatican incunabula, Collijn attached to his report several cards he had j from incunabula he had examined during his study67. In order to begin the collaboration between the Vaticana and the Commission of the Gesamtkatalog, Collijn wrote an official lettetx to the Commission, which was signed by Monsignor Mercati. In his effc>rt to get the Library in contact with the Commission, Collijn spoke with . )r. Kriiss and Herr Husung on his way home to Stockholm 68. Early in May, Hanson reported to Bishop: Work is progressing and many interesting and difficult probLems are coming up. I feel m ore & more strongly that the less we bolher about old nos. in the new catalog — classification, the better. 1‫״‬lave compromised on writing nos. for Consultazione on back of shelflist c[ar]d only. An assistant will then write it on other entries. My ad‫׳‬vice to T[isserant] is to omit old no. from all added entries, but he say!5 he has no power to change and Mercati does not formulate decisions: on these questions69. At that same time, Hanson recommended to Bishop that IVlartel be kept at the Vaticana until 15 June and Ansteinsson until 30 June. He felt that it was of great importance to keep them at the Library for a while after the Depository Catalog arrived. The Catalog arrived in Napl es at the beginning of May, and Hanson had to meet with Vincenzo Fajgo - the responsible Italian official - about its transfer to Rome. There uras some confusion about who should pay the freight from Naples to Rome;70. Bishop regarded the value of the Library of Congress Depository Catalog as «simply incalculable». He thought that its bibliog raphical worth was but one of the factors that made it useful. The Catalog would be immensely handy to the Vaticana as a practical means of cordering cards. It would give instant answers to the hundreds of questioris which arise in the daily work of cataloging. Bishop thought that the depository

67 Ibid. 68 Isak Collijn to William Warner Bishop, 5 July 1928. MHC. 69 J.C M. Hanson to William Warner Bishop, 4 May 1928. MHC. 70 J.C.M. Hanson to William Warner Bishop, 10 May 1928. MHC.

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A Dictionary Catalog for the Vaticana s Printed 13‫י‬

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set would serve the needs of scholars working in Rome, a:nd that it would be continuously useful as a model of practice and as ing tha t Bishop could convince Collijn to come to Rome for a couple 01: mo nths during

71 Bishop, «Report... 1927-2H». 72 William Warne r Bisho p to J.C.M . Hanson, cab le, 14 M ay : Bishop approved Mattel's stay until 1 June and that of Ansteinsson u would stay three weeks longer, while Ansteinsson would leave a week
ke briefl y

104 Charles Martel to Eugene Tisserant, 4 July 1928. VL. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid. 107 John Ansteinsson to WiHiam Warner Bishop, 27 July 1928. MHC. 108 Eugene Tisserant to William Warner Bishop, 20 June 1928. MHC.

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A Dictionary Catalog tor the Vflticflns s Printed Books

355

about the Vatican Library project at one of the general sessiions and reported on it in much more detail at the meeting of the Csitaloging Section, where he had «an audience of about two hundred, i:a eluding many of the foremost librarians of America» 109. B ishop, who wras m uch gratified in the great interest the American participation in the work of the Vatican Library had arouoed m professional and other circles in the United States 0‫״‬, said on that occasion about the Endo1wment's collaboration with the Vatican Library: «Before we get through, America is going to get out of it just as much or more than she is giving»11

109 William Warner Bishop to Henry S. Haskell, 4 June 1928. Carbon cop•y, MHC. 110 William Warner Bisho p to Eugene Tisserant, 5 July 1928. VL; ca i•bon copy, MHC.MHC. 111 William Wa rner Bishop, «Plans for Cataloging the V atican L ibrary», 408. The two talks abo ut the Vati can Li brary proje ct giv en by B ishop at the AL A C01iference at West Baden, published in the ALA bulletin, were stenographic reports r ather than «carefully written papers». The y were «som ewhat more rambli ng and info! •mal» than Bishop would have liked them, and he hoped that Mercati and Tisserant would «overlook any seeming lack of dignity in them». Bishop always found it «difficult to speak with quite the same precision as one can w rite». (William W arner Bishop to Euge ne Tisserant, 10 September 1928. VL; carbon copy, MHC).

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Chapter XI THE CHANGES AND INNOVATIONS OF 1928

With the departure of Martel and Ansteinsson in late June, the American demonstration of method came to an end, leaving the monumental task of cataloging all the printed books to the Vatican librarire the fall, for during the summer he would have to supervise construe tion of a new entrance to the Archives and a new passage between the Ar chives and the Library33. Two elevators had been installed in the Library's st;icks and both were now operating; the one in the manuscript stacks ha d allowed the Library to reduce by one the number of employees chairged with this service, while the one in the new stacks had been put in p lace in time to carry up the parts of the ventilating equipment that hac1 arr ived. The administrators of the Library were grateful to Bishop for suggesting to President Butler that the money for the installation of t he ventilating machinery be turned over to them. Monsignor Tisseran t was looking forward with «greatest pleasure» to Bishop's visit in Jun e, hoping «to have some pleasant days and useful ones» with him34.

31 Eugene Tisserant to William Warner Bishop, 13 M arch 1929. ( ginal and copy at MHC. 32 William Warner Bishop to Eu gene Tisserant, 29 March 1929. ' carbon copy, MHC. 33 Eugene Tisserant to William Warner Bishop, 13 March 1929. ( ginal and copy at MHC. 34 Ibid.

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An International Congress oi Librarian >‫ל‬

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By the end of April, President Butler's recovery fr!om surgery was progressing satisfactorily Bishop, however, worried that this illness might delay the regular May meeting of the Executi ve Committee, Concerned for the Endowment s work at the Library, Bis.hop decided to send Haskell a note about the state of the various Vaticai1 projects36. On 3 May Bishop sent him a night-letter about the budget for the work at the Vaticana. In the telegram, he reminded Haskell theit the budgeted Rotograph machine should be purchased during the 0oming summer, and he strongly urged the acceptance of two of the reconnmendations he had made in his report of 1 1928^‫ ״‬In that report lie: had urged that in 1929/30 the Endowment supply $3,000 for the purcha se of Library of Congress printed cards to be used for the cataloging of the printed books and that it underwrite with $10,000 the cost c>f p rinting and distributing in America catalog cards tor older bonks in the Vatican Library38. Haskell replied promptly to Bishop, informing him that the budget for the fiscal year 1929/30 would be approved at the an!nual meeting of the trustees to be held in New York on 14 May In thai: budget, President Butler would recommend an additional amount f or cooperation with the cataloging work of the Vatican Library. If the ite m would be approved by the trustees and if the Executive Committe!2 w ould consequently allot the amount, funds beyond those already allotted would become available in 1929/30. Haskell, however, warn ed Bishop that there would not be sufficient funds to cover the commitrnents for future years 39. B ishop was so eager to secure aid for the Vatica n printed cards that he wrote a «personal» letter to Keppel, seeking to iiiterest him in a «plan for bringing substantial and direct returns to Amlerican libraries from the cooperation inaugurated two years ... [earlie r]». As he had already told Dr. Keppel, this «item» would require about $10,000 spread over a period of two years. During his visit to Rome in Jvme, Bishop was «hoping to lay out a plan for furnishing to American libraries, for use in their own catalogs, cards for the older books in the Vatic;in Library». lie

35 Henry S. Haskell to William Warner Bishop, 23 April 1929. MHC. 36 William Warner Bishop to Henry S. Haskell, 25 April 1929. Girbon copy, MHC. 37 William War ner Bishop to Henry S. H askell, night-let ter, 3 May 1929. Handwritten draft, MHC. 38 Bishop, «Report... 1927-28». 39 Henry S. Haskell to William Warner Bishop, 4 May 1929. MHC.

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Chapter XII

reminded Keppel that the Library of Congress collections ‫ג‬vere not rich in this type of hooks and that it was consequendy unable tc> provide many such cards, He was confident that if the Vatican Librar y could get «a start»,start», it would be possible to put this service on a self-suipporting basis, and he saw no reason why, having begun such a job, they silould not make it «profitable» to American libraries. This work, whichi n eeded to be organized «on the spot» with Monsignor Tisserant, concertled him most40. During the spring of 1929 the Library had severa1 visitors from America;America; this gave Monsignor Tisserant many occasions tc) spe ak English and he hoped to be «en forme» the coming June when Bi!shop and manv English-speaking librarians would be in Rome for the Congress. As he had planned, Monsignor Tisserant went home to France for Easter. On his return to the Vatican at the end of April, he was b usy with more visitors who came to see the new stacks. Some of the visito rs were sent by the Pope, who had visited the Library shortly before Eas ter «wishing to see the elevators running». By then the ventilating equipmLent was almost ready; workmen had only to cover the boiler, the heater, £md some other parts with asbestos. Transfer of the books to the new stacks had started; with the help of six young men, approximately 150,000 ‫׳‬volumes of the Raccolta Generale were cleaned and moved. The collec:tion's sections Teologia, Filosofia, Diritto civile, Padri, and Oriente were shelved on the first tier; the Mai, Ferrajoli, and Chigi collections, as well as the Capponiana and Allacci's books, would be shelved on t he second tier, With Prince Barberini's approval, the Barberini Collection would be taken out of its bookcases and placed on this tier of the: ne w stacks to preserve it better. The bibliography section of the Race:olta Generale, which was to be reclassified in the Z class of the LC classification, had already been moved to the third tier. After the additional sections Storia, Vite, Classici, and Classici italiani were moved to the ‫מ‬lew stacks, the periodicals would be moved if there was space left41. The friendly personal and business relations that h ad been established between the Vaticana and the Library of Congress :ontinued. In

1° W illiam War ner Bishop to Frederi ck P. Keppe l, 4 May 1 92S (marked «Perso nal»). Carbon copy, MHC. If Monsignor Tisserant needed an American cataloger to carry this work through the early stages, Bishop was ready to provide him ith one, using the sum already appropriated for such a cataloger. (Ibid.). 41 Eugene Tisserant to William Warner Bishop, 29 April 1929. Ml

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An International Congress of Librarians

397

the spring of 1929, orders for LC printed cards and additional copies (if the LC classification schedules and subject heading list were seitit to Washington,Washington, together with slips suggesting corrections to some of theLC cards 42. T he ties between the two institutions were probably strengthtened when the Librarian of Congress visited the administrators of the Va tican Library before the opening of the Congress of Librarians in. Jun6^. Early in May, Bishop was actively preparing for his upcoming ti:ip to Europe and for his long absence from the University of Michigan. In his 1927 report to President Butler, he had recommended that a Rot0£;raph machine be obtained for the Vaticana for the purpose of reprodiicing manuscripts and other materials; the Endowment had agreed to prartment of printed books, but I am informed by Monsignor Mercati t hat he is thoroughly aroused to the desirability of continuing the plan!> already begun54. On the day before the Congress opened, Cardinal Ehrlc at Bishop's request, received Collijn and some of the American offic:ial delegates (Bishop, Putnam, Richardson, Keogh, Belden, and Col e). On that occasion the Cardinal «was most gracious and cordiall». He later accompanied the Pope when he received the entire membc:rship of the Congress in the Sistine Hall55. During the Congress, Monsignor Tisserant had the pleasu re of meeting numerous American friends and colleagues, many of whom he had met during his visit to the United States. He found «great encou:ragement» in their appreciation of the work being done at the Vaticana56. Despite the additional work and the fatigue it caused him, the week of ‫ו‬the Congress was «a very pleasant time» for him57.

Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid. 56 Eugene Tisserant to C.H. Hastings, 17 July 1929. MHC. 57 Eugene Tisserant to And rew Keogh, 16 July 1929. Carbon cop y, VL. Acco rding to Bishop (as well as others) the Congress was a great success, «despite mu ch confusion in its earlier stages». He also noted that the sessions were rather difficult to find and difficult to follow because of «the confusion of languages». There were, however, some interesting discussions and ma ny good pa pers. Bishop found the busi ness sections v ery satisfactory, He wrote to Has kell: «I think m y pres ence at the Con gress was wo rth v /hile for wh at I was able to do in gu iding the busin ess, for the paper I present ed, and £ 3r a ll the fo lk I met. It was pa rticularly va luable to be able to ex plain our Vat ican work on the spot to many colleagues, in collaboration with Tisserant, of course. The Pope referred publicly to

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Plate 20. -John Ansteinsson in his later years. (Courtesy of th e Norges Tekniske Universitetsbibliotek.)

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An International Congress of Librarians

401

On 22 J une Tisserant and Bishop began their series of conferences with a discussion of the cataloging of the printed books. Bishop went over this work in great detail, and one thing that stood out to him was «the excellence of Ansteinsson's work»; Bishop had two long conferences with Ansteisson while in Rome (one at the Vaticana and one at his hotel). Ansteinsson had agreed to return to the Library for an additional ten months (from September 1929 to Tuly 1 930), and Bishop thought that they were «most fortunate in having him for another year». Besides having given excellent training to the younger Italians, Ansteinsson was «reducing to writing a detailed statement of the cataloging practice to be followed, with most excellent examples». Bishop was eager to see these rules published, and Monsignor Tisserant anticipated that it could be done by the following May58. The number of printed books that were cataloged exceeded Bishop's expectations. He felt that «there was so much preparation to do that large figures were wholly impossible». However, building on Hanson's and Martel's foundation, an excellent beginning had been made and in another six months the work would be in full swing59. By then practically all the books on bibliography and bio-bibliography in the Raccolta Generale, the Barberini Collection, and a few others had been classified and fully cataloged, and special efforts were being made to discover and catalog all bibliographical works in other collections as well.

it in term s of hig h prais e». (William W arner Bishop to Hen ry S. Haskell, 23 Ju ne 1929. Copy, MHC). 58 William Warner Bishop to Henry S. Haskell, 23 June, 1929. Copy, MHC. In this letter, Bishop noted about A nsteinsson: «He has trained the yo unger Italians excellendy. The two older ones d idn't get much from their stay in America, I fear, but the two younger ones certainly learned much. It would, it pro ves, have been better had th ey not made the transfer in the middle of the year, but, even so, there is no doubt they got good training». To Pres ident Butler, Bishop wrote abo ut his encou nter wit h Anste insson: «I devoted several morn ings to consu ltations with M r. Ans teinsson, who will return in the fall for another year. The wisdom of Mr. Hanson's advice to keep him on was most clear after studying his work. Ou r conferences were chiefly on technical difficulties in cataloging, and I was greatly impressed by his clear and comprehensive grasp of principles and his skill in applying them to new conditions. He has given just that directing and coor dinating help wh ich Mon signor Tisserant felt was nee ded. With his services for another year the transition period will have passed. Both Mr. Ansteinsson and Monsignor Tisserant are particularly pleased with the work of Sig. Giordani, who promises to become a most efficient cataloger». (Bishop, «Report... 1929»). 59 Ibid.

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Chapter XII

The usefulness of this kind of work to the cataloging project had f Co ngress. Later the LC issued printed cards for these books 9. At the Library, toward the end of January, the: pr inting of cards was progressing, and preparations were being made «t o open to readers the card catalog work which had been done on both the books and manuscripts». Monsignor Tisserant thought that tlle work had «reached the stage where even an imperfect record ... [was] a real contribution10. In Ann Arbor, Bishop was worrying about Matta's ‫'ג‬isa. A few days before his non-immigrant temporary visa expired, Bishop wrote to the Commissioner General of the Bureau of Immigration tc> «invoke» his «good offices in the matter» ‫״‬. The commissioner responcied by suggesting that Matta fill out an application, and submit it to 1the Commissioner of

CUA.

6 N icholas Mur ray Butler to Gelasi o Caetani, 23 De ce:mber 1929. Carbon copy ,

7 John Burke to Herbert Putnam, 13 January 1930. LC. 8 Herbert Putnam to Pietro Fumasoni-Biondi, 14 Januar! 193 0. Carbon copy, LC. 9 Eugene Tisserant to Jame s Bennett Childs (Head 0 £ th e Library of Congre ss Catalog Division), 15 July 1930. Copy, LC. 10 William Warne r Bish op to Henry S. Ha skell, 10 Fe t jruary 1930. Carb on copy , MHC.MHC. 11 William Warner Bishop to Harry E. Hull 'Commissic>ner General of the Bureau of Immipration), 4 February 1930. Copy, CUA.

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MonsignorMonsignor Tisscr&nt s Appointment &s Pro‫־‬Prc£ect

421

Immigration at Ellis Island12. Sure that an application from the (Carnegie Endowment would receive «much more prompt and fa vorable treatment»treatment» than one coming from him, Bishop asked Haskell to forward Matta's application requesting the extension 13. The news communicated in a letter written by Prince Ciletani to President Butler in late January came as a surprise. The Prince !called to Butler's attention «in a quite personal way (and not solicitec1 by the Vatican)Vatican) that the wonderful work of cataloging^ was proceed]ing «too slowly to give practical results in a reasonably useful time». 1"his had been reported to Caetani through members of the Italian Historical Society, and he was planning to visit the Library soon «to hear something personally about this». Caetani, however, was sure that Butler was; «better posted» than he about the matter. The Prince and others inter ested in historical and related research were «anxiously waiting for the day that the new catalogue would give ... [them] a new key to exp]lore the unknown treasures of the Vatican» 14. Th ere could be several reasons why Caetani thought it wise to inform his American friend of the piresumed slow progress of the cataloging work on the eve of Buder's trip t o Rome: 1) simply, a genuine concern that he and his fellow researchers would have to wait a long time before they could «explore» the Library'!s hid den holdings; 2) since he had played an important part in directing P resident Butler's attention toward the Library, Caetani felt obliged to warn him about the slow progress before he would ascertain it himself; or 3) in doing so, the Prince hoped that the CLIP would offer the additio nal help that was needed to hasten the work. Caetani's letter, which arrived one month before President Butler's departure for Italy, had its impact in America. Writing to Bishop the next day, Haskell informed him «confidentially» of the news that had[ arriv ed

12 Harry E. Hull to William Warner Bishop, 15 February 1930. CUA; cop,i, MHC. 13 William Warner Bish op to Henry S. Haskel l, 20 February 19 30. Cl JA 94129. President Butler himself requested by special delivery the extension of Matta's t:emporary stay from the Com missioner of Imm igration. (Nich olas M urray Butler to Ber ljamin M. Day (Com missioner o f Immi gration, Ellis Island , New Yor k), 24 Febru ary 19 30. Copy, MHC).MHC). The next day, the Commissioner granted the extension for six months, i ,e., until 9 September. (Benjamin M. Day to Nicholas Murr ay Butler, 25 February 19' 50. Cop y, MHC). 14 Gelasio Caetani to Nicholas Murray Butler, undated note written in Jan uary 1930 (received 7 February). CUA.

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Chapter XTH

from Rome. However, eliter quoting to him the Prince's let:ter, Haskell remarked optimistically: «It seems quite natural that scholars, particularly in the vicinity of Rome, should be impatient to see the tiirle when the results of the work at the Vatican Library might be made: practically available to them» 15. B ishop, on his part, reacted quite dif ferently. He was not surprised that Don Gelasio and others felt that t:he work of recataloging was going slowly. That was «undoubtedly a fa ct». At that time, the Endowment's aid consisted of paying Ansteinsson's salary and training Matta in America, in addition to purchasing phlotographic equipment and card cabinets for the new catalog. Furth*;rmore, the Carnegie Corporation was subsidizing the work on the Sum:tnary Index, and Bishop hoped that the Library would organize the e:xchange of printed cards before the summer, tie thought that as soon as the card catalog would be made available to readers sometime during that month, «people ... [would] begin to see that all this talk ... [had] really resulted in something*, and men like Caetani would understand «th:at it was far better to lay a foundation well and properly, than to atteinpt to rush results to the notice of readers» 16. Bishop had «no question whatever* that the Library c:ould use at !east three more catalogers of printed books. However, he diid not know where they could be found because untrained people could[ no t do the work, and there were practically no places in Europe where; they could receive «the training needed for this sort of cataloging on t>ooks of the kind owned by the Vatican Library*. President Butler had a:sked Bishop to assist in «planning and in making available to scholars the uncataloged manuscript treasure in the quickest possible time». H( jwever, the librarian had always understood that the work would be done «on a diminishing scale of American support*. Bishop was sure t]lat if Butier decided, after seeing what had been done to that time, that tbie cataloging of printed books should be given aid «for a longer period arid in greater amount*, Monsignor Tisserant was «perfectly capable of directing it to

15 Henry S. Haskell to Will iam Warn er Bisho p, 8 Februar y 1930. MHC; carbon copy, CUA 94115. On Butler's instruction, Haskell informed Bis hop of the President's travel plans and schedule in Rome. Buder wanted to know from Bishop if 1ie could «be of any practical service in connection with the undertaking at the Vatican Lil3rary». Besides the audience with His Ho liness, arrangements had alre ady be en made f or confe rences with Monsignor Mercati, Cardinal Cerretti, and Cardinal Pacelli. (Ibid.). 16 William Warne r Bishop to Henry H. Haskell, 10 Februar y 193( CUA 94119; carbon copy, MHC.

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Monsignor Tisserant's Appointment as Pro-Prefect

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the very best advantages*. Bishop remarked: «I very much wish t hat we had some people like him in the United States» 17. A few days later, Bishop wrote to President Butler, expressing his pleasure for the good news that Butler would go abroad and could inform himself «while in Rome, more particularly than ... [had] been pos!dble ir the last three years, about the work of reorganization at the ^Vatican Library».Library». He hoped that the President would go over what had been done with Monsignor Tisserant, who had the work «much better in hanc1» th an anyone else. It was really due to his «ability and understanding» t hat the work had made «real progress». Bishop was sure that Butler woiuld be pleased «at the evidence of the modern library spirit which ... [was] to be found in the work that Tisserant was doing». For his «own guidanice and informations Bishop told the President confidentially that Tisserarit «had a good deal of difficulty of late months from two sources». One souirce was «the natural conservatism of Cardinal Ehrle», who was «almost i/holly» concerned with manuscripts and did «not understand at all the resd value of the book collections of the Vatican Library». Bishop explained: «He has given his whole life to work on manuscripts and naturally they 1001n large m his eyes». The second difficulty was «a tendency on the part of a good many people to complain that this new work is both Americ;in and Protestant in its inception and principles». Bishop believed that Ti;>serant, and «to a lesser degree Mercati, were aware of these difficulties and would «meet them in a sane and sensible spirit». Tisserant's position w:as very difficult because, «owing to Mercati's feeble health», he had «practically the entire work of administration in his hands», without being «definitely appointed to an executive post» 18. Bishop explained: The thing which has carried him through has been the persor backing of t he Pope, who has understood the whole matter and h lent his great influence toward counteracting tendencies to critici and minimize the value of what has been done 19.

17 Ibid. Bishop told Ha skell about Mons ignor Tis serant: «I may tell you t .hat if he were not so completely devoted to the V atican Library, there are at least three A jnerican libraries which would be o nly too glad to sec ure his services. I could use h im ri ght here today. Yale has actually offered him a p osition three years ago and renewed the (sffer last year, if I may trust gossip. (Tisserant has never told me about this)». (Ibid.). 18 William Warner Bis hop to Nicho las Mu rray Bu tler, 13 Feb ruary 193(1 Copy, CUA 94124; carbon copy, MHC. 19Ibid.

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The reorganization was beginning to show tangib] e results, but Bishop understood how people who had «expected a good deal of the reorganization should be disappointed in the showing» w hich could be made at that time. There was no question that the Librar y was «on the right track», and if Monsignor Tisserant were not «hampe red» and were given more people, the Vaticana would «soon be vastly more usable». Bishop was glad that Butler would be able to see what had 1been done and could tell people that they must not expect «immediate 1arge returns». Bishop remarked how the work of organization and laying foundations is always difficult and time consuming^, and it takes months, or even years, before results begin to appear. While Bishop did not believe: that any more people could work on manuscripts, the cataloging of the printed books could use three times as many catalogers, if they could b e found. They were training one more cataloger, who was promising ve ry «successful work».work». 1V1attci was making an «A» standing in all his courses:, and the chief classifier of Bishop's library, under whom he was training cioing practical work, was very pleased with his performance. Bishop tolc1 Buder about Matta: «He is a sensitive gendeman and a scholar. I need n‫׳‬3t tell vou that the combination is not always found among graduate studerits»20. When asked by Butler to write him «any specific poiiits» which the librarian thought he could «talk over personally with the: gentlemen at the Vatican Library»21, Bishop prepared a «Memorandura for Dr. Butler», in which he made some unexpected proposals, accom panied by cost estimates. The «Memorandum» read: I estimate that $50,000 a year, in addition to what it is now spending, is about all tha t the Vatican can use in paying s:ilaries and furnishing supplies, etc., for recataloging. That would get frcan eight to ten competent people. It would not pay for training them. 1liis would take, assuming that we could get three people for each of thenext three years, $7,500 a year, or $22,500 in all. I estimate that $2,500 will pay for the travelling explenses and living expenses for a man who has already had good universiity training, to come to America for an academic year and two or three months of practice work before returning to Italy. If, therefore, this mc jney could

20Ibid. 21 Henry S. Has kell to W illiam Warner Bishop, 14 Febru ary 193 copy, CUA 94118.

MHC; carbon

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be provided, i.e. $7,500 3. ye3r for three ye&rs, mpanied the «Memorandum», Bishop declared that he was not certaini tha t he would recommend additional support for the Library, since «such action would involve the Endowment in a continuing appropriation fc>r a number of years».years». Bishop had «been acting on the supposition thaii A merican aid was sought in planning the reorganization of the Vatican Ilibrary, and not in hastening the completion of that work once under way>>. Th e librarian supposed that there were wealthy Catholics who mi^>ht be glad to contribute toward the work. Butler, through his acqilaintance with Cardinal Hayes of New York and others, might be able t!0 «turn gifts in that directions Sure that the Endowment knew that it c:ould count on nim, Bishop offered his assistance in interviewing people or in writing letters». He remarked that what he was suggesting was /as apparently considering at that time, Monsignor Tisserant wrote to Bisblop: I would have much to tell you about my position in tlle Library, what I cannot easily write. At the end, it seems that my nd letter). MHC. 8 William Warner Bishop to Henry S. Haskell, 29 January 1931

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he had preferred that the Endowment make it possible for Mrs. Bishop to go with him. He commented: «This plan has seemed to approve itself to Dr. Butler and yourself. I should very much prefer to continue on that basis»9. Bishop also commented to Haskell about Monsignor Tisserant's recent appointment: I feel we are greadv to be congratulated in having Tisserant in definite charge of the Vatican Library. There is no question that he gets more for a sm all amount of money than anybody else I have ever known. There is absolutely no question as to his ability, which is extraordinary, and now that he has been definitely placed in a position where he can take charge of matters, I feel that we have every reason to congratulate ourselves on the success of the collaboration inaugurated by Dr. Buder and Dr. Pritchett in the fall of 192610. Now that he had succeeded in printing cards, Monsignor Tisserant was anxious to exchange and sell them. He answered the remarks Hanson had sent him about the Vaticana's first printed cards, giving the reasons for the policies that had been adopted and acknowledging a few mistakes that he would correct n. Bishop, however, did not sound reassuring; he did not know whether he could give Tisserant much help in printing cards. In America, some librarians had «finally succeeded in focusing attention on the whole problem of the distribution of cards from sources other than the Library of Congress». Bishop hoped to go

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

Eugene Tisserant to J.C.M. Hanson, 13 January 1931. UGA. Monsignor Tisserant remarked to Hanson: «It is a difficult task to print e xacdy, but I think that w e make good progress». With this letter he also thanked Hanson for the congratulations he had sent him for his promotion . He feared not to have sent Hanson a copy of their recendy print ed filing rules an d would ha ve one sen t to him that sam e day. The filin g rules had bee n printed fo r the Library's internal use and pro manuscripto. Tisserant was thinking that they should prepare another, «much more complete» edition, basing it on the Norme for the printed books, which were nearly printed. They only had to give the si stampi to the preface and the index. Tisserant wrote: «As soon I shall have copies, I shall send one to yo u in remem brance of the w ork you did with us an d for us. You w ill see that Mr. Ansteinsson has been a very useful collaborator. Many thanks to you also for his work». (Ibid.). Monsignor Tisserant sent Bishop a co py of the expl anations he had sent to Hanson in reply to his questi ons about some of the Vatican cards , noting: «Such criticisms are very useful to us». (Eugene Tisseran t to William Warner Bishop, 13 January 1931. MHC). 11

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to New York early in February to discuss with Dr. Keogh of Yale Uni­ versity and Dr. Williamson of Columbia University the possibility of securing funds to carry through their plans for «a selling agency». He would also try to find out if the Library of Congress intended to give printing preference to the tides of the Vatican reference books, of which they had a listu. Bishop recommended that Tisserant continue to print cards, even if the opportunity to sell them would be delayed for a year or two. If Tisserant used linotype for printing cards, Bishop supposed that he could not keep the type used in printing them. If he could save it, however, it would be worth a great deal because he could then make as many copies as he needed. Bishop had no doubt that Tisserant could secure forty or fifty subscriptions for each of the cards he was printing. He was sure that he could secure twenty-five subscriptions in the United States and probably the same number in Europe, especially if he would not limit the printing to cards representing books in the Reference Room13. Upon hearing thai Monsignor Tisserant had found a candidate for the training in America, Haskell immediately requested the Endowment's Washington office to forward Bishop a check for $2,500 to cover the cost of bringing Dr. Graglia to the United States. The money was also to cover certain visits to libraries while traveling. Bishop had already planned Graglia's curriculum. He had enrolled him in the Department of Library Science of the University of Michigan for the summer session and would be «very glad to assist in planning his work». He preferred that Graglia wait until September to take «work in elementary Cataloging» and «begin it with Miss Mann in the fall and carry it through the year». If Graglia were to sail from France, Bishop suggested that he study en route

12 «W illiam Warner Bishop to Eugene Tisserant, 29 January 1931 VL; carbon copy MHC. To find out whether the Library of Congress intended to give printing preference to the card s of the Vatic an refe rence boo ks, Bis hop intended to talk to Putnam befo re taking it up with Hastings or Childs. 13 Ibid. About the Vatican printed cards for titles on Philosophy and Rel igion, Bishop wrote to Tisserant later: «I think you possibly misjudge the interest in Philosophy and Theology in Am erican libraries. If we can start a selli ng se rvice, I have not much doubt that we can sell a good many copies of these cards to the smaller American libraries and particul arly to the libraries of Catholic institu tions, which are show ing far more interest at the present time than they ever did before». (William Warner Bishop to Eugene Tisserant, 29 January 1931. VL; carbon copy, MHC).

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the Library in Zurich and the university libraries at Tut ;en and Gottingen14. Noting that Monsignor Tisserant «was very urgent» that ]Bishop visit Rome the coming summer 15, an d after finding that in the fun!ds av ailable for cooperation with the Vaticana there was a sufficient bal!ance which was not definitely committed, Haskell informed Bishop that they could «earmark $3,000 to cover his visit to Rome accompanie:d by Mrs. Bishop»Bishop» 16. O nce «all the obstacles» which had seemed to m£tke his visit to Rome that summer «doubtful» had disappeared, Bisho p wrote to Monsignor Tisserant that it was sure that he would go. Hi; hoped to come to Rome while he was there, «with the expectation that they could «spend two or even three weeks in conference, checking up orl all sor ts ot things»,things», and particularly placing himself at his disposa1 «for any assistance in planning the future development of the Vatica n Library» under Tisserant's direction 17. While «very glad indeed» to know that Bishop could come, Tisserant was «a little troubled» that he h ad to come during the summer when it was hot in Rome. He hoped to If:ave for his summer vacation in June and to be back no later than 4 August. If Bishop wanted it, he could return by 31 July 18. The Norme per il catalogo degli stampati was publish!ed in early

14 William Warner Bishop to Eugene Tisserant, 4 February 1931. VL; carbon copy, MHC. About Graglia's library training, Bishop had written to Monsignor T isserant jus t a few days earlier: «It will be highly desirable to have him spend the summer session in Ann Arbor, getting familiar with En glish and taking the firs t semest er's work in Cata loging and Cla ssification, which is off ered in the sum mer session. He will the n i be ab le to do more practice work in the Library during the autumn and can profit by Professor Mann's courses both in the autumn and in the second semester. The summer sessioni opens on the twenty-ninth of June. I am en closing a copy of the circular descr ibing t he cour ses in Library Science. In ca se I am no t here at the tim e Dr. Graglia arrives, I w ill arrange for lodging and for proper consultation about his work». (William Warner Bishlop to Eugene Tisserant, 29 January 1931. VL; carbon copy, MHC). 15 Henry S. Has kell to Wil liam Warner Bisho p, 31 January 1931. ‫י‬Carbon cop y, CUA 94208. 16 Henry S. Ha skell to William Warner Bish op, 6 Februar y 1931. 1 Carbon cop y, CUA 94211. Haskell would probably be in Rome during the last week of Juily, but he did not wish that Monsignor Tisserant modify his plans as his own plans could change at the last moment in case «any special work for the Endowment» would make this «desirable». (Ibid.). 17 William Warn er Bishop to Eugene Tisse rant, 27 Fe bruar193 1‫״‬ . VL; carbon copy, MHC. 18 Eugene Tisserant to William Warner Bishop, 4 March 1931. MHC.

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February 19. B esides codifying the rules for the descriptive cataloging of books, the code also included a chapter on subject heaclings, which was an innovation. The typographical appearance of this la rge volume was attractive and the book included a well‫־‬p)reparcd. index. When work on the dictionary catalog had started in March 1928, the Italian Regole were adopted with modifications, bringing them closer to t he 1908 AngloAmerican rules and allowing them to better serve the Iibrary's users20, However, after a few months, it was realized that these ]provisional rules were insufficient and that a completely new code whs net;ded. Many new questions came up, «unforeseen problems arose, which v/ere not covered by the rules adopted, or the rules that were suppose!d to be applied would give the most unexpected and strange results». Consequently, additional rules had to be established, and definitions /ere written and supplemented by adequate examples. In a short tiime the «file of additions, decisions, definitions, and examples grew so large that it was decided to compile an entirely new set of rules, fitted feen «made available to some extent to scholars and that the treasures of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana will be completely and scientifically recorded in the not too distant future» 36. March was a very busy month for Monsignor Tisserant; he wrote to Bishop: «Spring is always the most difficult season for the head of the

33 Ibid. Monsignor Tisserant noted : «If the Library o f Congr ess ir itends to print soon the ca rds for the inc unabula o f the Vollb ehr co llection, it wo uld b '2 «•> ti ~G ^2 O 6 Of OJ y, CUA 94281.

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manuscripi of Aegidius Romanus, and the other on his «De regimine principum»57. When the Library reopened on 15 September, Monsignor Tisserant was hoping that Dr. Vian would be «making progress in English conver­ sations He wrote to Bishop: «He is a little timid, but he seems to me a very good element and I should regret very much [if] the insufficient knowledge of [the] English language should forbid him to make the right profit in the schools When his niece Marie-Madeleine and his nephew Joseph left for Nancy to go back to school, Tisserant's niece Marguerite-Marie remained with him; her sister Marie-Therese would come back in October. After Monsignor Tisserant's nieces grew up, they were often his guests for long periods of time. Marie-Therese had spent che last couple of years with him, attending the prestigious Italian Academy of Fine Arts. Judging from his letters, the busy administrator of the Vaticana enjoyed the company of his young relatives and liked to care for them58. After the Vaticana granted permission lor making a Spanish trans­ lation of the Norme, the Pan American Union had some difficulty finding a translator. Unfortunately, the Union was unable to pay for the translation; thus, it would have to be done by a person who was «so keenly interested in the development of better library conditions» as to be willing to do it «voluntarily». The librarian of the Union was writing to Buenos Aires in the hope of locating there a person who knew Italian, Spanish and library science sufficiendy well to make «a good translation^9. Bishop, who thought that a translation of the Norme into Spanish would be «of great value», advised Monsignor Tisserant to «arrange to have

57 William

Warner Bishop to Gerardo Bruni, 26 August 1932. Carbon copy, MHC. Tisserant to W illiam Warner Bishop, 13 September 1932. MHC. In this letter, Tisserant thanked Bishop for the explanation the latter had given to Prof. Edwards about the tempo rary union catalog at the V aticana. Bishop had recom mended that it be done, but it was Monsignor Tisserant who had supervised the combining of the Library's «old cards in a sin gle series». He had w anted to com bine these cards many years earlier and had recom mended the projec t to Monsignor Ratti, after he became Pr efect of the Vaticana. However, the obj ections made b y Monsignor M ercati, the n and afte r the war, prohibited Tisserant from doing what he thought was «the first requirement in m anaging the Library's printed books. Tisserant remarked to Bishop: «Your recommen dation removed the impedim ent and gave m e confidence. And so you r interve ntion was ve ry efficient». (Ibid.). 59 Charles E. Babcock to Eugene Tisserant, 15 September 1932. Copy, MHC. 58 Eugene

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Chapter XV

proof sheets, possibly page proofs» submitted to hini «as an elementary precautions which he thought «c]11ite ne cessary in dealing with the Pan American Union». He also suggested the name of a piossible translator60. The publication in the following year of a new Belgian cataloging code further proved the international influence exerted 1by the Norme. The Regies catalographiques a I'usage des bibliotheques de Belgique61 were compiled in order to put an end to the «lamentable: si tuation» and the «procedes anarchiques» that existed in Belgian libraries, «to unify» their cataloging rules, and «to arrange an effective and u seful cooperation». The Vatican librarians were glad to see that the Not"me had «exerted a direct influence on this work of uniformation in Belgium» and rejoiced that through their work «the ideal of the internationail coo peration made a real step forward in Europe^. The compilers of th e new Belgian rules admitted that they had taken inspiration not only froni usages followed in Belgium but also from similar rules used in foreign countries. They had: «fait des emprunts notamment, aux regies de la Vati cane, aux "Instructions prussiennes" et aux regies frangaises» 62. The statistics for the summer quarter of 1932 we:re lower than those of the previous quarters, mainly because of the vac*itions of the «extra staff» in this period. Most of them had resumed their work on 1 October, and the others would be back soon63. All ten manu script indexers had taken summer vacations, most of them for two mojnths. Together they had analyzed 104 volumes for the Summary Inde3c, producing 3,042 cards. The file of incipit cards had grown by 1,187 cards (copied from

60 William W arner Bish op to E ugene Tisserant, 29 August 1932. VL, carbon copy, MHC. About the tran slation, Bishop wrote: «It mig ht not be unj advisable to suggest that at the Lib rary of Con gress there is M r. Cecil K . Jones, a sp ecialist in S panish American bibliography, as w ell as a clas sifier and cata loger of grea t expei rience, who could be of great use in a n adv isory ca pacity for th is translation. I kno w thai: Jones would like to do something of thi s sort under ordi nary ci rcumstances, and I kno w also tha t Dr. Putnam would be glad to have him give some time to it...». (Ibid.). 61 Regies catalographiques a 1'us age des biblioth eques de Belgique (Bruss els: R. Henriquez, 1933). 62 Igino Giordani to Will iam War ner Bisho p, 8 June 193 4. MHC. In this letter, Giordani made a «hasty comparison» of the tw o codes, quoting i:rom the introduction of the Regies. The authors of the R egies hoped that the rul es woulc1 be adopted by B elgian scientific libraries, thus al lowing th e Belgian N ational Li brary to print standard cards to be used by libraries throughout Belgium. (Ibid.). 63 Eugene Tisserant to Henry S. Haskell, 6 October 1932, C 94291.

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manuscripts and printed books)64. Of the extra staff, only Prof. I^evi della Vida had worked during the summer, cataloging Arabic Musliitl manuscripts. Father Van Lantschoot had resumed the cataloging 0 f Coptic manuscripts on 10 September, and Prof. Graf that of Arabic