New Acquisition: Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius

Among the most eye-catching books acquired recently by Burns Library is this collection of masses by  the prolific and influential Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Printed in 1570, in Rome, this is the first edition of the third collection of Palestrina’s masses (the first book was printed in 1554; the second in 1567). It includes eight masses for four to six voices.

Title page, Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius, by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

On opening the volume, the first thing you notice are the elaborate woodcut depictions of musical instruments and allegorical figures which border the title page. The decorative elements and large format appear to signal a major composer at the zenith of his career, however by 1570 Palestrina’s prospects were actually dimming. In an essay memorably titled “Publish or Perish,” Jane A. Bernstein writes:

[Palestrina] dedicated his second and third books of masses to Philip II of Spain during a period of financial uncertainty when he was not employed by the papacy and had left his appointment at Santa Maria Maggiore. We know that Palestrina was looking for a position with a foreign ruler at this time, since in 1567 he had entered into negotiations with Emperor Maximilian II in Vienna. His dedications to Philip II also suggest that the Roman composer might not have been in sympathy with the reigning Pope Pius V, since at this time there were clashes between Philip and Pius concerning control exercised over the church in Spain by the crown.

Publication was thus a shrewd, though financially risky, act of self-promotion. Printers in 16th-century Italy operated more like vanity presses than modern publishing houses, so Palestrina probably funded the venture himself.  Though he did not secure royal patronage, Palestrina’s financial worries were resolved when he was offered his former position as chapelmaster at the Cappella Giulia, thereafter enjoying a long and prosperous career.

Typical of polyphonic vocal music of this era, the typeset music is represented by mensural notation. Devised in the late 13th century and in use until about 1600, mensural notation used different shapes to convey the rhythmic duration of notes, an innovation which remains an essential feature of modern musical notation.

Leaves A2v-A3r, Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius, by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Of note are the pages where the printer has amended errors by pasting a corrected section over the misprinted staff. The book is bound in full vellum with the initials C.R. stamped in gilt on the front and back covers.

The discolored areas are pasteover corrections. Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius, by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Front cover, Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius, by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we don’t know who C.R. was, but we do have some clues about a later owner. In pencil on the inside front cover is written “Acquistato da Domenico Mancini di Roma il 23 VI 1971.”

Inscription, front pastedown, Ioannis Petraloysii Praenestini Missarum Liber Tertius, by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

This is a bookseller’s annotation, noting the purchase of the book on June 6, 1971 from one Domenico Mancini, perhaps referring to the 20th-century Italian falsetto singer of that name. 

Emblematic of the Roman School, and a tangible reminder of Palestrina’s reputation for rescuing polyphonic music from the strictures of the Counter Reformation, this volume complements Burns Library’s holdings of Renaissance music, which include a 14th-century Franciscan Antiphonary and a 1546 edition of Cristóbal de Morales’s Missarum liber primus.

• Noah Sheola, Special Collections Cataloging Librarian, John J. Burns Library.

Bibliography:

• Bernstein, Jane A. “Publish or Perish? Palestrina and Print Culture in 16th-century Italy.” Early Music 35, no. 2 (2007): 225-36.

Celebrating Excellence: Boston College’s Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center

This summer, the Boston College Options Through Education Program (OTE) celebrated its 40th Anniversary. Alumni from the OTE Program, including all the way back to its early days as the Black Talent Program in the 1970s, returned to BC’s campus for a weekend of reconnecting, sharing, and meeting the current OTE class of 2019 (graduating class of 2023).

Boston College Chronicle, March 27, 1997. Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center Records, Box 3, BC1986-023.

Burns Library houses the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center Records, containing pieces of the office’s history ranging from yearbook and graduation photographs to campus event flyers and featured articles in The Heights. Yearbooks from OTE classes dating from the summer of 1984 to the summer of 2017 can be found in these records. 

The Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center (BAIC) supports several programs and resources for Boston College Students such as College Counseling, Nursing Outreach, Options Through Education Summer Program, Study Abroad Tuition Remission, and Summer Tuition Remission. Over the last five decades, the BAIC has made and continues to make strides in supporting BC students from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

Options Through Education Class of 2005. Picture from summer of 2001. Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center Records, Box 5, BC1986-023.

Since its founding in 1968, The AHANA Office has undergone several changes, adapting its name to be more inclusive, adding a vast number of on-campus resources, and creating programming geared toward student success.  In 1968, BC President Fr. Michael P. Walsh, SJ, (whose records are also held at Burns Library) began the Negro Talent Search (NTS) Program; over the next decade the program name would change to the Black Talent Program, then Minority Student Programs in 1975.

In 1978, Dr. Donald Brown became Director of Minority Student Programs. During Dr. Brown’s tenure as Director from 1978-2005, the Options Through Education Program was established along with several others, such as the Benjamin Elijah Mays Mentoring Program. 

In 1979 students Alfred Feliciano and Valerie Lewis led a student group that campaigned the Boston College Board of Trustees to change the office’s name from Minority Student Programs to the Office of AHANA (African, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American) Student Programs (OASP).

Options Through Education Class of 1996. Picture from summer of 1992. Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center Records, Box 5, BC1986-023.

That same year, Dr. Brown changed the name of the office’s “Summer Program” to Options Through Education/Transitional Program. In 1988, the office’s name changed from 72 College Road to the Thea Bowman AHANA Center, in honor of Sister Thea Bowman and her many years of activism and ministry. Sister Thea Bowman, F.S.P.A., Ph.D. strove to bring faith and cultural awareness to children across the United States and various countries. After teaching for almost two decades, she served as Consultant for Intercultural Awareness for the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. During this time, she implemented traditional Black teaching techniques and practices that incorporated song, dance, poetry, drama and story. She made over 100 public appearances each year, participating in conferences, recitals, lectures and workshops, where she advocated cross-cultural collaboration. 

Sister Thea received an honorary Doctor of Religion from Boston College in 1989. In 2014, the AHANA office changed its name to its current title, Sister Thea Bowman AHANA Intercultural Center (BAIC).

Digitized Irish Music Now Includes Unpublished Fiddle Playing by Michael Coleman

During a review of recently-digitized audio in John J. Burns Library’s Joe Lamont Irish Music Recordings, we asked our friend and former BC colleague Séamus Connolly to listen to a fiddle segment on tape reel #6 that Joe Lamont’s tracklist identifies as Michael Coleman performing the tune “Collier’s.”

Michael Coleman (1891-1945) was one of the 20th century’s best-known performers of Irish traditional instrumental music. Connolly, an All-Ireland fiddle champion who cites Coleman as a major influence, was delighted to hear this version of “Collier’s.” Since Coleman’s rendition of this dance tune is not found in published discographies or compilations, it seems likely that Lamont had dubbed Coleman’s playing of “Collier’s” from an unpublished—possibly homemade—78-rpm disc. It is preceded by another reel, “Ownie Davis’.”

We invite you to listen to the set of reels here. Example #1 below is the original version digitized from open-reel tape. In example #2, the digitized version has been adjusted to a slightly slower pitch and speed.

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Audio Example #1:

“Ownie Davis'” and “Collier’s Reel” performed by Michael Coleman (fiddle) and unidentified accompanist, 99567 (reel 6), Joe Lamont Irish music recordings, IM.M145.2005, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

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Audio Example #2:

“Ownie Davis'” and “Collier’s Reel” adjusted for speed and pitch, performed by Michael Coleman (fiddle) and unidentified accompanist, 99567 (reel 6), Joe Lamont Irish music recordings, IM.M145.2005, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

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Photograph of Michael Coleman, Box 19 Folder 21, Séamus Connolly papers, IM.M064.1999, John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Coleman learned traditional fiddle and dance in the district of Killavil, a rural part of south County Sligo renowned for music. He left Ireland in 1914, settling in New York just before U.S. recording companies began to focus on the Irish American market. According to the Coleman Irish Music Centre, he made circa 80 commercial recordings (40 two-sided discs) between 1921 and 1936.

Both Coleman and Joe Lamont played traditional Irish fiddle, and both lived in the Bronx. Lamont arrived in New York from County Derry in 1926. He became active in music clubs throughout New York City such as the Paddy Killoran Irish Music Club.

In the 1950s, Lamont acquired an open-reel tape recorder and began amassing and cataloging Irish music field recordings. Joe Lamont Irish Music Recordings features live Irish traditional music in New York from the 1950s and 60s, as well as dubs of commercial and homemade sound discs created years earlier. His collection of open-reel tapes was donated to Burns Library’s Irish Music Archives by his nephew, James Lowney.

Boston College Libraries digitized and described the collection as part of a Recordings at Risk digitization grant project. Plans are in development to stream additional digital audio from selected reels.

We would like to thank former Sullivan Artist-in-Residence Séamus Connolly, as well as accordionist Daithí Gormley, for generously sharing observations and insights about this material while visiting Boston College. We thank Dan Neely and Jimmy Keane for identifying “Ownie Davis.” If you have information to share, a correction to suggest, or would like to inquire about access to collections, we invite you to contact us.

• Elizabeth Sweeney, Irish Music Librarian

Sources consulted

Bradshaw, Harry. “Coleman, Michael.” In Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland, edited by Harry White and Barra Boydell, 214-215. Dublin: University College Dublin Press, 2013.

Bradshaw, Harry. Liner notes. Michael Coleman, 1891-1945. Michael Coleman. Gael Linn CEFCD 161. CD. 1992.

Coleman Irish Music Centre. “The History of Michael Coleman.” colemanirishmusic.com  https://www.colemanirishmusic.com/the-centre/the-history-of-michael-coleman/  (accessed June 6, 2019)

Lowney, James F. “Ireland’s Hills Alive with Fiddler’s Music.” Asbury Park Press. March 12, 1978, p. F12.

O’Shea, Helen. The Making of Irish Traditional Music. Cork: Cork University Press, 2008.

The Session. “Ownie Davis.'” https://thesession.org/tunes/4364 (accessed June 10, 2019)

Smith, Jesse. “Coleman, Michael.” In Companion to Irish Traditional Music, edited by Fintan Vallely, 141-142. Cork: Cork University Press, 2011.

 

1916 Easter Rising

This is the last in a series of seven blog posts highlighting and summarizing important events in Irish history, and Burns Library resources which aid in further study of the topic.  Burns Library holds many Irish history resources and is an invaluable resource for scholars in this field.

The Easter Rising was a short lived rebellion in Dublin, Ireland during Easter week of April 1916. It was staged to gain international recognition for Ireland in order to negotiate independence from Britain. The timing of the Rising was deliberate, as Britain was already engaged in the First World War and had few resources to divert to an Irish rebellion, so there would be more pressure to negotiate with the rebels. The Easter Rising was not a popular rebellion supported by the majority of the Irish population, but was rather a radical effort led by the military council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), with cooperation from the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army, and Cumann na mBan. [1]

The Easter Rising was a chaotic affair, suffering from a lack of support from the general population as well as last-minute changes.  The leaders of the Rising had organized a coordinated attack throughout all of Ireland but the actual result, due to contradictory mobilization orders,  was a Dublin-centered insurrection.

Membership card for the Irish Volunteers (blank), front cover. Box 2, Folder 16, Kathleen Daly Clarke Papers and Collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish Political Materials, 1897-1972, undated (MS 2001-007), John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Eoin MacNeill, head of the Irish Volunteers, did not support rebellion and didn’t even know the Rising was in the works. Once he became aware, he planned to cancel the Volunteers’ usual training maneuvers scheduled for the Easter weekend, but changed his mind upon receipt of the Castle Document.  This document, stating that the British government intended to disarm the volunteers and arrest many of the leading officials in the Irish nationalist movement (Collins 2016, 16), had allegedly been smuggled out of Dublin Castle, the center of the Irish government,  to the IRB. According to Lorcan Collins, “Dublin Castle was quick to label the document as ‘bogus’, but it was certainly based on something authentic.”(Collins 2016, 16) This information—along with information that the Germans were sending arms to support the Rising—convinced MacNeill to support the Rising. He issued an order to the Volunteers to resist disarmament, but countermanded that order when the Aud, a German ship carrying the expected arms, was scuttled off the coast of Cork and Roger Casement, the man who had orchestrated the deal, was arrested.

Membership card for the Irish Volunteers (blank), first 2 pages, Box 2, Folder 16, Kathleen Daly Clarke Papers and Collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish Political Materials, 1897-1972, undated (MS 2001-007), John J. Burns Library, Boston College

The organizers of the Rising met to address this issue and sent a countermand of their own for Sunday and decided to postpone the Rising until Easter Monday due to above confusion. (Collins 2016, 18) The changes in orders caused confusion in rank and file, and many members of  the Volunteers and Cumann na mBan arrived at their assigned positions on Easter Sunday, but did not receive a mobilization order because of the rescheduling. A large number of the force returned home on Sunday night, unaware the Rising was to occur the following day. This severely limited the forces available for the Rising on Monday April 24th.

The military council of the IRB printed the 1916 Proclamation of Irish Independence, which was effectively the manifesto of the Easter Rising, calling for the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in which Irish men and women had rights as citizens. It is important to emphasize that both genders would have rights under the new Republic, as women did not yet have the right to vote in British occupied Ireland.  According to Brendan O’Brien, “by the time the Proclamation was read out the seven signatories knew that defeat was inevitable.”(O’Brien 2007, 12) The fighting would continue for six days in various garrisons throughout Dublin, but the nationalist forces eventually surrendered. Many of the nationalist participants were arrested, and, after trials, 15 men were executed.. This outcome not only created martyrs for Irish independence, but also contributed to greater popular resentment of the English government, which served to retroactively legitimize the Easter Rising and increase support for the radical republican platform.

Burns Library holds the Thomas MacDonagh Papers as well as the Kathleen Daly Clarke Papers and Collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish Political Materials.  Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke were two of the leaders of the Easter Rising and were both executed as a result of the trials that followed. Kathleen Daly Clarke was a founding member of Cumann na mBan and continued to be an influential Irish Republican after the Rising. One interesting item in the Kathleen Daly Clarke collection is a set of “Sinn Fein Rebellion” postcards which feature images of Dublin in ruins after the Rising.   

The “Sinn Fein Rebellion” is a misnomer, as Sinn Fein was not heavily involved in the Easter Rising. However, this party was subsequently blamed for the Rising, and used this reputation to its benefit.. Sinn Fein become more widely supported by connecting their militant nationalism to the Rising and to the martyrs executed by the British. Box 3, Folder 17, Kathleen Daly Clarke Papers and Collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish Political Materials, 1897-1972, undated (MS 2001-007), John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Burns Library also holds the Alfred Noyes Papers, a series of which focuses on Noyes’ Research relating to Roger Casement, his involvement with the German arms deal for the rebel forces, and his trial once arrested.  This series contains correspondence relating to the debate over Casement’s trial, as well as Noyes’ research notes and relevant primary source material he collected, including correspondence from Casement as well as one of his diaries. There is also material on the play Noyes wrote about Casement, The Accusing Ghost, accompanied by related promotional material.

This 1910 broadside, created by Inghinidhe na hEireann (the Daughters of Ireland), dissuades Irish girls from interacting with Irishmen who had volunteered for service in the English army by arguing that interacting with the soldiers who were serving “Ireland’s oppressor” was disloyal to Ireland. Box 2, Folder 12, Kathleen Daly Clarke Papers and Collection of Thomas Clarke and Irish Political Materials, 1897-1972, undated (MS 2001-007), John J. Burns Library, Boston College

Burns Library also holds a large amount of published material related to the Easter Rising.  An example of published primary source material is Voices from the Easter Rising, an edited collection of eye witness accounts of the events of Easter week 1916. Another is the Questionnaire on the Rising of Easter Week 1916 and Associated Events which was produced by the Irish Bureau of Military History and used to gather information from participants or eyewitnesses after the Rising.  The Irish Bureau of Military History has made witness statements from this questionnaire available online. Secondary sources relating to the Rising are also abundant at Burns Library and cover a large variety of topics such as discussion of the trials which followed the Rising, summaries of the Rising, books on the major figures, studies based on individual garrisons in Dublin, and women in the Rising.  Burns Library staff used these resources to create an exhibit in displayed in March of 2017 entitled Irish Women Rising: Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Ireland, 1900-1923. (Broadside Irish Girls)

 

• Sadie Sunderland, Reading Room Assistant, MA Candidate in the Department of History

 

[1] Established in 1913 in reaction to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, The Irish Volunteers was a republican military force dedicated to protecting the rights of Irish citizens. Cumann na mBan was the sister organization of the Volunteers, a women’s organization separate from the Irish Volunteers, but who would work with them as allies to further the cause of an independent Irish republic.  The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was a fraternal organization determined to establish an independent Irish republic which organized and led the Easter Rising.

 

Bibliography

Collins, Lorcan. 1916: The Rising Handbook. Dublin: The O’Brien Press, 2016. John J. Burns Library.

O’Brien, Brendan. Pocket History of the IRA From 1916 Onwards. Dublin: The O’Brien Press, 2007.

British Broadcasting Corporation. “The Rise of Sinn Fein.” bbc.co.uk http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/easterrising/aftermath/af03.shtml (accessed May 1, 2019)

Offbeat, Irreverent, and DIY: The Poetry of Mass Transit

A 1973 Washington Post article profiling Mass Transit and Some of Us Press. Box 11, Folder 6, Terence Winch papers, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

For many of us, the political protest, music, and fashion of the 1960s and 1970s are the most recognizable aspects of the countercultural revolution. But the literature of that era can provide a window into that movement’s values, its struggles, and the society it was trying to create.

In the early 1970s, a group of poets in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. began meeting over the Community Book Shop. They would eventually become known as “Mass Transit” or the “Dupont Circle School.” This group included writers Terence Winch (whose papers we hold), Ed Cox, Michael Lally, Tim Dlugos, Tina Darragh, and Doug Lang. They created a magazine, also titled Mass Transit, with a rotating editorship. Among the early contributors to Mass Transit was the future actress Karen Allen, of Indiana Jones fame, who befriended Terence Winch and others in the circle when she attended readings as an aspiring writer.

Ireland’s Great Famine, An Gorta Mór

This is the sixth in a series of seven blog posts highlighting and summarizing important events in Irish history and Burns Library resources which aid in further study of the topic.   Burns Library holds many Irish history resources and is an invaluable resource for scholars in this field.

This is an image from the Smithsonian Institute of a potato affected by P. infestans. For more details on this bacteria, visit this link

The Irish famine (An Gorta Mór in Irish) of the 1840s remains a topic of interest for scholars.  The famine can be studied through many different facets including social and economic consequences, political processes for relief or lack thereof, and the creation or maintenance of an Irish diaspora as a result of mass exodus of people from Ireland. The famine’s effects  were catastrophic and stressed the already tumultuous relationship between Ireland and England. The fungal infestation Phytophthora infestans caused crop failure, and, spreading quickly in damp conditions, attacked “first the leaves and the stalk, before penetrating beneath the soil to consume the tuber.” (Gray, 1995, 35) Other factors maintained the famine and caused large-scale economic, social, and political disaster: Ireland’s export-centered economy, Irish over-reliance on the potato, and British focus on British interests and use of laissez-faire economics. This famine led to about 1 million Irish deaths through starvation and related consequences (such as illness and disease) and the emigration from Ireland of at least twice that number. Burns Library holds many monographs which focus on Irish famine emigration.

Ireland had experienced a potato famine before in 1741, which Peter Gray cites as having “led to the worst demographic disaster before 1845: up to a quarter of a million died out of a population of around 2,400,000.”  He argues this famine was largely forgotten because it was “followed by a long period of economic development and demographic expansion,” as well as not being seen as anyone’s fault politically. (Gray, 1995, 16) The famine in the 1840s was different, and whether or not the British caused and let this famine flourish through both their action and their inaction is a continued subject of debate.

The Young Ladies Instructor

What does it mean to be educated? How much knowledge, in what areas, are you required to have? The question changes drastically depending on time period, geographic location, gender and class. With such variable answers, books that are meant to give their intended readers a complete education can also provide a window in what being learned meant to certain times, places, and situations.

A small, brown volume here at Burns Library, to which some prior owner carefully affixed the label “Ladies Instructor 1778,” gives one answer to the question of what comprises an education.  Bound in this volume are two books: Mentoria, or, The Young Ladies Instructor in Familiar Conversations on Moral and Entertaining Subjects Calculated to Improve Young Minds, in the Essential, as well as Ornamental parts of Female Education, and its sequel, The sequel to Mentoria or, The Young Ladies Instructor: In Familiar Conversations, on a Variety of Interesting Subjects, in which are introduced, Lectures on Astronomy and Natural Philosophy, expressed in terms suited to the comprehension of Juvenile Readers.

Burns Library’s copy of Mentoria, or the Young Ladies Instructor … and its sequel.