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Our copy of A description of the Island of Jamaica with the Other Isles and Territories in America to which the English are Related (1678) was very well loved. Almost every blank page or half-blank page is filled with writings from prior owners. #handwriting #marginalia #WriteInBooksYouOwn #WeAdmireTheDoodles300YearsLaterLovely inscription in a copy of Graham Green’s Our Man in Havana which was read in outer space, given to Greene by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy GrechkoSpotted on our hold shelves: Philosophia magnetica in qua magnetis natura (QC751 .C32 1629 Jesuitica) which includes this early map of the world #maps #EarlyMapsOfEarth #AustraliaMeetsAntarticaBreaking out our beloved Book of Kells facsimile for Nancy Netzer’s Early Medieval Art in Ireland and Britain seminar today. The students take an intensive dive through our Irish manuscript facsimiles over multiple class sessions. #bookofkells #irishmanuscript #arthistory #facsimilesFollow us on Twitter!
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Tag Archives: BC History
A Year in Review: 2015-2016
Hello, readers! Thank you for another academic year of following the John J. Burns Library blog. Over the summer we like to take a look back at what has been posted throughout the year both to thank our authors and … Continue reading
A Boston College Pioneer: Reminiscences of Dr. Henry C. Towle, class of 1877 & ‘79
My first visit to Boston College was made when a mere child. I wandered into the ground bordering on James Street and found someone exhuming dead bodies before the building of the Church of the Immaculate Conception…. It was not … Continue reading
Why Boston College Got Ugly: Explaining postwar construction
For more than four decades, the Chestnut Hill grounds of Boston College remained an astoundingly beautiful, Gothic-inspired campus. Critics noted Gasson Hall’s national influence among Gothic revivalism at universities, and, in 1926, Devlin Hall was recognized as “the most beautiful … Continue reading
A Living Memorial: Students react to President Kennedy’s assassination
The music cut off abruptly in the dining hall. Students and faculty crowded around radios to hear the reports from Dallas. In Bapst Library’s auditorium, President Michael Walsh, S.J., led the campus in the rosary. He announced the news before … Continue reading
“A Rededication to the Sacred Things we Call the Humanities.”: The Success of the First Five Years of Father Sweeney’s Humanities Series
When critically acclaimed poet T.S. Eliot left his second lecture at Boston College, he declared, “I want to be invited back. Even when I am unable to go elsewhere, I shall return to Boston College.” And invited back he was, … Continue reading
Sink or Swim: How the Sinking of Lower Campus in 1867 saved the Future of Boston College
Boston College has not always been a sprawling campus divided between lower, middle, and upper campuses. In fact, the entirety of lower campus was underwater in 1948 when the college purchased the “Lawrence Basin” Reservoir from the City of Boston. … Continue reading
