Library Receives Rare Book and Manuscript Donation
WSHU’s classical music programming leads longtime fan to gift collection to SHU
As Margaret Poppell of Bay Shore, NY, contemplated her 106th year, she realized she needed to make plans for her cherished collection of rare books and manuscripts so they would be valued and cared for in the future. Poppell, an avid listener of WSHU―Sacred Heart University’s National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate station―thought the University would make a perfect home for some of her beloved texts.
“I felt that they should be with someone who would understand them and therefore appreciate them. That’s the reason I looked to you,” Poppell told library staff and SHU faculty members in a virtual meeting. “I listen to your radio station every day, and I thought that people who would be inclined to have that kind of programming would be more apt to appreciate these items.”
Poppell reached out to Sacred Heart through her daughter, Beverly Poppell. Working with Susan Luchars, SHU’s resources development and assessment librarian at the Ryan Matura Library, they arranged for an initial donation of De Statu Animae, libri tres, written by Claudianus Mamertus and compiled by theology professor Petro Mosellano in 1520. Poppell surprised Luchars with an additional donation—the Decretal Boniface VIII, an Italian work from 1300.
“These rare Catholic materials provide the opportunity for exciting primary source research of religious texts from the Middle Ages that fit nicely with scholarship related to the Catholic intellectual tradition,” said Luchars. “There is so much to be learned from original documents and items.”
As a medievalist and a languages and literature professor, June-Ann Greeley found the donation exciting. “I have a passion for paleography,” she said. “Manuscripts from this era aren’t written out the way we traditionally see text. There are certain abbreviations, notations and clerical details that act as clues. There might be just the first letter instead of a whole word. It takes a lot of time to translate a text first into Latin, then into English.
“You are stepping into an authentic world where a person was sitting there, thinking about what’s being said and writing it down,” Greeley continued. “For anyone with an interest in the history of literacy, it’s a great experience to look at these texts.”
Since their initial contribution, the Poppells have donated another 13 medieval manuscripts, including music and pages from service books and missals, with dates of origin ranging from 1100-1520. These works include Biblical pages from France, a leaf from a Flemish service book, Gregorian chant manuscripts and more.
The works will be housed in a climate-controlled room on the library’s second floor and may be accessed by appointment. “Our plan is to digitize these beautiful items to enable future study and preserve and protect the originals.” said Luchars.
The library is working on expanding its archival collection. The Gloria Naylor archive, which were loaned to Lehigh University professors for processing and digitizing, will be returning to SHU, and library staff members recently accepted the donation of The CT Irish American Historical Society Archives.
Top: Detail image of De Statu Animae, libri tres (1520), and Decretal Boniface VIII (Italy 1300). Inset: Beverly Poppell (left), daughter of Margaret Poppell, presents the book donation to Susan Luchars, SHU's resources development and assessment librarian.