On May 29th,  the world will celebrate the enduring legacy of the remarkable English author, critic, Catholic apologist, and philosopher, G. K. Chesterton, on what would have been his 150th birthday. Revered as “the apostle of common sense,” Chesterton’s literary repertoire spans across various genres – from prose to poetry, drama to journalism – covering a wide array of topics including history, theology, and current events, all infused with his distinctive wit and irony.

While many know Chesterton for his influential autobiography, Orthodoxy, where he vividly recounts his journey to Christianity, his contributions extend far beyond this seminal work. A convert to Roman Catholicism in 1922, Chesterton is perhaps best remembered for his metaphysical thriller, The Man Who Was Thursday, his noted work of apologetics, The Everlasting Man,  biographies of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas and, of course, the beloved Father Brown mystery series.

At the St. Thomas Libraries’ Special Collections Department, we curate a treasury of over 2,000 first editions, fine printings, and foreign translations of Chesterton’s literary masterpieces. This collection is one of the most comprehensive gatherings of its kind in the United States. For more information see our website.

On this Veteran’s Day, which marks 100 years after the Armistice was declared for the First World War, it is fitting to reflect on the role St. Thomas played in the war.  Nearly 900 students, faculty, staff and alumni of the College of St. Thomas and St. Thomas Military Academy served during the conflict.   Many took up commissions as officers in the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.  Others served in the the fledgling aviation corps, the ambulance corps or as members of Canadian and British military units.   At least 20 men with connections to St. Thomas lost their lives during while serving their country — some on the battlefield and some from the Spanish Influenza outbreak.

 A group of St. Thomas alums who served during WWI, Kaydet, 1918.

During the autumn of 1918, the College of St. Thomas served as a site for one of the United States War Department’s units of the Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.).  The S.A.T.C utilized the facilities, equipment, and faculty of colleges and universities across the country to select and train officer candidates and provide technical and vocational training for recruits.

The St. Thomas Student Army Training Corps, 1918.

A barracks building was built on campus (near the site of the current Anderson Student Center) in the fall of 1918 to house the 250 men in the program.  The building was occupied for only a short time as the S.A.T.C. unit was demobilized in December 1918 after the armistice was declared.

Armory and S.A.T.C. barracks, 1918.

For more information on the history of St. Thomas during this period, search the Kaydet yearbooks and Purple and Gray magazine in the Historic University Publications database.

Quantecong a Chinese Deity

In the early decades of the 18th century, Bernard Picart and Jean Frederic Bernard collaborated on a project which became a “best-seller” of its time.   Picart, a noted engraver, and  Bernard, a Huguenot bookseller and publisher, created a text which captured the ritual and ceremonial life of all the known religions of the world.   The first volume of this monumental nine volume work was published as Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieues de tous les Peuples du Monde in 1723.

The authors’ aim was to present all religions (including those practiced by “idolatrous peoples”) as objectively as possible — highlighting what common between religions more than how the religions differed from one another.  Marriage and funeral customs, for example, are described in detail for nearly every religion.   Picart’s lavish illustrations accompany many of the most important rituals.

This work  was translated into French, German, English and Dutch and published in numerous editions over the next 100 years. The University of St. Thomas Libraries Rare Book collection holds two early versions of this influential title – one written in English and another written in French.

Adoration of Fire by the Natives of Virginia

For more information on the UST Libraries rare books and manuscripts collections see our website.