It’s nearly impossible to sum up the literary output of the early Jesuits. In the first one hundred years of their founding the Jesuits had already defined their particular interests and activities on a broad scale, and in ways that would carry forward up to the present day. It would begin with their founder’s own classic text, the Spiritual Exercises, a call to both contemplation and faithful action, and the Constitutions, which anchored a widespread and diverse society in a common mission, structure, and language. As the Jesuits expanded and grew, anchored in these sources, their mission became partly realized through literary works as diverse as pedagogy, contemplation, theology, biblical studies, scientific research, playwriting, rhetoric, linguistics, exploration, hagiography, and their own history.
The selected volumes are an attempt to represent the early sources of Jesuit identity (the Spiritual Exercises - 1576; the Constitutions - 1583), the society’s turn to pedagogy (the Ratio Studiorum - 1598), its scientific interests (Clavius’ Sphere - 1585; Farrari’s De Florum Cultura - 1633), its theatre (Pandorus - 1600), its history (Orlandini’s Historiæ Societatis Iesu - 1620), its hagiography (Barolomeo Ricci’s Trivmphvs Iesv Christi Crvcifixi - 1608), and its missionary letters (Tre lettere annve del Giappone - 1609). The selected works are by no means comprehensive of all that the Jesuits were interested or involved in, but only a small sample of the many treasures of the early society found within the Woodstock College Library.
Italian Jesuit Giovanni Ferrari’s botanical work on gardens and flowers is one of the first to depict an image, a Chinese Rose seed, using a microscope, predating Robert Hooke’ Micrographia by 30 years.
This first authorized latin edition of the Constitutions, originally drawn up by Ignatius and his Secretary Juan de Polanco, codified the successive stages of Jesuit formation and the government of the society.
To govern a widespread society, Jesuits were required to inform their superiors in Rome about the circumstances of their missions every year. These letters, known as the litterae annuae, became important sources of information on “the New World.” The letters on view are written by Matteo Couros and Giovanni Giron and addressed to the Father General Claudio Aquaviva, providing information on the state of Christianity in Japan, the Jesuit colleges, and mission activities.
The Ratio Studiorum defined the pedagogical program of Jesuit schooling, with a foundation in Latin, Greek, philosophy, drama, rhetoric, and theology, and was codified with the 1599 publication.
German Jesuit, Christoph Clavius, was a highly influential mathematician, writing the standard mathematical textbooks of the day. He was also in correspondence with mathematicians and astronomers such as Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and Tycho Brahe. Clavius’ Spherae, shown here, is an explanation of Ptolemaic astronomy.
Jesuit theatrical production was an important part of education, inculcating rhetorical skills in their students, and serving as both promotion and entertainment. The Pandorus is a manuscript collection of Latin plays put on at the English College of St. Omer, France.
The Society of Jesus was frequently a persecuted society, with Jesuit missionaries often martyred for their faith. Jesuits memorialized these figures through numerous works that valorized their work and promoted the faith. A page from Bartolomeo Ricci’s work depicts the martyrdom of Jesuit missionaries in Japan.
Jesuit historians, particularly of their own society, have been a feature from the beginning. Niccolo Orlandini, arguably the first society historian, began the Historiae Societatis Iesu at the behest of Father General Claudio Acquaviva, though he did not live to see its completion.
Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, a contemplative classic, needs no introduction, informing the heart of Jesuit spiritual life to this day. The Woodstock College Library is blessed to own the 1548 first edition, though due to preservation concerns, the very rare 1576 edition is displayed. The first edition can be seen in the Booth Family Center for Special Collections.
Curated by Adrian Vaagenes, Woodstock Librarian