Brenner Library-Quincy University

05/21/2026

🕵️‍♀️ We are working on a very cool request today: reviewing slides from Fr. Tom Brown, OFM's collection by request of one of his former students!

Stepping into the past is especially fun when it's this artistic and colorful. 🎨

05/12/2026

Thank you for the interview, WGEM News - The Tri-States' News Leader!
Researchers and others who wish to know more can reach out here or through the Quincy University website.

QU Brenner Library opens Riggitano Collection to honor Pope Leo XIV’s grandfather

05/11/2026

You never know what you'll find when you look through our stash of cards! Take a guess: how old is this one? 🧐

05/07/2026

Hey, Hawks! Brenner Library is offering extended hours for Finals week starting tonight.
Thursday, 05/07 - open until 1:00 AM
Friday, 05/08 - open 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Saturday, 05/09 - open 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (noon)
Sunday, 05/10 - open 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Monday, 05/11 - open 8:30 AM to 1:00 AM

*11:00 PM to 1:00 AM, please enter through the SSC doors & come up the stairs or elevator*

04/30/2026

The month of Celebration is here! Celebrating our graduates and our Mothers! May is upon us!

04/21/2026

Welcome to enjoy National Library Week with us! Stop by and show us you know how to find a book on the shelf and get a prize!

03/30/2026

April is upon us with green grass and colorful flowers! The season of rebirth!

03/25/2026

Our Rare Book Monday has been late due to Spring Break and our archivist taking a day off for health reasons. We will not have a Rare Book Monday next week either, unfortunately. As an apology, we’re doing a deep dive into one of our 40 incunabula!
This is a copy of ‘Perlustratio in Librum I Sententiarum”, volume 1, by Saint Bonaventure, also known by its reference code ‘Hain 3541’. Google tells us this translates to “A survey of Book I of the Opinions”, which doesn’t sound quite right to us, but then again we don’t know Latin. The lovely handwritten text translates to “to the library of the Friars Minor, stricter observance of St. Joseph of Paderborn”
Today, Paderborn is one of the most important centers of the computer science industry in Germany, but in 1680 a chapel was consecrated in the Marienloh district, which still is a pilgrimage church to this day. Perhaps this book was a gift to the Franciscans who celebrated mass there.
Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan Bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian, Doctor of the Church, and philosopher. He was canonized in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV, and is the patron saint of bowel disorders due to his suffering from such a malady as a child.
The book was printed in Freiburg, Germany in 1493, by ‘Kilianum Piscator’, which Google tells us translates to ‘Kilian Fisherman’, which doesn’t bring up any information, unfortunately.
As you can see, some metal embellishments were once secured to the cover. The clasps, however, are still intact and functional. Inside we find some very unique printing layouts, which is always fun to see. The black text was printed in using a press, while the colorful letters were added later by hand, to keep the illuminated style of medieval manuscripts.
We also found a bull’s head watermark, which we have seen in several other books in our collection! This means it is either a common watermark used in the area, or a single prolific paper manufacturer.
We hope you enjoyed this deep dive! It was longer, but we ran out of space on Instagram. ❤️

03/24/2026

We have a chalkboard again! It is the children's area in the southwest corner upstairs. Ready for study time! Please use!

03/09/2026

Today's Rare Book Monday, after consulting with our favorite Dungeons and Dragons dice, selected at random what at first appears to be a rather... boring resident of the Huck rare book room. However, it's more than meets the eye.

This is volume 14 of a 15 volume set containing the works and sermons of Jean Baptiste Massillon (1663-1742), a French priest who served as Bishop of Clermont from 1717 until his death. For once, Google Translate didn't have a seizure when trying to decipher these old German gothic blackletter texts. If only it could translate our beloved incunabula so easily...

Massillon was a popular preacher because in his sermons he laid little stress on dogmatic questions, but treats generally of moral subjects, in which the secrets of the human heart and the processes of man's reason are described with poetical feeling. He was selected to be the Advent preacher at the court of Versailles in 1699, delivered a sermon before the young Louis XV in 1718, and gave a funeral oration for King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King. His eloquence was praised by Voltaire and other kindred spirits.

This German translation was printed in Vienna in 1787 by Johann Thomas Edlen von Trattner (1717-1798), the court printer to Empress Maria Theresa. Supported by the Austrian court as he was, he established a massive publishing empire across Central Europe, creating widespread, affordable editions of academic, legal, and educational works.

Our amateur opinion is that this set is one of those affordable versions, as the front and backboards are comprised of several sheets of paper laminated together, rather than vellum or leather. There is some insect damage on the back board, but other than that the very plain cover and blank spine say nothing about the historical importance of the writing inside. There are some lovely flourishes inside the book, as well as a bit of the binding thread peeking out, which gives a glimpse into the book's construction.

Just another reason why one should never judge a book by its cover! Remember that the Huck Rare Book Room is always open to the public, no appointment needed. Come see us sometime!

03/06/2026

We have a new shelf! Riley Dierker's Eagle Scout project was to build a new display shelf for the library! Woodmart Building Center supplied the wood for the project. Thank you, Woodmart! And our National maintenance crew helped hang it. This month, we are celebrating Women's Month with our display!