Our librarian wrote an essay on what he calls the Taichung polyglot, a draft for a multilingual Chinese dictionary produced in Taiwan in the 1950s and now held in part at the Library. This draft is part of the paper trail of the Chinese-French Grand dictionnaire Ricci. web.bc.edu/ricci/

Our staff is in the process of cataloguing a recently donated collection of archival material. A cursory survey suggests that the collection primarily contains French-language letters and newspaper clippings relating to the Catholic church in China in the first half of the twentieth century.

A truckload (over 1,700 lbs.) of books—a donation from Ms. Tsutsui Suna (Kirishitan Bunko, Sophia University)—arrive from Japan. We will catalog these books in the coming months and update you on our progress.

Chen Cui 崔晨 (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) just published an article on medievalism in Giulio Aleni’s 艾儒略 (1582-1649) translation of Catholic liturgy. The article is based in part on research carried out at the Library. The article is open access: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16... Congratulations!

One of the Institute's jijin 祭巾, headgear worn by Catholic priests in late imperial China. The jijin was first described by Giuilo Aleni 艾儒畧 (1582-1649) in his Misa jiyi 彌撒祭義 (Meaning of the rite of the mass, preface dated 1629). The pictured jijin is small and probably belonged to an altar boy.

New arrival: He Bian and Mårten Söderblom Saarela, The Manchu Mirrors and the Knowledge of Plants and Animals in High Qing China (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Asia Center, 2025). The book includes some discussion of Jesuit influences on Manchu writings and their reception in Europe.

Here we see a conservator at the BnF in Paris repairing a copy of Sinarum scientia, a Latin-language work published using Chinese woodblock printing technology in Guangzhou (Canton) in the 17th century. www.instagram.com/reel/DL2yazH...

We recently bought a late 19th-c. Catholic work published in Shanghai. Cataloguing it, we found a note in pencil with the date 1941. We also found two tram tickets, one with penciled notes in the same hand. We will post about the book itself on a different occasion. For now, please enjoy these.

Congratulations to former RI-HYI Fellow Prof. Son Eunsil on the publication of her article on Thomas Aquinas's views on homosexuality, which presents a reassessment in light of his concept of natural law and human nature. The article can be accessed here: kiss.kstudy.com/Detail/Ar?ke....

Lin Dieken 林迭肯 (Handa 漢達, 1900-1972) et al.'s Guoyu pinyin cihui 國語拼音詞彙 [National-language vocabulary with phonetic transcriptions] from 1944. This dictionary was published in a period when intellectuals of various political stripes were advocating for Chinese language reform.

A number of paintings depicting Jesuit missionaries to Ming and Qing China, as well as Xu Guangqi 徐光啟, were returned to the Institute from the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, where they had been on loan. The paintings were made at the T'ou-sè-wè 土山灣 orphanage in Shanghai before 1915.

Today we celebrated Fr. Robert Carbonneau's birthday at the Institute. Dr. Carbonneau, C.P., in an Archival Specialist at the Ricci Institute. He also teaches in the Theology department at Boston College. Happy birthday, Fr. Rob!

Today the Library received donations adding to a collection related to American missions in Korea and China. We will return with more information once we've processed the material.

Chen Chen 陳辰, a PhD candidate in the School of Philosophy at Zhejiang University and a visiting student at Georgetown, is at the Library doing research on Matteo Ricci's 利瑪竇 (1552-1610) Ershiwu yan 二十五言 [Twenty-five passages], a text largely based on a Latin version of Epictetus' Encheiridion.

Japanese woodblock update: Today we visited the Boston College Digital Scholarship team (ds.bc.edu) in the O'Neill Library to begin the 3D printing of a prototype from the scan made a few weeks ago. This model will not be quite life size. We will return to check on the printing tomorrow morning.

Two illustrations from an undated Japanese manuscript copy of Adam Schall von Bell's 湯若望 (1591-1666) Yuanjing shuo 遠鏡說 [Explanation of the telescope, 1626]. The wormed manuscript has been expertly mended.

Details from a map of Edo (present-day Tokyo) that we have yet to catalog. The library will be closed on Monday, May 26. We wish everyone in the US a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Using photogrammetry, the Boston College Digital Scholarship team (ds.bc.edu) is helping us create 3D models of some of our Japanese printing woodblocks. We have great plans for these scans. Stay tuned.

A Japanese world map from the Tokugawa period that we have yet to catalog. The images show Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica (connected to Australia); North America; western Japan, Korea, and the Chinese coast; and Brazil.

Jie Zhang (Arizona State University) is helping us identify the source of images in a recently acquired early 20th-century Chinese book on the passion of the Christ.

Jie Zhang (Arizona State University) is visiting the library to do research on interreligious exchanges in printed illustrations between the 17th and 19th century. For more information on Ms. Zhang and her work, see search.asu.edu/profile/4784....

Recent addition: Xu Zhenglin 許正林, Ming-Qing chuanjiaoshi dui Zhongguo wenhua de chuanbo 明清傳教士對中國文化的傳播 [The transmission of Chinese culture by missionaries in the Ming and Qing period] (Beijing: Zhongjiao wenhua chubanshe, 2023).

We arrived early today and saw the morning sun shine diagonally on one of our Japanese printing blocks that were out on display. It was time for some macro photography. Note the Japanese reading marks on the side of the Chinese characters, which are, as the technology demands, carved in reverse.

New arrival: Liu Geng 劉耿, Xinfeng wanli: Shiqi shiji Yesuhui Zhongguo nianxin yanjiu 信風萬里：17世紀耶穌會中國年信研究 [Ten thousand li of prevailing winds: studies on the Jesuit annual letters from China in the seventeenth century] (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2024), in two vols.

Louis le Comte 李明 (1655-1728) writing that the Chinese language only has "three hundred and thirty words." Should be easy to learn, right? Sadly, he means syllables, excluding tones. This is the 3rd French ed. from 1698 (1st ed. 1696) and the English trans. from 1697. Full citations in the alt text.

A newly restored painting of Our Lady of China (中華大聖母 or 東閭聖母) is being installed on the wall of the reading room. Read more about the painting here: web.bc.edu/ricci/indexT.... Photos by Professor Joseph W. Ho (@joseph-w-ho.bsky.social), who is currently doing research at the institute.

The Burns Library at Boston College ( @burnslibrary.bsky.social ) has catalogued five recently acquired oaths taken by Catholic missionaries and Chinese priests in the mid-18th century. Products of the so-called "Rites controversy," the oaths renounce the Chinese rites. shorturl.at/sUmjc

Easter Greetings from our Stanbrook Abbey Press collection. Operated by cloistered nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation of Our Lady of Consolation, the press printed works by Thomas Merton, Siegfried Sassoon, and Raïssa Maritain. This card is one of many of the press's fine art cards.

Laurent Tsang's 張俊聲 French grammar for Chinese students, first published in 1898 (this ed. from 1924). Note the term wenfan 文範 for "grammar." This term did not survive in modern Chinese. Gao Mengqi's 高孟啟 preface claims that French is the clearest of all Western languages.

Published in 1973, this dramatization of the Last Supper was used by groups in homes, schools, and parish groups. It now lives at Burns Library. Have you ever used a drama as part of your Holy Thursday observance? Tell us about it in the replies

One of Henri Havret's 夏鳴雷 (1848-1901) studies of the Christian stele erected in Chang'an in 781 CE. Today we highlight the seals of the Jesuit center at Sienhsien 獻縣, which is older, and their language school in Taiwan, which is more recent. The book took a long journey to reach the Library.

Rudolf Löwenthal 羅文達 (1904-1996) et al.'s study of the religious periodical press in China, published in 1940. A slip on the inside cover notes the prevailing paper shortage in Beiping (Beijing) at the time. Löwenthal had a few years earlier written a study of China's paper production and imports.

This #NationalLibraryWeek, a special thank you to our Burns Library workers who are call number experts and book truck drivers. Your hard work gets materials out of our stacks and into the hands of our researchers and students. Burns Library works because you do!

H.G.C. Hallock's 赫顯理 (1870-1951) Chinese almanac (Riyong zhiming 日用指明) for the year 1932. The almanac was published by the American Presbyterian Mission Press 美華書館 in Shanghai. From what we can gather, publication began sometime in the 19th century. We don't know when it ceased.

Shenxiu jianghua 神修講話, Jean Nicolas Grou's (1731-1803) lectures on Christian asceticism, in Chinese translation by Yao Ruo 堯若. The book was published at the Jesuit T'ou-sé-wé 土山灣 orphanage in Shanghai. The date 1953 is the most recent of any T'ou-sé-wé publication held by the Library.

Addi Liu (Cornell University) visited the Library to look at some recently catalogued rare materials. Mr. Liu is interested in the transmission of music theory and material culture between early modern Europe and China. Learn more about his research here: music.cornell.edu/addi-liu

When DC Comics launched the anthology series Solo in 2004, it represented a daring and refreshing experiment in comic book storytelling. Read more in our latest blog! https://johnjburnslibrary.wordpress.com/2025/03/24/a-spotlight-on-dc-comics-solo-a-creative-anthology-ahead-of-its-time/

A shipment of rare materials arrived at the Library. We're looking forward to cataloguing these and sharing them with you.

Siying Li (Indiana University) visited the Library to do research on Manchu Christians in China in the seventeenth century. Read more about Ms. Li's research here: history.indiana.edu/graduate/cur...

Our staff attended the New York Antiquarian Book Fair to hunt for treasures for the Library.

Shengjiao rike 聖教日課 [Tianzhu jingke 天主經課], a book of Christian prayers published in Sichuan in 1780, with related bibliographical research by Paul Brunner, S.J. According to a contemporary letter, "Two [local Chinese] Christians] have taken on to have it printed at their own expense."

David Rivera (Princeton University) visited the Library to do research on public celebrations and spatial imaginaries in the Early Modern Iberian Pacific. Learn more about Mr. Rivera and his research here: spo.princeton.edu

Researchers from Ignatianum University in Kraków visited the Institute to discuss a project to produce a critical edition and translation of Tomasz Dunin Szpot, S.J.'s (1644–1713) history of China. A reproduction of Szpot's manuscript is available at the Library: web.bc.edu/ricci/indexT...

Amanda and Anthony Clark (Whitworth University) visited the Institute and donated a few treasures to the library.

Our staff surveys the library's holdings in Chinese missionary linguistics for a fledgling project.

The Ricci Institute and the library hosted several groups of Renaissance Society of America conference attendees yesterday. Director Antoni Ucerler, S.J., showed our guests around and introduced them to our collections. #RSA2025

Alert! We recently acquired this 1863 record documenting the military enrollment status of the adult male population of Newton. Want to check it out? Visit us! @shamrockgen.bsky.social @dlgenealogist.bsky.social @lizlgenealogy.bsky.social

Antonio LoPiano from the Boston College Digital Scholarship Group led a workshop on 3D scanning of art objects for attendees of the Renaissance Society of America conference that is currently held in Boston. Dr. LoPiano used objects from the Ricci Institute collections.

Library staff member Mårten Söderblom Saarela just published two short essays discussing Manchu materials held at the Berlin State Library. The whole book, which includes much material on the history of Sinology in Germany, is available in open access at repository.crossasia.org/receive/cros...