Stanbrook Press Collection circa 1950-1989 MS.2003.020

http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2868

Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467 617-552-3282 [email protected] http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Historical note...... 6 Scope and Contents note...... 8 Arrangement note...... 8 Collection Inventory...... 9 Series I: Bookplates...... 9 Series II: Broadsides...... 9 Series III: Cards...... 9 Series IV: Clippings...... 9 Series V: Correspondence...... 9 Series VI: Exhibitions...... 10 Series VII: Invitations and programs...... 10 Series VIII: Pamphlets...... 10 Series IX: Poems...... 10 Series X: Prayers...... 10 Series XI: Price lists and advertisements...... 10 Series XII: Specimen pages and prospectuses...... 10

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 2 - Summary Information

Library Unit Archives and Manuscripts Department

Title Stanbrook Abbey Press collection

Date [inclusive] circa 1950-1989

Extent 3.25 Linear feet (4 boxes)

Language English

Language of Materials note Materials are written predominantly in English, with some Latin.

Abstract The Stanbrook Abbey Press collection contains materials created by the Press and its head printer, Sister Hildelith Cumming. Press materials make up the bulk of the collection and include bookplates, broadsides, greeting and prayer cards, exhibition programs, invitations, pamphlets, poems, prayers, prospectuses, and specimen pages. A small number of these have been hand-illustrated and illuminated. Correspondence is made up of letters from Sister Hildelith to collectors Philip and Mary McNiff and Thomas F. O'Connell as well as other parties. Materials date from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Preferred Citation note Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection, MS.2003.020, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 3 - Administrative Information

Publication Information Processed by Stephanie Bennett, August 2012. This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit.

Restrictions on access Collection is open for research. Some items, particularly in Series IX. and X., have been hand-illustrated and illuminated by Margaret and Henry Adams. Please do not directly touch the illustrations; this helps preserve their detail.

Restrictions on use Copyright interests have not been transferred to Boston College.

Custodial History note The bulk of the collection was originally collected and maintained by Philip and Mary McNiff in the 1960s and 1970s. Other materials were collected by former Boston College Librarian Thomas F. O'Connell during the same period. Throughout the 1980s, additional materials were acquired through purchases by Boston College.

Provenance Because the current accessioning system was not used until January 1986, it is not possible to know exactly the dates of acquisition of materials received before that time.

Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note Philip J. and Mary Stack McNiff Papers, 1952-1979, MS.1991.019, John J. Burns Library, Boston College. Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Library. Stanbrook Abbey Collection, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 4 - Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Notre Dame Libraries. Thomas Merton Collection, MS.1986.063, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Separated Materials note Books included in the donated materials have been transferred to the Fine Print Collection at the John J. Burns Library.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 5 - Historical note

Stanbrook Abbey Press is a press operated by cloistered nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation of . The Press was established in 1876 by Father Laurence Shepherd and was intended to supply the needs of the English Benedictine Congregation while occasionally printing scholarly or academic works. Stanbrook Abbey Press declined during WWI and WWII, when resource restrictions affected its abilities. After WWII, the press was revived by Sister Hildelith Cumming. Sister Hildelith (also known as Dame in the Benedictine tradition) was head printer for Stanbrook Abbey from 1956 until her death in 1991. Although she had suggested that the printing equipment be sold during the downturn in production, Sister Hildelith devoted herself to improving the Press when she was appointed as its head printer. She earned the Press international renown in fine printing and oversaw important collaborations with typographers John G. Dreyfus and Jan van Krimpen, and the purchase of Eric Gill’s Perpetua type. The Press’s small staff of approximately four and the commitment of the sisters to prayer and song kept its productivity low, even at its height. Notable printed works from the early years of the Press include the Bosworth Psalter, a 1908 printing of an account of a pre-Conquest manuscript. The Psalter was a collaboration with Sir Cockerell, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum and a staunch supporter of the Press. Works commissioned in the post-war revival period include books of poetry by , The Lisping Goddess by artist Sir William Russell Flint, and Russian poet Raïssa Maritain's Patriarch Tree. Trappist monk and Catholic mystic Thomas Merton also worked with the Press, translating works and corresponding with Sister Hildelith. In 2009, the Abbey moved from Stanbrook Hall in , near Worcester, , to a new eco-friendly building in North Yorkshire, near Wass. Margaret Adams, whose calligraphy and illumination work is on display in this collection, was not a Benedictine nun though she worked alongside them for many years. She and her husband, Henry, a skilled illuminator, taught calligraphy and illumination to the nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. They also worked on many Press productions themselves. Philip and Mary McNiff, who collected the majority of the materials in this collection and corresponded with Sister Hildelith, had close ties to Boston College. Philip graduated from Boston College in 1933 and later served on a strategic committee for the University library. Mary worked for St. John’s Seminary, whose campus is adjacent to Boston College. Both McNiffs also had close links to libraries as well; Philip was Director and Librarian of Boston Public Library and Mary acted as Assistant to the Librarian at St. John’s. Sources Butcher, David. Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1956-1990. Lower Marston, England: Whittington Press, 1992. Dreyfus, John. An Exhibit of Productions from Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1876-1966. [Worcester, England?]: [Stanbrook Abbey Press?], 1967.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 6 - Driscoll, Edgar J. Jr. "Philip J. McNiff was director of Boston Public Library; at 82." Boston Globe, November 10, 1994. "Obituaries: Mary McNiff, Brighton librarian." Boston Globe, February 4, 1976. Owens, James. "Stanbrook Abbey's Press." Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. http:// hq.abaa.org/books/antiquarian/abaapages/stanbrookabbey.html (accessed August 2012). Stanbrook Abbey. The Stanbrook Abbey Press: Ninety-two Years of its History. Worcester, England: Stanbrook Abbey Press, 1970.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 7 - Scope and Contents note

The Stanbrook Abbey Press collection contains 3.5 linear feet of materials created by the Press and its head printer, Sister Hildelith Cumming, between 1950 and 1989. Press materials make up the bulk of the collection and include bookplates, broadsides, greeting and prayer cards, exhibition programs, invitations, pamphlets, poems, prayers, prospectuses, and specimen pages. Correspondence is made up of letters from Sister Hildelith to collectors Philip and Mary McNiff and Thomas F. O'Connell as well as a small number of letters from other parties working with Sister Hildelith. Exhibition materials provide useful background on the Stanbrook Abbey Press and details about exhibited materials. Some of the leaflets were also printed by the Press, and one has inlaid photographs. Oversized materials in Series II., IX., and XII. are located in Box 4.

Arrangement note

This collection is arranged in twelve series: I. Bookplates; II. Broadsides; III. Cards; IV. Clippings; V. Correspondence; VI. Exhibitions; VII. Invitations and programs; VIII. Pamphlets; IX. Poems; X. Prayers; XI. Price lists and advertisements; XII. Specimen pages and prospectuses. Series III. is divided further into five subseries, arranged alphabetically: A. Christmas cards; B. Easter cards; C. General cards; D. Holy cards; and E. Postcards. These contain stationery cards as well as one- sided cards that could also be referred to as prayer cards. Subseries E. contains photograph postcards of Stanbrook Abbey and its inhabitants, as well as illustrated cards.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 8 - Collection Inventory

Series I: Bookplates, circa 1959-1976 Box 1 Folder 1

Series II: Broadsides, 1960-1983 Box 1 Folder 2

Box 4 Folder 1

Series III: Cards, circa 1950s-1980s

Subseries A: Christmas cards, circa Box 1 Folder 3-8 1950s-1980s

Subseries B: Easter cards, circa 1950s-1980s Box 1 Folder 9-10

Subseries C: General cards, circa 1950s-1980s Box 2 Folder 1

Subseries D: Holy cards, circa 1950s-1980s Box 2 Folder 2-3

Subseries E: Postcards, circa 1950s-1980s Box 2 Folder 4

Series IV: Clippings, circa late 1960s Box 2 Folder 5

Series V: Correspondence, 1959-1986

Scope and Contents note

This series is made up of correspondence to or from the Stanbrook Abbey Press and its head printer, Sister Hildelith Cumming. The bulk of this series is correspondence from Sister Hildelith to Mary McNiff. There are a few letters from Sister Hildelith to Philip McNiff and to Thomas F. O'Connell. Other letters were sent from Dom David Nicholson, Simon Lawrence, and Five Seasons Press to Sister Hildelith. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name of correspondent or corporate name.

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 9 -

Five Seasons Press, 1985 Box 2 Folder 6

Lawrence, Simon, 1986 Box 2 Folder 7

McNiff, Philip and Mary, 1959-1980 Box 2 Folder 8-13

Nicholson, David, 1986 Box 2 Folder 14

O'Connell, Thomas F., 1962-1964 Box 2 Folder 15-16

Series VI: Exhibitions, 1965-1977 Box 2 Folder 17

Series VII: Invitations and programs, Box 2 Folder 18 1982-1987

Series VIII: Pamphlets, 1958-1987 Box 2 Folder 19-20

Series IX: Poems, 1957-1983 Box 3 Folder 1-3

Box 4 Folder 2

Series X: Prayers, 1959-1983 Box 3 Folder 4

Series XI: Price lists and advertisements, Box 3 Folder 5 1959-1976

Series XII: Specimen pages and prospectuses, Box 3 Folder 6 1960-1969

Box 4 Folder 3

Stanbrook Abbey Press Collection MS.2003.020 - Page 10 -