BOOKS AND RELIGIOUS DEVOTION
ALLAN F. WESTPHALL
BOOKS
AND
RELIGIOUS
DEVOTION
THE
REDEMPTIVE READING
OF AN
IRISHMAN IN
NINETEENTH-CENTURY
NEW ENGLAND
THE PENNYSLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westphall, Allan F., author.
Books and religious devotion : the redemptive reading of an Irishman in nineteenth-century New England /
Allan F. Westphall.
p. cm — (The Penn State series in the history of the book)
Summary: “Examines the book collection of Thomas Connary, a nineteenth-century Irish Catholic New England farmer, to reconstruct how Connary read and annotated his books. Reveals how books can structure a life of devotion and social participation, and presents an authentic, holistic view of one reader’s interior life”—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-271-06404-8 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Books and reading—New England—History—19th century. 2. Marginalia—New England—History—19th century. 3. Connary, Thomas, 1814–1899—Library. 4. Books and reading—Religious aspects—Christianity.
I. Title. II. Series: Penn State series in the history of the book.
Z1003.3.N4W47 2014
028’.8097409’034—dc23
2014009572
Copyright © 2014
The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Published by
The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 16802–1003
The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Material, ANSI Z39.48–1992.
This book is printed on paper that contains 30% post-consumer waste.
Frontispiece: Detail of figure 6.
CONTENTS
Preface: A Discovery and Serendipitous Journeys
Studying Used Books: The Plan of the Argument
1 IRISH AMERICAN PRINT CULTURE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: A PRIVATE LIBRARY
F. Lewis [Louis of Granada], The Sinner’s Guide
Thomas H. Kinane, The Dove of the Tabernacle
James Balmes, Fundamental Philosophy
George Foxcroft Haskins, Travels in England, France, Italy, and Ireland
Reading for Guidance and Edification: “Book Keeping” in the Connary Household
EPIPHANY: “SEEING VERY PLAINLY”
2 “LABORING IN MY BOOKS”: THOMAS CONNARY’S BOOK ENHANCEMENTS
Enhancing “the Blank Paper Surface Room”
Decorative Embellishment and Extra-Illustration
Newspaper and Magazine Clippings
Diary and Miscellaneous Records
Prayers and Religious Assertions
Planning Reading
A Reader’s Responses
The Autonomous
