The ‘Little Treatise’

The Russell Library Cataloguing Project, because of its variety and size, will always generate interest and excitement for the cataloguer. This is true whether we speak of the items themselves, their provenance, or the frequency with which they occur in electronic catalogues of national, international and academic libraries. More intriguing is the situation where no obvious signs of a presence are found, indicating perhaps, a certain rarity. Once in a while, however, a gem appears and such was the case with the ‘Little Treatise’ of Chrysanthos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, printed in Venice in 1778.

The text measures 34 cm with 164 pages, is finely decorated, and in a printed paper binding, half-bound in goatskin.

Because this text is in Greek, a transliteration was necessary for inclusion in our electronic catalogue. As this was proving difficult, we sought the help of Emeritus Professor Dan O’ Connor, former professor of Old Testament, in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He graciously gave us his help but encouraged us to contact another Greek scholar also associated with Maynooth, Emeritus Professor George Huxley, in Oxfordshire. His response was welcoming and immediate, and he took considerable time and trouble to produce a word for word transliteration of the entire title- page.

Shelf mark: LG 1 55

Professor Huxley’s help enabled the staff of the Russell Library to create a record and in a new departure, a jpg. image was attached to the record by the Systems Department, thus enabling scholars and researchers to view the title page as well as a transliterated bibliographic record.

The SPCM Library committee members were also interested to hear that this library holds a rare Greek liturgical text in very good repair, being 230 years old.

By coincidence, Professor Huxley was coming to Maynooth in November to deliver a lecture to the Mathematics Department, and indicated an interest in viewing the text. To celebrate his visit and to thank him for his scholarly intervention, we mounted a small exhibition of Russell Library treasures which would be of interest to him.

Professor G. Huxley

Professor Huxley commented that this was his first visit to the Russell Library since the mid 1960s and was extremely impressed by the collection of works on display.

As a consequence of his visit in November, he has given money to found The George Huxley Russell Library Fund, specifically to buy, repair or conserve Russell Library materials, at the discretion of the staff. This was a clear indication of appreciation of the Russell Library and its collections. May the Fund flourish following this founding gift from our benefactor.