Belvedere Book - Jesuits at Belvedere College S.J. from 1832

The Board of Management of Belvedere College commissioned Eneclann to create a manuscript as a testament to the legacy of the Jesuit priests to Belvedere since 1832. The purpose was to create a manuscript book suitable for presentation and ultimately for long-term preservation in an archive. The result is a magnificent manuscript book hand bound in fine leather, which draws on the finest traditions of calligraphy and book binding in Ireland.

 

 

 

The manuscript is in the format of a book, a page for every year, and includes the names of all priests, brothers and scholastics, and their professional duties in the College.

This information was originally recorded in Latin in the annual Catalogues of Jesus in Ireland published from 1821 to the present, Eneclann Translated the text and it is recorded in English in the manuscript book. The earliest reference to the College in the Catalogues is in 1838 when it states ‘In this year there were five priests and one brother’ with no further information given. After 1851 the entries in the Catalogues are complete with full details given.

There are over 250 pages in the book all of which are hand written by calligraphers, Ronan Crinion and Liam O' Connor. Once the calligraphy was complete the volume was bound in a fine leather binding, and a linen presentation box was prepared to hold the completed manuscript book.

The materials for the manuscript were all sourced in Ireland. The paper is acid-free with a high (50%) linen rag content, which is suitable for archival preservation, the marble endpapers are hand made, the headboards are linen and the hollow-back spine is also linen. The binding of calfskin is hand-sewn with five bands on the spine and fully hand tooled; the presentation box is also handmade in linen.

 

The Bookbinding and cover design was undertaken by conservation bookbinder, Paul Curtis, of Mucros Conservation Bookbinding, Kilarney, Co. Kerry. The front cover is made from three different leathers of varying colour and texture. The design draws on the iconographic images of the saint to whom the college is dedicated, St. Francis Xavier. The icons chosen were a crab and a sailing boat, which symbolise Xavier’s, and the Jesuits mission over almost half a millennium. The sailing boat represents St. Francis Xavier’s mission while the crab represents one of his miracles recognised by the church. The coastline of the Indian Ocean is outlined on the binding, this is the area of St Francis Xavier’s mission in the early 15th Century.

It's a historical artefact which draws on traditional skills but also says something of the time in which it was crafted. throughout this project Eneclann sought to “quote” from past traditions rather than simply “repeat them” verbatim.