SJ schools | Jesuit Books

Jesuit schools and colleges

Jesuits have been involved in education almost since the Society's foundation, and as Catholic educational establishments were banned in England and Wales, English Jesuits founded schools and colleges on the continent in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These served two groups. The schools provided a Catholic education for the sons of English recusant families, supplying a culturally as well as pedagogically Catholic milieu for these children. Secondly most of the colleges provided training for young Jesuits. Some of these institutions lasted a long time, and had to move several times as political, religious and security issues dictated.

The Jesuit Schools and Colleges had libraries, usually at least two, a Great Library for the Jesuit teachers, and a Junior or Scholastics library for pupils or trainee Jesuits. When they had to move from one location to the next, transporting the books was fraught with difficulties, and taken seriously, yet on occasion disasters happened. When the staff and students of the English Academy left Liège precipitously for Stonyhurst, 13 crates of books were left to be sent on, but were instead impounded at Maastricht by the French Army and sent to Paris.

Clandestine Catholic schools were established in England. Forty two are known from the first half of the seventeenth century, and many had strong Jesuit links including the one at Stanley Grange founded in around 1620 - see below for more. Schools needed books, and the books often bear witness of having been school books, whether through inscription, annotation, or the doodles of a school child.

The English College, St Omers, Bruges, Liège and Stonyhurst

The English Jesuits opened their school at St-Omers in 1593 in what was then the Spanish Netherlands. The English College at St Omer, as it became known, educated English Catholic boys who were not allowed to receive a Catholic education in England. Despite its name it educated boys from Wales, Ireland, the Caribbean and Maryland in America as well as from England. By the 1760s St-Omers was in French territory, so when the French expelled all Jesuits in 1762 the school had to move. It went to Bruges, where it stayed until 1773, when the Jesuits were suppressed. At this point the English boys and their Jesuit teachers went to Liège where they were given refuge by the tolerant Prince-Bishop, and amalgamated with the existing English Jesuit College there, and renamed the English Academy. After 20 years they were again disturbed, this time by the armies of the French Revolution, and moved for a final time, to Stonyhurst in Lancashire. They settled there, the regime in England now being more favourable to Catholic institutions.

The history of the English College in the second half of the eighteenth century is complex and the book provenance for this period can be labyrinthine, especially the time at Liège, when the English College from Bruges and the pre-existing English College already there were amalgamated as the English Academy. The library during the Liège years was developed as a new institution and by 1792, when a catalogue was made, comprised more than 7000 volumes, with the older libraries effectively mothballed. See below for more, and see Whitehead English Jesuit Education p 136-142.

Below is a gallery showing provenance marks for Stonyhurst. We will soon be updating this section with marks for early locations of the School.

Click on any of the images below to find out more.

Photo of a bookplate stuck on the inside of a cover of a sixteenth century book. The bookplate reads: Coll - Stonyhurst 1810

Bookplate for Stonyhurst College A/635

This bookplate for Stonyhurst is dated 1810, but may have been used for several years after that. It was placed upside down at the back of the book.

The same bookplate in the same position is in A/644, a copy of the Spiritual Exercises printed in 1635.

This book also contains the inscribed name of Charles Forrester SFJ (1739-1825) which can be seen on the Individuals page of this website.

Book reference:
Horae in laudem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae ad usum Romanum. Accesserunt denuo aliquot suffragia. Printed at Lyon by William Rovillium. 1560. A/635

Photo of an inscription in a small cursive hand near the top of a flyleaf, which reads Coll-Stonyhurst.

Inscription for Stonyhurst College A/627

Stonyhurst inscription 'Coll- Stonyhurst'. This inscription in the same hand, format and position on the page appears in a number of books.

Book reference:
Heigham, John, A deuout exposition, of the holie masse: VVith an ample declaration of all the rites & ceremonies belonging to the same. Composed, by Iohn Heigham. The more to mooue all godly people, to the greater veneration of so sublime a sacrament. Printed at St Omers. 1685. A/627

The English College Louvain, Liège, Stonyhurst, St Beuno's, Heythrop

The English Jesuits established a training centre for young Jesuits in Louvain in 1614. Here, after completing their time as novices, they would be taught philosophy and theology. In 1621 the College moved to Liège, supported financially by the elector of Bavaria, Maximilian I. An annual 'Bavarian pension' was paid from 1626 until 1741, which allowed for the stability of the College and the flourishing of the education it provided, including its library. When the Society was suppressed in 1773, good relations with the city authorities meant the College was allowed to continue with relatively minor adjustments, and the Ex-Jesuits continued to teach, now as secular clergy. At the same time, the English pupils and masters from St Omers, having been expelled from Bruges, arrived at Liège and all the Ex-Jesuits were combined into one educational establishment, which was given the name the English Academy. This continued until it had to flee to Stonyhurst in 1793. Some of the library made it to Stonyhurst; it is unclear what proportion. It is unlikely that the 13 crates of books confiscated at Maastricht and sent to Paris were the only books that did not survive the journey. The library settled at Stonyhurst and from 1826 at the adjacent St Mary's Hall. However in 1848 St Beuno's in North Wales was opened for the Theologians (a two year part of Jesuit training) and the theology and spirituality collections moved with them, leaving the philosophy collection at Stonyhurst. The library was reunited in 1926 when both parts moved to Heythrop College in Oxfordshire. In 1970 it moved once more, this time to London where, still known as Heythrop College, it became part of the University of London until final closure in 2018. Thanks are due to the Heythrop Library for their help with this history of the institution and its library.

The gallery below contains images which relate to this College. The first two are testament to the early move from Leuven to Liège, with 'Louvainij' struck through in the inscription and replaced with 'Leodij'. Click on any of the images to find out more.

Photo of a title page from 1603 with an inscription in black ink on either side of the printer's device and a shorter inscription at the top of the page in a different hand and ink.

Inscription for the English College at Leuven and Liège. A/H/2

The title page of this book is inscribed for the English College at Leuven. The word 'Leuven' has been struck through and replaced with the Latin word for Liège, recording the move of the English College in 1624. The inscription reads: 'Collegij Anglicani Soc[ieta]tis Jesu Leuvani [this word struck through] Leod. X'

At the top of the title page is an inscription which reads 'Bib Jun' - the library for the Juniors. This is not in the same hand as the inscription lower down the page and is probably a later inscription.

Book Reference:
P Ribadeneira S. J., Vita Francisci Borgiae tertij Societatis Iesu Generalis a P. Ribadeneira Hispanice scripta; Latine vero ab And. Schotto Antwerp. Utroque eiusdem Soietatis Sacerdote. Published in Mainz by Balthasar Lippius. 1603. A/H/2

Photo of the title page of Harding, Thomas, An ansvvere to Maister Iuelles chalenge, by Doctor Harding. Printed at Leuven by John Bogard. 1564.

Showing inscriptions for an unidentified individual named William Forster, the Scholastics' Library at the English College of the SOciety of Jesus at Leuven, with the work 'Leuven' struck through and replaced with the word for Liège.

Inscriptions for The English Colleges at Liège and Leuven, and for William Forster. A/619

Like the previous image (A/H/2), A/619 bears evidence of institutional movement from one location to another. Below the inscription for Wil[ie]lmus Forsterus (who we have not yet identified, but who may have been a student or teacher at one of the iterations of the College) is one for the 'Collegii Anglicani Soc[ieta]tis J[e]su Lovanij' - the English College at Leuven. The word 'Lovanij' has been struck through, and 'Leodij' (Liège) written in instead. This records the transfer of books from one place to another when the College moved in 1624.

A further inscription on the title page is 'Bib Schol.' indicating the book was in the Scholastics library, but whether this was at Leuven or Liège is unclear.

Book reference:
Harding, Thomas, An ansvvere to Maister Iuelles chalenge, by Doctor Harding. Printed at Leuven by John Bogard. 1564. A/619

Photo of title page with a large pictorial device and an inscription at the top. There is a slo an ink stamp in purple for the Library of the Residence of St Ignatius in London

Inscription for the English College, Liège. A/1107

The inscription reads 'Collegij Anglicani Soc[ieta]tis Jesu Leodij' - The English College of the Society of Jesus at Liège.

Also visible on this title page is a purple stamp for the Residence of St Ignatius in London, probably late nineteenth century.

Book reference:
Officium hebdomadae sanctae secundum missale & breviaris Romanum. Printed in Antwerp by by the widow and sons of Johannes Moretus at the Plantin Press. 1613. A/1107

Photo of the title page of A/1213 : Walpole SJ, Michael, A treatise of Antichrist conteyning the defence of Cardinall Bellarmines arguments, which inuincibly demonstrate, that the Pope is not Antichrist. Against Mr George Downam, D. of Diuinity, who impugneth the same. Printed at St Omers at the English College Press. 1613.

Inscription for the Scholastics' Library at the English College at Liège. A/1213

A/1213 is inscribed on the title page 'Collegij Anglicani Soc[ieta]tis Jesu Leodij, with another inscription at the top of the title page identifying it as coming from the Scholastics Library ('Bib. Schol.') Scholastics were student Jesuits.

Book reference:
Walpole SJ, Michael, A treatise of Antichrist conteyning the defence of Cardinall Bellarmines arguments, which inuincibly demonstrate, that the Pope is not Antichrist. Against Mr George Downam, D. of Diuinity, who impugneth the same. Printed at St Omers at the English College Press. 1613. A/1213

Photo of a title page with an inscription written in black ink on either side of the printer's device.

Inscription for the English College at Liège. A/873

The inscription reads: Collegii Anglicani Soc[ieta]tis Jesu Leodii - the English College of the Society of Jesus at Liège.

This book was later owned by Fr Randall Lythgoe SJ, who was Provincial in the 1840s, and it was kept at the Jesuit residence at 9 Hill Street, Berkeley Square, London, and moved to Mount Street when the new Jesuit residence opened there.

Book Reference:
Leech, H., Dutifull and respective considerations upon foure severall heads of proofe and triall in matters of religion. Proposed by the high and mighty prince, James King of Great Britayne, France, and Ireland &c. in his late Booke of Premonition to all Christian Princes, for clearing his royall person from the imputation of heresy. 1609. A/873

Photo of a title page with a short inscription in black in at the top, another across the printer's device in a black/brown ink, and a circular ink stamp to the right of this.

Inscriptions for the English College at Liège and the Juniors Library. A/6

The inscriptions on this title page locate the book at the English College at Liège, and to the Juniors' Library there. The two inscriptions are in different hands, and the book may have been designated to the Juniors some time after it had come into the possession of the English College.

Also visible on this page is an unidentified circular ink stamp.

Book reference:
Colombiere, Claude SJ, Sermons preches devant son altesse royale Madame la Duchesse D'Yorck. Printed at Lyon by Pierre Bruyset Ponthusz. 1757. A/6

Photo of a title page with an inscription at the top, which has been trimmed so the top of the ascenders are missing, as is some of the supercript.

Inscription for the Great Library at the English College, Liège. A/935

The inscription reads 'Bib: maj. Coll. Ang. Soc.tis. Jesu Leodij', identifying it as belonging to the Great Library of the English College at Liège. A later binding has trimmed some of the inscription, but it is still legible.

Book reference:
Novat, J. [Grene SJ, Martin], An answer to the Prouinciall Letters published by the Jansenists, under the name of Lewis Montalt, against the doctrine of the Jesuits and school-divines: made by some fathers of the Society in France. There is set before the answers in this edition, The History of Jansenisme, and at the end, A conclusion of the Work, where the English additionalls are shewed to deserve no answer; also an appendix, shewing the same of the book called, A further discovery of Jesuitisme. Printed in Paris. 1659. A/935

Close-up photo of a seventeenth century classmark written on the corner of a flyleaf of A/918

Shelf mark, possibly from Liège. A/918

This shelf mark has been tentatively linked with the English College at Liège, and this book also has inscriptions linking it with Liège. Similar library marks have been identified in books at Stonyhurst.

A/918 is a collection of five different short works printed between 1608 and 1623. They were bound together, probably in the first half of the seventeenth century. Each work has its own inscription on the title page linking it to Liège, presumably written before they were bound together.

For more information about this volume please get in touch using the contact form at the bottom of each page of the website.

Close-up photo of a seventeenth century classmark written on the corner of a flyleaf of A/962

Shelf mark, possibly from Liege A/962

This shelf mark has been tentatively linked with the English College at Liège, and this book also has an inscription linking it with Liège. Similar library marks have been identified in books at Stonyhurst.

Book reference:
Wilson, Matthew SJ [Edward Knott SJ] Protestancy condemned by the expresse verdict and sentence of Protestants, [Doway] 1654. A/962

Photo of a pastedown covered in marbled paper, with a large bookplate containing the words 'Bib Sem' in an oval cartouche. Below this is a brown paper library ticket holder, stamped with 'Campion Hall' and a library naumber.

Bookplate for 'Bib. Sem' and library card holder from Campion Hall, Oxford. A/6

The bookplate reads 'Bib Sem' - Seminary Library, and is thought to come from the seminary library established at Stonyhurst which was in operation between 1830 and 1848, at which point the theological collections were moved to St Beuno's.

This book was later kept at Campion Hall, Oxford, and the stamped library ticket holder from Campion Hall is also visible. It was later transferred to the Jesuit Archives in Mount Street, London.

Book reference:
Colombiere, Claude SJ, Sermons preches devant son altesse royale Madame la Duchesse D'Yorck. Printed at Lyon by Pierre Bruyset Ponthusz. 1757. A/6

Stanley Grange, Mount St Mary's, Spinkhill

There have been successive Jesuit schools in Derbyshire/Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire – the area covered by the Jesuit administrative district known as the College of the Immaculate Conception. There was a school at Great Ashby in Leicestershire from about 1607, run by the Jesuit William Wright SJ. After 1615 it was at Shoby, but had transferred to Stanley Grange before 1625. It was raided and shut in 1635. Two chests of books were seized at this time. Despite the raid, a successor school soon opened, and this was probably based at Park Hill, at Spinkhill, where the current Mount St Mary’s School is located. It was certainly functioning in the 1640s, and seems to have acted as a feeder school for St Omers. Spinkhill has long been a locus of Jesuit activity, and a Jesuit living there in 1721, Fr Joseph Blundell SJ, made a list of the books kept there. He also wrote in many of the books - click here for more on Blundell and his books. There may have been some educational activity throughout the early eighteenth century. The modern school of Mount St Mary's was founded in 1842 and represented a continuation of earlier Jesuit pedagogical activity in the area. Mount St Mary's College retained a large collection of Antiquarian books which was transferred to the British Jesuit Archive in Mount Street in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Many of these books contain marks associated with earlier institutions. More work is needed on these books, which will in time help us to untangle the provenance history of more of the books from Mount St Mary's and other institutions in and around Derbyshire.

Click on the images below to find out more

Photo of the bottom of the title page showing the printer and date, and written in ink below these, 'To Stanly Grange

Inscription for Stanley Grange. A/337

The inscription reads 'To Stanly Grange' and this type of inscription is identified by Dijkgraaf in his monograph 'The library of a Jesuit community at Holbeck, Nottinghamshire 1679' Cambridge, 2003, p 325 as identifying that the book was to be sent to the school run by the Jesuits at Stanley Grange c1625-c1635.

Book reference:
Harpsfield, Nicholas, Historia Anglicana ecclesiastica a primis gentis susceptae fidei incunablulis ad nostra fere tempora deducta et in quindecim centurias distributa. Printed in Douai by Mark Wyon. 1622. A/337

Title page of a book with a large printer's device with the IHS symbol. At the top is an inscription, and at the bottom next to the printer's device is the oval Mount St Mary's stamp.

Inscription for the College of the Immaculate Conception and Mount St Mary's stamp. A/51

The inscription on this title page locates the book to the Jesuit College of the Immaculate Conception, which covered Derbyshire and Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The inscription was written around 1720 by Fr Joseph Blundell, who was based at Spinkhill. In 1721 he wrote a list of the titles of the books at Spinkhill and this volume is included on his list. The later Mount St Mary's stamp suggests the volume stayed in the same physical location even as the institutions housed there changed.

For more on Fr Joseph Blundell, click on the link below.

Book reference:
Arsdekin, Richard SJ, Tomus Tertius Theologiae Tripartitae Sive Apparatus Doctrinae Sacrae. Complectens Materiam, & Formam pro quavis Dictione, & Cathechesi facilè ac copiose paranda, & proponenda. Cum Praxi solida& expedita Assistendi per omnia Aegris, ac Sanis in quolibet statu, & quovis Sacerdois Ministerio publico, aut privato. Pro Missionariis, & Curatoribus animarum potissimum elaborata. Printed in Antwerp by Michael Knobbaert. 1682. A/51

Close up photograph of the oval stamp used by Mount St Mary's. It is oval and round the edge are the words 'Coll S Mariae ad Montem'. In the centre is 'IHS' with a cross placed on the bar of the H and three nails below.

Stamp for Mount St Mary's School. A/625

This oval ownership stamp appears in a large number of books, indicating that they belonged to Mount St Mary's School. These books were transferred to the British Jesuit Archive from Mount St Mary's in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Usually the ink used is black, occasionally purple.

Book reference:
Heath, Henry, Soliloquia seu documenta Christianæ perfectionis. Venerabilis ac eximij Patris P.F. Pauli a S. Magdalena Angli Ordinis Seraphici FF. Minorum Collegij D. Bonaventuræ Anglo-Duacensium olim Guardiani, ac Londini, an. 1643. 17. Aprilis martyrio coronati. Printed in London. 1651. A/625

Close up photo of a circular stamp in black ink with the words 'Collegium Santa Maria ad Montem' round the edge and 'BIBL MAJ' in the centre.

Stamp for the Great Library at Mount St Mary's. A/878

This circular stamp appears in fewer of the Mount St Mary's books than the more ubiquitous oval one. 'Bibl. Maj' in the centre of the stamp indicates that this book was kept in the Great Library at the school.

Book reference:
Maffeius, Iohannes Petrus, Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI. Selectarum, item, ex India epistolarum libri IV. Accessit Ignatii Loiolae vita. Omnia ab auctore recognita, & emendata. In singula copiosus Index. Printed in Cologne by Arnold Mylius. 1590. A/878

Close up of a pastedown with library marks written on it, as well as 'M.S.M.' and a stamp with cursive writing 'Mount St Mary's', in purple ink.

Stamp and inscription for Mount St Mary's. A/819

The inscription in black ink 'M.S.M.' indicates the book belonged to Mount St Mary's, as does the cursive stamp in purple ink. This stamp appears on far fewer books than the ubiquitous oval stamp.

Book reference:
Mumford SJ, Joseph, The Catholic-Scripturist: or the plea of the Roman Catholics. Shewing the scriptures to hold the Roman faith in above forty of the chief controversies now under debate. Printed in London for Matthew Turner. 1686. A/819

Other Jesuit Schools

In this section are images of ownership marks from other schools in the Province. Click on the images to find out more. This area will soon expand to include more Jesuit schools as we take more photographs.

Photo of an oval stamp for St Aloysius College, Glasgow

Stamp for St Aloysius College, Glasgow. A/73

St Aloysius College, Glasgow, now an independent coeducational Catholic school, was founded by the Jesuits in 1859.

Until the end of the 20th century it was staffed by Jesuits, with the first lay headmaster appointed in 2004.

St Aloysius College has always had close links with the neighbouring parish, also called St Aloysius.

Click on the link below to learn more about the history of St Aloysius College

Book reference:
Barclay, John, Ioannis Barclaii Parænesis ad sectarios. Libri II. Printed in Cologne by Johannes Kinckius. 1617. A/73

Photo of the title page of the Jesuit Constitutions, with 'Stapehill' written on the title page.

Inscription for Stapehill, Dorset. A/641

Stapehill in Dorset was a centre of Jesuit activity probably from the 1630s. Later in the seventeenth century it was one of the dozen Jesuit schools opened in England and Wales during the reign of James II. It appears to have survived well into the eighteenth century, unlike the better known schools at the Savoy and Fenchurch Street in London which did not outlast James' reign.

The school at Stapehill was raided in 1724, but was still educating boys in the 1750s.

The Jesuit presence at Stapehill came to and end in 1800. Cistercian nuns settled there and remained until 1990.

For more information about Stapehill, see:
Holt SJ, Geoffrey, 'Stapehill in Dorset before the Cistercians', in Recusant History Vol 21, No 1. 1992 pp 26-39.

Book reference:
Ignatius, St, Constitvtiones societatis Iesv et examen cvm declarationibvs. Printed in Antwerp by Johannes Meursius. 1635. A/641

Photo of a book open at the inside of the front cover. On the pastedown is a library sticker for St Francis Xavier's College, and on the flyleaf a stamp for SFX Woolton and an inscription at the top for the Poor Clares at Gravelines.

Sticker and ink stamp for St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool. A/H/34

St Francis Xavier's College in Liverpool was founded by Jesuit Provincial Fr Randal Lythgoe SJ in 1842, in collaboration with Stonyhurst College. Originally sited in the city centre, SFX moved to Woolton in 1961, reflected by the stamp on the flyleaf for 'SFX Woolton'.

The book had previously been owned by the Poor Clares at Gravelines, Northern France, who were a community of English nuns, founded by Mary Ward in 1607. The community had a close but occasionally fractious relationship with the English Jesuits at nearby St Omers.

It is not known when this book left the Poor Clares' collection or how it ended up at SFX.

For more about the history of St Francis Xavier's College, click on the link below.

Book reference:
Daubenton, William, The Life of St John Francis Regis. Published in London by John Hoyles. 1738. A/H/34

Jesuit schools and colleges

The English College, St Omers, Bruges, Liège and Stonyhurst

The English College Louvain, Liège, Stonyhurst, St Beuno's, Heythrop

Stanley Grange, Mount St Mary's, Spinkhill

Other Jesuit Schools

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