In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary

In Books and Religious Devotion, Allan Westphall presents a study of the book-collecting habits and annotation practices of Thomas Connary, an Irish immigrant farmer who lived in New Hampshire in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Connary led a pious life that revolved around the use, annotation, and sharing of religious books. His surviving annotated volumes provide a revealing glimpse into the utility of books for a common reader—and they show how one remarkable, eccentric reader turned religious books into near icons. Through a careful excavation of book adaptations and enhancements, Westphall gives us insight into the range of opportunities provided by the material book for recording and communicating Connary's religious fervor. The study also investigates the broader nineteenth-century cultural setting, in which books are seen as testimonies of personal faith and come to function as instruments of social interaction in both domestic and public spheres. Underlying Connary’s many and varied interactions with books is his belief that working in books, as physical objects, can be a devout exercise instrumental in human salvation.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title page, Copyright
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. List of Illustrations
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Preface: A Discovery and Serendipitous Journeys
  2. pp. ix-xiv
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xv-xvi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-21
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 1: Irish American Print Culture in the Nineteenth Century: A Private Library
  2. pp. 22-39
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. EPIPHANY: “Seeing Very Plainly”
  2. pp. 40-41
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 2: “Laboring in My Books”: Thomas Connary’s Book Enhancements
  2. pp. 42-83
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. EPIPHANY: The Lamp
  2. pp. 84-85
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 3: Redemptive Reading in the Connary Household
  2. pp. 86-117
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. EPIPHANY: The Road to Lancaster
  2. pp. 118-120
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 4: The Farmer’s Treasure: Thomas Connary Reading St. Francis of Sales and Julian of Norwich
  2. pp. 121-149
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. EPIPHANY: “No Priest or Bishop in this Church but Himself Alone”
  2. pp. 150-152
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 5: Book Keeping, Longing, and Besetment
  2. pp. 153-182
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Epilogue: Rome Unvisited
  2. pp. 183-188
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix: The Contents of Thomas Connary’s Library
  2. pp. 189-200
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 201-216
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 217-224
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 225-228
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Series Page
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Back Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.