Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939 - by Matteo Binasco (Hardcover)

About the Book

Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939 contains descriptions of Roman archival materials relevant to the American Catholic Church from fifty-nine different archives and libraries.

Book Synopsis

Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939 is a comprehensive reference volume, researched and compiled by Matteo Binasco, that introduces readers to the rich content of Roman archives and their vast potential for U.S. Catholic history in particular. In 2014, the University of Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism hosted a seminar in Rome that examined transatlantic approaches to U.S. Catholic history and encouraged the use of the Vatican Secret Archives and other Roman repositories by today's historians. Participants recognized the need for an English-language guide to archival sources throughout Rome that would enrich individual research projects and the field at large. This volume responds to that need. Binasco offers a groundbreaking description of materials relevant to U.S. Catholic history in fifty-nine archives and libraries of Rome. Detailed profiles describe each repository and its holdings relevant to American Catholic studies. A historical introduction by Luca Codignola and Matteo Sanfilippo reviews the intricate web of relations linking the Holy See and the American Catholic Church since the Treaty of Paris of 1763. Roman sources have become crucial in understanding the formation and development of the Catholic Church in America, and their importance will continue to grow. This timely source will meet the needs of a ready and receptive audience, which will include scholars of U.S. religious history and American Catholicism as well as Americanist scholars conducting research in Roman archives.

Review Quotes

"This volume will be a boon to new areas of research in the fields of transatlantic studies, Catholic studies, and global history." --Catholic Library World

"Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939 is an invaluable addition to the reference literature on American Catholicism. As the foreword notes, no other reference work covers the subjects and collections this volume does." --Choice

"In her Introduction, Kathleen Sprows Cummings reveals that the ball for this excellent work started rolling at a 2014 conference in Italy sponsored by Notre Dame's Cushwa Center and the Università della Tuscia. Two very useful chapters follow her Introduction--one by Luca Codignola and Matteo Sanfilippo, and the other by Binasco that provide useful historic and historiographic contexts for the project." --American Catholic Studies

"Matteo Binasco's Roman Sources for the History of American Catholicism, 1763-1939 is the historian's GPS for American Catholic archives in Rome. Binasco has produced a magisterial book for the historian of American Catholicism, finally giving us a comprehensive, detailed, and expert mapping of the American sources. The archives catalogued in this book, many of them containing files never reviewed by American Catholic historians, should compel new reflections, perspectives, and directions for research. As American Catholic historiography moves from national to global, this resource will be an invaluable tool for graduate students, professors, writers, and archivists." --Charles R. Gallagher, S.J., Boston College

"The labors of Binasco and his colleagues have produced a monumental work that serves as an effective reference tool for furthering scholarship in American Catholic history." --Reading Religion

"This thoughtful and thorough book emerged from a 2014 conference in Rome sponsored by the University of Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism. . . . With his survey of sixty archives and libraries in Rome and the Vatican, [Matteo] Binasco has answered so many questions, and research travel budgets will never be the same." --Archivum Historicum Societatis Jesu

"The author must have pounded the pavement (or cobblestones) of Rome to gather this data. This guide provides basic information in a concise manner so that researchers can plan and utilize well their time in Rome." --Thomas M. McCoog, S.J., curator of the Avery Cardinal Dulles Papers, Fordham University

"This is a fine piece of work: well written, superbly organized, and offering concrete guidance to scholars seeking to work in Roman archives. The author and the Cushwa Center, which commissioned this project, have made a signal contribution to the desire to 'transnationalize' the history of American Catholicism. The work is excellent; preparing a researcher to make maximum use of funds and time abroad is one of its great gifts." --Steven M. Avella, Marquette University

About the Author

Kathleen Sprows Cummings is director of the Cushwa Center and an associate professor of history and American studies at the University of Notre Dame.