Road of Faith and Art / Camino del Arte Sacro: The Burgoa Library of Ancient Books in the Santo Domingo Complex, Oaxaca

"Monasterium sine libris est sicut civitas sine opibus, castrum sine numeris, coquina sine supellectili, mensa sine cibis, hortus sine herbis, pratum sine floribus, arbor sine foliis", said the Abbot to Brother William of Baskerville, in the novel Il Nome della Rosa, by Umberto Eco. For centuries, monasteries were viewed as a sanctuary for prayer, relics and books. Santo Domingo was no exception.

The central passageways of the Francisco de

Burgoa Library are an ideal setting for

conferences in the Santo Domingo

Cultural Center

The first public library in Mexico was established in Oaxaca in 1827. 32 years later, with the expropriation of the propriety of the Catholic Church in Mexico, the vast libraries that had belonged to the Franciscan, Dominican, Augustinian, Jesuit and other religious congregations, became state property, and the books were confiscated. Looting seems to have taken placed, as books became constantly "misplaced". The new managers of these collections were predominately anti-clerical, so they had little motivation to look out for their upkeep.

As Mexico came closer to the end of the 19th Century, the predominant ideas were that of the Enlightenment, and Science was at the center of Education. Old musty books about religion in Latin were tantamount to the superstitions that this age wanted to suppress, and therefore were subject to pilferage and abuse.

The wire hook screens on the doors of the

wooden bookshelves provide excellent visibility

and ventilation, while preserving an ambience

of distinguished antiquity

During most of the 20th Century, these collections remained undocumented and out of public sight, but in the last decades, private philanthropy groups became involved in funding initiatives aimed as archiving these ancient collections, appreciating them for their cultural and historical value.

The semicircle pillared archway creates a

separation between the double halls with their

barrel vaults.

Towards the end of the 20th Century, a leader appeared: Maria Isabel Grañén Porrúa. Books had always been a part of their family tradition, and she studied in Spain, so when she moved to Oaxaca, she became involved in organizing what we know today as the Francisco de Burgoa Library, one of the most important libraries in Mexico specialized in collections form the Colonial Period of Mexico.

Estela became captivated by a 18th Century

book she started to read on the Meditations

of Sister Hipolita.

David Karminsky is one of the Burgoa

Library's chief coordinators.

What makes Cicely Winter and Maria Isabel Grañén Porrua so different from other individuals that usually command similar posts, is that they understand team work and the concept of synergy at the service of promoting the world of culture in the 21st Century.

Maria Isabel Grañén Porrua giving an introduction

to the Francisco de Burgoa Library display on the

documents relating to the mysterious life of Pedro

Nibra, the mid-19th Century organ constructor.

Cicely Winter, Ricardo Rodys and Maria

Isable Grañén Porrúa explaining the exhibit

Ricardo Rodys, investigator for the Exhibit

"Pedro Nibra, the 19th Century Organ Constructor"

Display cases with historical

documents on the life of

Pedro Nimba

In these church registers we can see how much

Pedro Nibra, early 19th Century organ builder

received money (200 pesos) on account of

one of his organs.

Another display case with more

memorabilia on the life of Pedro

Nimbra

Display of the Exhibit of Pedro Nibra.

Pedro Nibra built the organ of the

Church of San Matias Jalatlaco,

which currently is being restored

by a grant of IOHIO. with funding

from the Alfredo Harp Foundation

The forged iron window protection

lets the light come in from the Plaza

of Santo Domingo

Estela is in the main research hall of the

library, searching for the famous Christophorus

Platinus Polyglot (Greek, Latin, Hebrew

Aramaic and Syrian text) Bible published in

Antwerp in the mid 16th Century.

One of the main halls of the

Francisco de Burgoa Library.

A difficult decision to make in the Burgoa Library

is where to start and what to read. As time passes

you don't feel like leaving. It is truly a magical

experience.

This window gives us an idea of the

thickness of the walls. The window

frame, when closed, looks more like

a niche.

Sometimes the books were bound with

pre-Columbian codices used as covers

Juan Torixa, appointed architect to the

Court of Spain, published in Madrid

this treatise on Vaults in 1669.

Penelope Orozco Sanchez, Curator of the

collection showing us some of the rarest

books in the collections.

This diagram is part of a text printed in Spain

in the 18th Century, a treatise on the

construction of church vaults, and

vaults in general

Here is the Chapter VII of the

18th Century text on Vaults.

The branding marks on the edge of the book.

Penelope Orozco shows us how the older books

must be handled with care, using gloves to

avoid biological contamination.

Here is the title page of a 18th

Century Spanish edition on the

Passion of Christ according to

Sister Hipolita.

The Meditations of

Sister Hipólita

Here we can see the Book of Sister Hipólita

with the branding marks on the edge.

The Burgoa Library is a lot more that what we are showing you here in these pictures. It has some of the most modern equipment available for digitalizing old archives and books. Besides, they created the "Adabi" or "Apoyo al Desarrollo de Archivos y Bibliotecas" (Support for the Development of Archives and Libraries).