ARCHITECTURE OF BAPST LIBRARY
[ Chancellor's Office and Longergan Center ] [ Burns Library ]  Constructed
of native stone with Indiana limestone trim, the
Library has a special architectural character and beauty of its own. Because
its function permits closer fidelity to the architectural type selected
from the College buildings, the Library is the most Gothic structure on
the campus. Exterior buttresses are more pronounced and the arched windows
of the first floor are succeeded by tall casements and lofty oriels on
the second. The Gothic tone is emphasized by the sturdy and richly decorated
Margaret Ford Memorial Tower which sentinels the northern entrance to the
campus and dominates the elaborate north porch facing Commonwealth Avenue,
chief highway through Newton's rolling hills. A slender tourelle at the
northwest corner gives emphasis to the Tower and accents the impressive
mass of the building.
Outside the library over the front entrance is a carving of the Blessed Virgin as "Sedes Sapientiae," the Seat of Wisdom, flanked by prophets and evangelists. Above the two side doors are figures of the Ark of the Covenant and the Lamb of God with the book of the seven seals, reflecting the supreme importance of revealed Truth in the Jesuit scheme of education. InteriorFrom the interior the Library's special character is particularly striking. The entrance under the Tower leads to a lobby whose rough stone walls rise fifty feet to a graceful vault. Facing the lobby entrance, two strong arches introduce passages leading south to the Kresge Reading Room. The Reading Room, with a seating capacity of over 200, has a richly decorated beamed ceiling supported by two rows of stone columns placed at either side. From the middle of the Reading Room a stairway leads down to the Art Collection Stacks. Another stairway leads up to the mezzanine, which offers quiet study space for the use of students. The entrance to the Irish Windows Room is on the west end of Kresge.From the lobby pavement, a massive, stone-balustrated staircase rises
along the east wall for a space, then turns westward and ascends above
the arches to Gargan Hall. The Tower stained glass
windows depict Jesuits who contributed notably to the civilization
of the Americas.
Gargan FoyerFrom the lobby at the south end of Bapst, broad twin staircases ascend in a southerly direction, their walls rising fifty feet to a vaulted ceiling. These staircases join at a landing from which a broader flight of steps, defined by wrought-iron balustrades and gauntleted on either side by two towering columns, ascends northward to a spacious foyer leading to Gargan Hall. Expansive stained glass windows in the walls of the twin staircases depict Shakespearean creations. A larger window above the landing displays a more lavish treatment of the same theme. Beneath this window is a bronze plaque inscribed with the Prayer for a Library. A similar tablet close by, bears the names of Patrons of the Friends of the Library.High above the window, near the vaulted ceiling, is a bas-relief of Christ the King, flanked by dual bas-reliefs of Pasteur and Copernicus, Fra Angelico and Michelangelo. The first of these complements an abstract symbol of Science above the door of the Chancellor's office at the west end of Gargan Hall foyer; the second is a symbol of Art which decorates the portal of the Lonergan Center at the other end of the foyer. Similar abstract symbols of Theology and Philosophy with complementary
dual bas-reliefs of Albertus Magnus and Aristotle, Aquinas and Augustine,
are set above the entrances to Gargan Hall and flank a lofty mullioned
window in the center of the foyer's north wall. Through the window may
be seen a vista of the hall. Conversely, the foyer and Shakespearean stained
glass above the staircase may be seen from within the hall.
Chancellor's Office and Lonergan CenterThe room on the left, or west side of the foyer is the Chancellor's Office. Windows in the Chancellor's office portray Americans prominent in literature, oratory and statesmanship.At the other end of the foyer is the Lonergan Center. This office houses
works by and about Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan for the use of international
scholars and researchers. The windows
in the Lonergan Center, accessible from Gargan Hall and from the
foyer, portray Chaucer and twenty-nine characters of the Prologue to his
"Canterbury Tales." A wainscoting of oak gives additional richness to both
rooms. The Lonergan Center is further enlivened by a large Tudor fireplace
of limestone, framed with oak and ornamentally relieved by heraldry and
linen-fold.
Gargan HallGargan Hall, the main reading room of the Library, houses Bapst's collection
of contemporary fiction and topical non-fiction books. The Hall has study
space for over 400 students and corresponds in area to the Kresge Reading
Room and workroom on the first floor. Its lofty ceiling of carved oak is
supported by graceful hammer-beam trusses and by two rows of stone columns
on either side of the room. Between the columns and the wall are fourteen
study alcoves, illumined by high mullioned stained
glass windows which depict persons, symbols and events associated with
major courses of study in Jesuit colleges and universities. Two bas-reliefs
portraying Youth's victory over Death and War, Pestilence and Famine, decorate
the wall above the south entrance. Similar reliefs, with Time as a theme,
are displayed on either side of a wrought-iron clock at the opposite end
of the room.
Burns LibraryThe rooms at the north end of the hall are part of the Burns Library and are not accessible from Gargan Hall, but the windows are partially visible from this side. To the left is the British Catholic Authors room. The windows in this room bear the crests of fifty-four Jesuit colleges and universities in North, Central, and South America. In the center is the Francis Thompson room. The windows in this room commemorate Epic Poetry from Homer to Dante. A separate tour of the Burns Library is essential to gain a complete sense of the artistic riches of this unique building. |
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