Kircher Controversy, 1938

This collection mostly contains papers related to two topics of interest to Irving McDonald. The first topic is a translation of Hortorum originally written by Rene Rapin, S.J. and translated by James Gardiner in 1732. McDonald edited and re-published this translation in 1932. The materials pertaining to this publication includes typescript of the work in Latin, galley proofs with corrections made by MCDonald, hand written notes and illustration proofs. Additionally, there is a copyright form for this work from 1932.

The second part of the collection contains materials related to McDonald correcting an article published by King Features’ Publications about the life of Anthanasius Kircher, a 17th century German Jesuit. In 1938, McDonald wrote to the publishers with corrections and later wrote several articles about Kircher. These materials contain a copy of the original article, correspondence with the publisher, newspaper clippings about the corrections and copies of the Kircher articles written by McDonald. There are two printing plates connected to the articles written as the result of this controversy.

Finally, the collection contains papers pertaining McDonald’s activity with the New England Classical Association. There also is one folder containing copies of clippings, books reviews and other printed items.