Library Collection Offers Rare Glimpse of History

Locked away in a quiet alcove, the rare-book room at Thomas Aquinas College is a treasure trove of ancient artifacts and leather-bound texts with lambskin pages.

With about 2,000 volumes, some dating back almost 1,000 years, the St. Bernardine Library near Santa Paula contains works unavailable anywhere else in the nation. Alongside the books are Near Eastern relics, intricate ivory carvings and handwritten letters from prominent figures throughout history.

Overseeing operations is Viltis Jatulis, the infectiously enthusiastic college librarian who has pulled together the collection by tapping into donors nationwide.

“Want to see some blood from 1584?” she calls out, speeding toward an old Bible.

Opening it carefully, Jatulis shows a bloody thumbprint from Bishop Francisco Maldonado. Five centuries ago, the Spanish prelate was so incensed with the Bible’s commentary that he marked the book in his own blood before writing “Damn author!” in Latin beside it.

In another corner, Jatulis shows a weathered page from an Armenian Bible dating from 1121.

“Touch it so you will remember,” she whispers.

There are one-of-a-kind works of the famed 12th century Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas.

“We have the Parma [Italy] edition of Thomas Aquinas that is not available anywhere else in California,” Jatulis said. “We have had people come down from Stanford and call from MIT about them.”

She slips on a pair of white gloves, unlocks a rectangular case and lifts out a book from 1483 written on lambskin. Inside are blue, red and gold illustrations that still gleam, 500 years after they were painted. It’s called a Book of Hours and was written by a French monk, commissioned to chronicle a wealthy family’s favorite prayers.

“Isn’t it magic?” she asks.

This small liberal arts college, known for its Great Books curriculum in which students study major works of Western thought, wants as many original works as possible.

Students like 22-year-old Tim Furlan say the rare-book room has been invaluable.

“They have a tremendous collection of original philosophy texts,” Furlan said. “I am writing a thesis on the origins of modernity. To be able to go and consult an original Descartes is pretty rare. I don’t know anywhere else I could have conducted that research.”

The Lithuanian-born Jatulis--who declined to give her age, saying “it is a state of mind”--began collecting books for the library when the college opened in Calabasas in 1971. She attended meetings of librarians and asked for books other college libraries no longer needed. Those sympathetic with the curriculum and Catholic roots of the college also gave freely.

Soon, extraordinary things began coming her way from seemingly ordinary people. One day she was handed a small bag with something wrapped in tissue paper inside.

“I thought it was a box of chocolates,” Jatulis said. Inside, she found two Hittite seals, used to mark commercial transactions and dating back to 1200 BC. She is still trying to find an expert on the Hittites, a people who once inhabited parts of what is now Turkey and Syria, to appraise the cylinders.

Last year, the college received its largest donation yet--a mother lode of rare items, including a duplicate of the original Guttenberg Bible, an 18th century Peruvian jewelry box and a set of china with religious images used by missionaries in 1740.

Like most donors, this one wanted to remain anonymous.

“People collect some of these rare things over their lives and they want to put them where they will be safe and appreciated,” said Peter DeLuca III, vice president for finance and administration.

Ceiling From Spanish Monastery

Over the years, the library has received an ivory bust of St. Paul, a 2-inch ivory seashell with a tiny medieval battle scene sculpted inside, and handwritten notes from Abraham Lincoln, Cardinal John Henry Newman, Woodrow Wilson, Aaron Burr and the French General Marquis de Lafayette. Jatulis says many of the items are valued at tens of thousands of dollars.

She is cautious about making comparisons between Thomas Aquinas’ library and others in the region. “We have an exceptional collection of rare books and antiquities among the smaller college libraries in Southern California,” she allowed.

The biggest-ticket item is the library’s massive pine ceiling, taken from a monastery roof in Grenada, Spain. The roof, dating to 1650, was peeled off at the behest of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, who had it crated and shipped to his opulent home in San Simeon. Seventy years later it was still sitting in a barn when William Clark, former national security advisor for President Reagan, bought it. In 1995, he donated the ceiling to the college.

“The library has transformed the school,” said college President Thomas Dillon. “It’s a place where students go to study and to reflect. The beauty of the place elevates the mind.”

But the books remain the focus. It’s not just that they are old--many bear creative touches that have been lost over the centuries. There are “fore-edged” books that reveal a brightly colored painting along their front edge when viewed from a certain angle. There are books with metal clamps that lock up like a safe. The works of Scottish poet Robert Burns are housed in volumes just 4 inches high.

The rare-book room, which is open to the public, is just part of the library, which has 42,000 other general circulation volumes.

Jatulis hovers over the books like an overprotective parent. She is clearly proud of the library and shows it off to visiting parents, potential students and dignitaries.

“When you build a library from scratch,” she says, “it’s like watching your baby grow.”