The Study of Languages: Europe and Americas
As with most institutions in 19th century America, Cornell offered classes in the Romance and Germanic languages and built library collections to support them. Students could even enter into Greek or Latin programs for their Bachelor’s degree. While collections in European languages thrived, materials in Native American languages remained relatively limited until the acquisition of the Huntington Free Library Native American Collection in 2004, which contained thousands of books and manuscripts by and about indigenous groups. A selection of books in Native American languages are displayed here, created by Christian missionaries to aid in conversion, as well as texts in European languages.
S.A. Worcester and E. Boudinot. The Acts of the Apostles translated into the Cherokee language. New Echota [Ga.]: John F. Wheeler, 1832.
Epistles of St. Paul, with commentary, 1100-1135.
This commentary on the Pauline epistles is written in Latin. The text of the Bible itself appears in large characters in a central column on each page; brief interpretive comments, or “glosses,” are written between the lines, while longer remarks appear in the margins. The comments correspond to those of the Glossa ordinaria, or “Standard Gloss” of interpretations of the Church fathers, which was compiled from the ninth century onward.
Liber Psalmorvm Davidis regis et prophetae: Ex Arabico idiomate in Latinum translatus. Rome: Ex typographia Sauariana, 1614.
This copy of the Psalms is written in two columns, one in Arabic and the other in Latin.Gift of Mrs. William F.E. Gurley, 1944.
Biblia Pitschna. In Scuol: tras Iacob Henric Dorta, 1666.
Willard Fiske collected not only Icelandic materials and the works of Petrarch and Dante, but also texts in the Rhaeto-Romance languages, which originated in northern Italy and Switzerland.
New Testament in Greek. Amsterdam: Wetsteniana, 1698.
Gift of Benno Loewy, 1919.
John Eliot. Mamusse wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God naneeswe Nukkone Testament kah wonk Wusku Testament. Cambridge, Mass.: Samuel Green, 1685.
Written in Algonquian, a language historically spoken by tribes along the Atlantic Coast and Great Basin, this book represents the first Bible printed in continental America in a Native American language. This book is the second edition.Purchased as part of the Huntington Free Library Native American Collection in 2004.
The Gospel according to St. Mark, translated by A.C. Garrioch, into the language of the Beaver Indians, of the Diocese of Athabasca. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1886.
Written in the Tsattine language.Purchased as part of the Huntington Free Library Native American Collection in 2004.
Abenaki Catholic Prayer book, in the Abenaki Native American language, late 1800s – early 1900s.