Notes from the Road: Association of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries and a Vatican Secret Archives Visit

Submitted by Gregg Taylor, ATLA Licensing Manager

At the beginning of April, I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the Association of British Theological and Philosophical Libraries’ annual conference (http://www.newman.ac.uk/abtapl/). The conference was fortunate to enjoy a range of interesting presentations. I had the opportunity to speak on “Copyright and licensing issues in scholarly communication.” When presenting on this topic, I always find it is helpful to get “into the weeds” and talk about ways that copyright issues affect my day-to-day work for ATLA. In my experience, there’s nothing like trying to implement copyright law to provide opportunities to learn.

This year marked ABTAPL’s 60^th anniversary, which was marked by a special, extended Spring Conference in Rome, Italy. The group planned some wonderful activities, to which they kindly let me come along. The most extraordinary was a rare visit to the Vatican Secret Archives. The archives are not secret in the usual sense, but secret in the sense of “private.” These archives belong personally to the Pope. Unlike most sights in and around the Vatican, the Archives are not open to the general public. Thanks to some ABTAPL connections, we were able to pass the Porta Sant’Anna and past the rather impressive Swiss Guard, up into the Archives themselves. We had to lock away our cameras and other contraband, and then we were able to enter the Archives, with the company of a very knowledgeable guide in front and a friendly escort in the back to make sure no curious librarian wandered off.

Much of the archives were notable for how un-notable they looked. It’s a comfort to know archives look the same even in the heart of the Vatican. That said, the floors of archives went up rather than down into any basement levels (in case of flooding, we were told). Eventually, we reached some beautiful open rooms that housed documents like letters from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis on the outbreak of the US Civil War. The other group saw a petition from 1530 from 85 English clergymen and lords asking Pope Clement VII to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon (he refused). The sense of grand history was overwhelming.

My favorite place was at the top of the archives: the Tower of the Winds, an observatory that was used to provide confirmation for visiting dignitaries of the need for the Gregorian calendar reforms. It was, of course, covered in beautiful frescoes which, in turn, had been marred with graffiti from Charles V’s troops during the 1527 sack of Rome. Although we couldn’t take pictures, I encourage you to find the official images online.

I would like to thank all the members of ABTAPL who were so welcoming, and I would like to thank especially Carol Reekie and Alan Linfield for their organizational gifts and personal kindness.