Category Archives: Digitized Collections

Examples of Vincent de Paul letters at DePaul University (Image courtesy of DePaul University Office of Mission and Values)

View the exhibit

DePaul University announces its premier digital exhibit of manuscript letters of Saint Vincent de Paul (1581-1660). This collection represents the largest of the Saint’s extant holographic documents outside of Europe. These documents are the cornerstone of DePaul’s Vincentian Studies Collection, which includes multidisciplinary resources pertaining to scholarship about Saint Vincent and the Vincentian Family. For more information on the broader collection, see the Vincentian Research Guide.

To view any of these letters, go to http://libservices.org/contentdm/handwritten-letters.php and simply click on the timeline date, or letter itself. In addition, each marker on the European map represents the location where a letter was sent, and clicking on a marker will pull up an individual letter.

The letters range in date from 1641 to 1660, a fertile period during Vincent’s life during which his influence was at its height. By his death on September 27, 1660, he was the administrator of a vast network of religious and charitable endeavors, and one of the most well-known and revered figures in France.

Each letter includes a transcription and translation of the respective text. The transcriptions are taken from Vincent de Paul: Correspondence, Entretiens, Documents (Librairie Lecoffre, 1920-1925), edited by Pierre Coste, C.M. The English translations are taken from Vincent de Paul: Correspondence, Conferences, Documents (New City Press, 1985-2010), translated and edited by Sister Marie Poole, D.C., editor-in-chief, of the Vincent Translation Project.

The kind assistance of DePaul University’s Office of Mission and Values, the Vincentian Studies Institute, and DePaul University Library made this collection possible.