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The Jesuit Online Library allows users to search 39 Jesuit titles, across more than 150,000 pages in more than 1,000 volumes, simultaneously or to browse single volumes individually. Full-text searches can be refined by title, date, publication, or author.
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The titles include (with links directly to the respective volumes):
Journals (8 titles)
Directed by the Portuguese Jesuits, Brotéria – Botânica played a fundamental a role in the identification, description and classification of new species of plants collected especially in Europe, Africa, and South America. (1907–1931; 24 volumes; multilingual)
Edited by Luís Archer and sponsored by the Portuguese Society of Genetics, Brotéria – Genética published articles on plant and animal breeding, human genetics, molecular genetics, and bioethics. (1980–1995; 19 volumes; Portuguese and English)
Founded by Jesuit naturalists Joaquim da Silva Tavares, Carlos Zimmermann and Cândido Azevedo Mendes, Brotéria –Série única focused on the publication of original botanical and zoological research, not only by Jesuits but also by lay scientists. The journal’s main objective was to “disseminate the taste for the natural sciences in our country.” (1902–1906; 5 volumes; multilingual)
Brotéria – Vulgarização Científica
Directed at a broad audience and published entirely in Portuguese, Brotéria – Vulgarização Científica (or the popular sciences) was designed to make a profit and cover the expenses of the more specialized journals Botânica and Zoologia in the Brotéria series. It published more than 450 articles on chemistry, physics, agriculture, commerce and industry, medicine, and hygiene, seismology, geography, and archeology. (1907–1924; 52 volumes; Portuguese)
Published alternately with Botânica and Vulgarização Científica, the Zoologia series was dedicated to animal taxonomy. Its articles covered a variety of taxa and focused on specimens collect all around the globe. (1907–1932; 19 volumes; multilingual)
Published by Jesuit Educational Association, the Jesuit Educational Quarterly primarily consists of reflections by Jesuit administrators and professors on the developments at their schools and on the secular educational trends. Beyond the valuable data and book reviews, the contents of the JEQ reveal a dynamic dialogue as Jesuits responded to external and internal developments and engaged with one another about the methodology, content, and direction of Jesuit education in 20th-century America. (1938–1970; 130 volumes, English)
Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits
Studies, a journal dedicated to Jesuit history and spirituality, is a product of the Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality, whose membership is composed of Jesuits appointed from their provinces in throughout the United States. Studies examines the spiritual doctrine and practice of Society of Jesus through scholarly essays. The most recent issues, since 2018, are available in Open Access at Boston College. (1969–2017; 219 volumes; English)
The publication of record for the Society of Jesus in North America and, later, South America, Woodstock Letters was first published at the Woodstock College seminary in Maryland. It offers often candid assessments of the “current events and historical notes connected with the colleges and missions of the Society of Jesus,” with fulsome biographies and obituaries, institutional histories, correspondence from the Jesuit leadership, and reviews of “Books of Interest to Ours” (i.e., Jesuits). (1872–1969; 317 volumes; primarily in English)
Regional histories (12 titles)
La Compagnie de Jésus en France; histoire d’un siècle, 1814-1914
Joseph Burnichon’s four-volume history surveys the return of the Society of Jesus to France following the order’s papal restoration. Burnichon was a long-time staff member of Études, a periodical produced by the French Jesuits. A fifth volume of this history was never published, though a copy is available in the Jesuits’ archives in France. (1914–1922; 4 volumes; French)
Geschichte der Jesuiten in den ländern deutscher zunge
Bernhard Duhr joined the Society of Jesus in 1872 at the age of 20. The first of his six volumes on the history of Jesuits in German-speaking lands appeared in 1907. Durh died in 1930, two years after the publication of his history’s final volume. (1907–1928; 6 volumes; German)
História da Companhia de Jesus na Assistência de Portugal
In 20th century, Francisco Rodrigues authored a seven-volume history of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Assistancy, begun in 1750. Based on archival research, the intellectual and religious history has since served as an important reference work for Jesuit labors within this global assistancy. (1931–1950; 7 volumes; Portuguese)
Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en la asistencia de España
Antonio Astrain’s history of the Jesuits in Spain starts with the birth of Ignatius of Loyola, 1491, at “the end of the town of Azpeitia,” and closes with the Order’s expulsion from the Mariana Islands in 1758. (1902-1925; 7 volumes; Spanish)
Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en la Nueva España
Francisco Xavier Alegre, who was born in New Spain in 1729 and joined the Jesuits in 1747, wrote a history of the Society of Jesus in modern-day Mexico after its (and his) expulsion in 1767. His account was published in Mexico in the mid-19th century. A new history of Jesuit missionary work in this area is available at Jesuit Sources. (1841–1842; 3 volumes; Spanish)
Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en la provincia del Paraguay
Pablo Pastells, a Jesuit historian from the Catalan region of Spain, chronicles the activities of the Society of Jesus in the vast Province of Paraguay–encompassing Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil—from 1638 until 1768. A new translation of an account of the Jesuit missions in Paraguay, first published in 1639, is available at Jesuit Sources. (1912–1949; 8 volumes; Spanish)
Historia de las misiones de la Compañía de Jesús en el Marañón español
José Chantre y Herrera was a Spanish Jesuit who, though he never traveled to the area, wrote a history of the work of the Society of Jesus in the region of the Marañón River, near modern-day Peru and Ecuador. He completed the text after the expulsion of the Marañón Jesuits in 1770, and it was later published in Spain. A new history of Jesuit missionary work in this area is available at Jesuit Sources. (1901; 1 volume; Spanish)
Histoire de la Compagnie de Jésus en France
Subtitled “The Origins of the Suppression,” Henri Fouqueray’s account traces the origins of the Society in Jesus in France, from the education of its founding in Paris to the spiritual, educational, and political works of the Jesuits in the mid-17th century. The instructions used at the Paris novitiate at the end of the 17th century are available at Jesuit Sources. (1910–1925; 5 volumes; French)
The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580–1773
Born in England in 1857, Ethelred Taunton was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1883. He suffered an injury a few years later and then devoted his life to writing, especially the histories of Jesuits and Benedictines in England. His one-volume history of Jesuits in England begins, “In this book I deal with the subject of the Jesuits only so far as they belong to English history.” (1901; 1 volume; English)
History of the Society of Jesus in North America
Thomas Hughes divides his study of the Jesuits in North America into two parts: a two-volume narrative history, through 1773, and a two-volume collection of selected documents, from 1605-1838. (1907-1917; 4 volumes; English)
The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century
Included in his larger seven-volume history of the French and English in North America, Francis Parkman devotes two volumes to his account of the experiences of French Jesuits missionaries, starting in 1632, in modern-day Canada. (1867; 2 volumes; English)
Studie zur Geschichte der Gesellschaft Jesu
Heinrich Böhmer was a Lutheran scholar who published a history of the Jesuits in 1914, as war broke out in Europe. He revisited the history of the Society of Jesus and the life of Ignatius in subsequent works. (1914, 1 volume; German)
Historical surveys (4 titles)
A Candid History of the Jesuits
Published a century after the papal restoration of the Society of Jesus, Joseph McCabe’s history of the Jesuits promises a “candid” account of the religious order dating back to its establishment in 1540. McCabe, born in England in 1867, was a priest before leaving the Catholic Church to become a popular writer, with such titles as The Myth of the Resurrection and Did Jesus Ever Live? A more balanced history of the Society of Jesus is available at Jesuit Sources. (1913; 1 volume; English)
La compagnie de Jésus: esquisse de son institut et de son histoire (1521–1773)
Joseph Brucker; a Jesuit from France, published a one-volume history of the Society of Jesus in 1919. Brucker’s account begins with the order’s origins, with the conversion of Ignatius of Loyola, and runs through its suppression by Clement XIV in 1773. A more complete and recent history of the Society of Jesus is available at Jesuit Sources. (1919; 1 volume; French)
Born in 1816, Andrew Steinmetz briefly joined the Jesuits in England, with those few months in a novitiate becoming a subject a book he published in 1846. Two years later, he published a larger narrative on the history of the Society of Jesus. A more complete and recent history of the Society of Jesus is available at Jesuit Sources. (1848; 3 volumes; English)
Thomas Campbell, a provincial of the Province of New York and president of what became Fordham University, writes a narrative of the history of the Society, from its roots in the 16th century to the book’s publication in the early 20th. A more complete and recent history of the Society of Jesus is available at Jesuit Sources. (1921; 2 volumes; English)
Constitutions (1 title)
Comentario a las constituciones de la Compañia de Jesus
The commentaries by Jesuit scholar José Manuel Aicardo are indispensable tools for understanding The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Aicardo was also a prominent literary critic in the 20th century, writing for the Spanish publication Razón y fe. An English translation of the Constitutions is available at Jesuit Sources. (1919–1935; 6 volumes; Spanish)
Education (2 titles)
Jesuit Education: Its History and Principles Viewed in the Light of Modern Educational Problems
In 1903, American scholar Robert Schwickerath published a wide-ranging history of Jesuit education: its origins, its developments, and its changing contexts. A collection of documents related to the foundation of Jesuit pedagogy is available at Jesuit Sources. (1903; 1 volume; English)
Loyola and the Educational System of the Jesuits
Thomas Hughes, an American Jesuit at St. Louis University, wrote a sweeping account of Jesuit education for Charles Scribner’s Sons, a popular New York publishing house, at the end of the 19th century. “In the following work on the Educational System of the Jesuits,” Hughes begins his preface,” I have endeavored to present a critical statement of the principles and method adopted in the Society of Jesus.” A collection of documents related to the foundation of Jesuit pedagogy is available at Jesuit Sources. (1892; 1 volume; English)
See also the Jesuit Educational Quarterly.
Spirituality (1 title)
The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius
Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in Maryland, published a version of the Spiritual Exercises at the close of the 19th century. Maurice Meschler and his book served as the definitive authorities on the subject for decades. A more recent edition of the Spiritual Exercises, edited and annotated by George Ganss, is available at Jesuit Sources. (1899; 1 volume; English)
See also Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits.
Biographies (9 titles)
Beati Petri Canisii, Societatis Iesu, Epistulae et acta
Otto Braunsberger edits the biography and letters of Pieter Kanis (Peter Canisius), the Dutch Jesuit who joined the Society of Jesus in 1543, served that the Council of Trent, and founded what became the University of Innsbruck. He was canonized shortly after the publication of Braunsberger’s last volume. (1896-1923; 8 volumes; Latin)
Histoire de Saint Ignace de Loyola d’après les documents originaux
An Italian author, Daniello Bartoli joined the Society of Jesus in 1623, when he was perhaps only 15. He became a popular with the publication of Dell’huomo di lettere difeso ed emendato in 1645. Ten years later, Bartoli published a biography of Ignatius of Loyola, which, more than two centuries later, appeared as a two-volume account in French. A volume of selected letters by Ignatius translated into English is available at Jesuit Sources. (1893; 2 volumes; French)
History of the Life and Institute of St. Ignatius de Loyola
An Italian author, Daniello Bartoli joined the Society of Jesus in 1623, when he was perhaps only 15. He became a popular writer with the publication of Dell’huomo di lettere difeso ed emendato in 1645. Ten years later, Bartoli published a biography of Ignatius of Loyola, which, two centuries later, appeared as a two-volume account in English. A volume of selected letters by Ignatius translated into English is available at Jesuit Sources. (1855; 2 volumes; English)
The Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier
Henry James Coleridge, an English convert to Catholicism, was an editor and prolific writer. Among Coleridge’s popular biographies of Jesus is his account of Francis Xavier, the first and most famous of the Jesuit missionaries. A volume of Xavier’s letters translated into English is available at Jesuit Sources. (1872; 2 volumes, English)
The Life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, of the Society of Jesus
J.F.X. (or John Francis Xavier) O’Conor was born in 1852. A popular author, he wrote biographies of Ignatius and Aloysius Gonzaga. The latter subject died in 1591, at the age of 23, from an illness he acquired while helping Romans afflicted by a plague. Gonzaga was canonized in 1726. (1891; 1 volume; English)
The Life of St. Francis Borgia of the Society of Jesus
Francis Borgia was a Spanish duke who renounced his titles to join the Society of Jesus following the death of his wife. He became the third Superior General of the Society of Jesus in 1565. Three centuries later, A.M. Clarke published a biography of Borgia as part of an English publisher’s popular series. A more recent biography of Borgia is available at Jesuit Sources. (1894; 1 volume; English)
The Life of St. Francis Xavier, of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of India
Dominic (or Dominique) Bouhours was a French Jesuit, born in 1702. He entered the Society of Jesus at age 16 and spent much of his live as an essayist, historian, and critic. His biography of Francis Xavier first appeared in 1679 and appeared in English almost two centuries later. A volume of Xavier’s letters translated into English is available at Jesuit Sources. (1841; 1 volume; English)
The Life of the Blessed Peter Favre
A translation of a work of Italian scholar Giuseppe Boero, the biography of Pierre Favre was a part of a larger quarterly series of religious biographies published in London in the nineteenth century. Favre’s spiritual writings are available at Jesuit Sources. (1873; 1 volume; English)
The Story of St. Stanislaus Kostka of the Society of Jesus
Henry James Coleridge, an English convert to Catholicism, was an editor and prolific writer. Among Coleridge’s popular biographies of Jesus was his account of Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish novice whose pious and model life in the Society of Jesus, which lasted less than a year before his death in 1568, eventually led to his canonization in 1726. (1893; 1 volume, English)
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