Barbelin at the Prep

A card-sized, collectible photograph of founder Felix Barbelin, S.J., on loan from the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center.

Felix-Joseph Barbelin, S.J., the "Apostle of Philadelphia," was both a great man and the 'founder' of St. Joseph's Preparatory School - but would you have kept a trading card of him had you known him?  That is precisely what 19th century Philadelphians did - in addition to being able to own card-sized copies of the portraits of famous civil war generals and well-liked presidents - images of Barbelin would have been available for a popular market.  How do we know that?  Because of a generous loan from the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center (PAHRC), we currently have a small exhibit of Barbelin relics on display in front of the Prep's main office, including a number of these small images.

The locks of hair.

The 'elephant in the room' of this exhibit, and the most commonly commented upon item since it has been installed this fall, is a lock of Barbelin's hair.  Why would anyone, let alone an archive save a lock of hair from a French-born Jesuit priest who died in 1869 Philadelphia?  There are many potential answers, but seemingly no definitive one, as no details concerning the origin of this artifact have been saved with it. Speculation about the creation and preservation of this relic points towards the respect and fame that Barbelin earned during his career in Philadelphia, as well as the 19th century Catholic culture of relics.  A glowing (if not hagiographical) biography of Barbelin that was written after his death, and his biography published in the "Catholic Encyclopedia" (linked to earlier in this article) both point towards his popularity.  Although when, where, and why this lock of hair was clipped is speculation, it seems probable that it was taken after he had died in Philadelphia, as it appears in the same frame as a lock of hair from the Rev. John P. Dunn, who also died in 1869.

Also included in the display, are the coffin plates from Barbelin and Rev. John Blox, S.J., a pastor at St. John's who died nine years earlier than Barbelin.  Because of that time difference, and the fact that they are physically framed together, perhaps they were removed from the coffins when the graves were moved, as we discussed on this blog before (see "Villiger Buried Twice in Elysian Fields!")  There is, however, no documentation to prove this.

A particularly dapper image of the founder of St. Joe's Prep, Felix Barbelin, S.J., on loan from the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Research Center

The collection will be on display until the summer, when the majority of the relics need to return to the PAHRC, who generously loaned them and allowed us to put this information online.  We placed the exhibit directly underneath the school's portrait of Barbelin (seemingly from the 1960's or 1970's - I am unsure of the exact history of that painting).  Viewing the exhibit as a whole, I was particularly struck by how life-like the later portrait is, even when displayed next to multiple contemporary images of Barbelin.  This exhibit has forever changed the way that I look at that portrait.

Fr. Villiger Found in a Box in Jesuit Hall!

I found this lithograph of Rev. Burchard Villiger, S.J., in the fall of 2010 folded up in a shoe box in the archive storage room in Jesuit Hall.  Sometimes an old print is trimmed to fit an existing frame, thereby saving the expense of having a larger frame made.  Unfortunately, this original 19^th century print has suffered such a fate, having been reduced to 12” x 14.5”.  Typically, a lithograph such as this would have a title, the name of the artist, and the name and location of the lithographer.  This vital identifying information is often lost when a print is trimmed, and as you can see in the photo, our lithograph retains only the partial name and address of the lithographer: FASY, 1225 No. 17^th St. Phila., Pa.  The lithographer worked out of a building located near the southeast corner of 17^th and Stiles, directly across 17^th St. from the current Prep. 

So, how old is this image?  And what occasion prompted its creation?  An untrimmed specimen would likely answer these questions, so my search is on for the “Holy Grail” of Villiger fans like me.  I have not seen this image of Villiger before, so perhaps it was made from a lost photograph.  His hair and facial features lead me to guess that this dates from the 1870s.  Villiger was known as a prodigious fundraiser.  Perhaps the print was created as a premium for those who donated to the construction of the Church of the Gesu begun in October 1879.  Or maybe it was issued to celebrate Villiger’s Golden Jubilee as a Jesuit, which was commemorated by the very first Mass in the new church on 4 October 1888.  It might also have been commissioned for the dedication of the church on 2 December 1888. 

Do you have any ideas?  Have you ever seen this image?  Do you know the lithograph, or have access to an untrimmed example?  Please pass along any leads that might help us solve this mystery.

Interested in more information about lithographs?  The following link from the Philadelphia Print Shop on Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill contains descriptions of various printing processes: 

http://www.philaprintshop.com/whataprt.html

You can also see what’s for sale at the shop.  The owner, Don Cresswell, is a map and print expert who occasionally appears on Antiques Road Show, and is the father of Robert Cresswell of the Class of 1992.