Philosophy and Theology

In addition to these named collections, other collections in the Department include important holdings (especially those published prior to 1801) for philosophy and theology. Check MadCat and the card catalog in the Department.

Dutch Collection, also known as the Tank Collection
Some 4,800 volumes and 374 pamphlets on theology, history, travels, and science from the library of the Reverend R.J. van der Meulen, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, donated by his daughter, Mrs. N.O. Tank. The bulk of the collection pertains to Protestant thought, particularly Calvinism. It includes virtually all the sermons of the major Calvinist preachers of the 18th-century, many of the 16th and 17th centuries, plus numerous tracts by less-known writers. Inventory available. Now cataloged as well on MadCat.

Dutch pamphlets
Some 200 lampoons, libels, and broadsides in prose as well as in verse, covering the second half of the war with Spain (1568-1648), the truce (1609-1621), and the wars with England and France, with special emphasis on 1672, known as the year of disasters. The collection details the theological controversy between the Remonstrant and Contra-Remonstrant believers in the Dutch Reformed Church (remonstrants wanted to soften the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination) and includes acts, decrees, and articles of faith from the 1618-1619 Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. Indexed in Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Netherlands) Catalogus van de pamfletten-verzameling by W.P.C. Knuttel. Shelf-list available in the Department card catalog (drawer labeled Knuttel).

Freethought Titles
From the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Many additional titles in the general stacks. Inventory and article available.

Pacifist and Unitarian Titles Collection Q
Two boxes of pamphlets and books collected by a prominent Unitarian, Robert S. Hoagland.

Saint-Simon Collection
About one hundred items by French social philosopher Henri Saint-Simon (1760-1825) and his followers (Rodrigues, Bazard, and Enfantin), who created a new religion based on Saint-Simon's principles for improving the welfare of the poor. The collection includes accounts of the 1832 trials of Bazard and Enfantin, accused of advocating women's rights and the abolition of property. Shelf-list available in the Department card catalog (CA495-CA578).

Miscelas Chwalibog Collection
About 1400 volumes collected by a Polish immigrant ex-priest who founded his own church in Flintville, Wisconsin. The collection consists mostly of contemporary editions of the principal European theologians of the 17th and 18th centuries with particular strengths in church history and the philosphers of the Enlightenment. Most of the collection is in Special Collections with the remainder in the general stacks. On deposit from the Kellogg Public Library of Green Bay, 1946.

Hoyer Collection
About fifty items concerning all of the major currents of Lutheran theology, from the Reform movement in the 16th century to the pietism of the 18th century. Theodore Hoyer, campus leader and graduate student, donated his collection to the University before leaving for the war in France in 1918. Shelf-list available in the Department card catalog (Noncurrent: 1232432-1232465).

Montauban Collection
French Protestant (Calvinist, Huguenot) theological pamphlets from the 16th-18th centuries. Shelf-list available in the Department card catalog (Noncurrent: 968953-969166 & BX9457.M6).

Woodward Collection
More than 400 volumes from the library of Gilbert Motier Woodward on permanent loan from the LaCrosse Public Library. The collection contains classics of antiquity in Latin and Greek, grammars of numerous languages, ancient and medieval philosophical texts, jurisprudence, magic, travel and exploration, religious titles from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Most of the collection is in the general stacks. A shelf-list of the materials located in the the Department is available in the card-catalog (Noncurrent: 1195448 - 1195467).