Later Collecting
After Zahm left his post as Provincial at Notre Dame in 1906, he moved to
Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C. (closed during the 1960s) which served
as the base of his activities for the remainder of his life. Although he
was nearing sixty (photo),
Zahm undertook the most adventurous travels of his life and started new
writing projects on geography and native peoples.
During Zahm's later years, the rate of his Dante collecting slowed. Nevertheless,
the purchases he did make were extremely significant. He describes the most
important acquisition, a collection of over 2,000 autographed books and
pamphlets in a manuscript he probably drafted for the April 1921 issue of
the Notre Dame Scholastic, which honored the sextenary of Dante's
death. Though never published, the pseudonymously signed manuscript, entitled
A Great Monument to Dante at Notre Dame
University. It reveals the principles upon which Zahm built the
collection and his final perspectives on its worth.
The sixth centenary of the poet's death also marked the death of one of
his most avid American collectors. On November 10, 1921, John A. Zahm died
of pneumonia in Munich while travelling to the Holy Land. He left only a
brief will (
A, B), written in
lead pencil and locked away, unwitnessed, in the steel safe at Holy Cross
College. It is dated October 6, 1917, just prior to his departure for a
European tour during the height of World War I. Evidently concerned that
he might be killed, he reserved a portion of his estate to pay for the return
of his body to America. Zahm also set aside money to have perpetual masses
said on behalf of his family and to cover his outstanding book debts a wise
decision considering that a final invoice was dated a month after his death!
He went on to state: "It is also my will that the remaining portion
of my estate [about $8,000 in stocks and bonds] be used to enlarge the Dante
collection in the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind., by purchasing
books, magazines and works of art on Dante . . . as it has always been my
desire to see my Alma Mater the possessor of the most valuable Dante
collection in existence."
