Augustin de Backer (18 July 1809 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium – 1 December 1873 in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, Belgium) was a Belgian

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and renowned

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

Early years and Formation

De Backer left his country to be educated at the

schools of France (Beauregard, Saint-Acheul) and Switzerland

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

. After schooling, and rather than going to the university, he undertook to visit libraries of France and Belgium in search of books printed by Plantin. In 1835, he was received into the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(in Rome) by the Superior General, Father John-Baptist Roothaan, who sent him back to

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, in

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, for his novitiate (29 June 1835). He taught three years in the school of

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(1837-1840), and in 1840, began his studies for the priesthood in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

. Ordained priest on 10 September 1843.

Bibliographer

While at Louvain, he came across the ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Societatis Jesu'' published in 1676 by Nathaniel Bacon, and he resolved to revise and update the

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

of Bacon with the help of scientific methods unavailable at the time of Nathaniel Bacon. Based in

he visited Belgian and foreign libraries and, with the help of his natural brother Alois de Backer (also, coincidentally, a Jesuit), started publishing, from 1853 on, his

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

: ''La bibliothèque des écrivains de la Compagnie de Jésus''. For each Jesuit author a short biographical note was given, along with the list of all his writings in their successive editions. The first edition was 7 volumes (printed from 1853 to 1861). Carlos Sommervogel (1834-1902)'s ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'' remains the standard reference book for research into Jesuit writings till the end of the 19th century.

Bibliography

* Van Tricht, Victor: ''La bibliothèque des écrivains de la Compagnie de Jésus et le Père Augustin de Backer'', Louvain, 1876. * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Backer, Augustin 1809 births 1873 deaths 19th-century Belgian Jesuits Clergy from Antwerp Belgian bibliographers