“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”
So wrote G.K. Chesterton in the Illustrated London News in 1910. The line is classic Chesterton. This 20th-century prince of paradox had a knack for blending humor with truth throughout his writings, of which there are many. The Catholic convert penned everything from novels to short stories to plays, as well as thousands of newspaper essays.
Now, Franciscan University is home to a collection of more than 400 of Chesterton’s first edition books, essays, and other literary marvels.
The story of how this one-of-a-kind collection came to Steubenville began over a year ago. Dale Ahlquist, president of the Society of G.K. Chesterton and the Chesterton Schools Network, contacted Thomas Costello, manager of the Franciscan University High School Advantage Program, which regularly works with Chesterton Schools. Ahlquist knew of a collector of Chesterton literature in Austria who was hoping to sell. Would Franciscan be interested?
That would be great, Costello agreed. Not only would such rare and unique books be an asset to Franciscan students, but they would also benefit Chesterton scholars far and wide. Finances, though, presented another question.
Susan and Bryan Salzmann—Costello’s sister and brother-in-law—answered with a generous donation. Of the Salzmanns’ six children, three have graduated from Franciscan and one is a future student.
“We’re very supportive of the University and its mission,” Bryan Salzmann says. “To understand where you’re going, it’s helpful to know where you’ve come from. The ability to study these great works can allow students to understand Chesterton’s conversion of faith so it can help them on their own journeys.”
So, in October 2024, Costello boarded a flight to Vienna to meet the collector, Wolfgang Powischer. A former choirmaster for the Vienna Boys’ Choir, Powischer had spent the last 50 years accumulating all things Chesterton. He had a signed copy of The Return of Don Quixote. Serials of G.K.’s Weekly. A scrapbook with century-old clippings of Chesterton’s newspaper columns. Even a picture book that Chesterton’s father, Edward, had written and illustrated for his children called The Wonderful Story of Dunder van Haden and His Seven Little Daughters.
“Wolfgang was very happy, number one, that the collection was going to a university and, number two, that the collection was staying all together,” Costello says.
The next step will be creating a dedicated, immersive Chesterton reading room in the St. John Paul II Library. Still in development, the project is a collaborative effort between Costello, Library Director Amy Leoni, Reference and Archives Librarian Viola Chontos, and Theatre Professor Dr. John Walker (who can often be seen donning a three-piece suit to act as Chesterton on EWTN and in plays).
“We’re making Franciscan a destination for Chesterton fans,” Costello says.
The reading room will indeed be a destination. Or, more appropriately, a home. It will take the collection from its temporary display to proper glass bookshelves surrounded by rich, dark wood and leather seating. It will be a place where students and scholars can dive into Chesterton’s brilliant mind—and perhaps even picture the portly Chesterton huddled at a desk, tiny spectacles perched above his mustache, a pen in one hand and cigar in the other, ready to add another story to the shelves.
