The First Book I Ever Checked Out of a Library | National Humanities Center

Humanities Moments

The First Book I Ever Checked Out of a Library

July 17, 2020

Stewart, Joan Hinde (Center Trustee; Fellow, 1982–83; President Emerita, Hamilton College)

Reading; Catholic Church; Libraries; Biography; Saints;

In this video, Joan Hinde Stewart recalls the first book she ever checked out of a library — a biography of Joan of Arc — a memory triggered by an experience in her sixties. She describes the fascination she felt about Joan of Arc from an early age and the conflict she felt about reading this biography, as it was unsanctioned by the Catholic church.

As she notes, however, “I became positively besotted with The Maid of Orleans. I could do nothing but think about Joan. That’s the way she is. She grabs you, and no matter how well you know the story you keep hoping — I keep hoping — that it will turn out differently.”


Subjects

Literature / Reading / Catholic Church / Libraries / Biography / Saints /

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