Burke Library

Burke Library of the Union Theological Seminary is located at 3041 Broadway, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

Following the 1801 Treaty of Lunéville, the monastery's library was split among its members in preparation for its dissolution under Napoleon; van Ess' portion would eventually be sold to the Union Theological Seminary.

The collection consisted of around 13,000 volumes, especially rich in pre-1500 incunabula; original editions of patristic literature; Roman Catholic theology, liturgies, and canon law; early Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and polyglot editions of the Bible; as well as a significant group of pamphlets written by Martin Luther written during the 1520s.

[3][2]: 353  Early librarians included professors Edward Robinson, Henry Boynton Smith, and Charles Augustus Briggs.

[2]: 352  Notable acquisitions during the time include the McAlpin collection, donated by David Hunter McAlpin;[2]: 355  donations from Ezra Hall Gillett, Samuel Hanson Cox, William Buell Sprague, and John Marsh; as well as a 7,000 volume gift from Edwin Francis Hatfield.