Princeton, N.J. — The family of theologian and professor Thomas F. Torrance (1913–2007) has donated his books, personal papers, and manuscripts to the special collections of the Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries.
He was a frequent visitor to the seminary campus and also acted as an informal advisor and confidant to several of its presidents. His younger son, Iain R. Torrance, became Princeton Seminary’s sixth president in 2004.
T.F. Torrance’s elder son, Thomas S. Torrance, an economist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, said, “For many years it was our father’s intention that his books should go to my brother Iain as the son who had followed him into theology. With Iain’s becoming president of Princeton Seminary, our thoughts changed, as we all agreed that it would be best for our father’s books to come to Princeton.”
“T.F. Torrance was a towering figure among contemporary theologians,” said Clifford Anderson, curator of special collections. “We are absolutely delighted to have received this invaluable collection of letters, manuscripts, sermons, and reading files. … The collection is expected to be open to the public by late 2009, according to Anderson.
The donated library contains approximately 4,000 volumes, with nearly a thousand books dating from the eighteenth century or earlier, and a number of volumes on Scottish Reformation theology. Many of the books are annotated by T.F. Torrance’s own hand. His papers contain correspondence, sermons, lecture notes, topic files, manuscripts, photograph albums, and various objects (including his many awards and honorary degrees).
