When she arrived over two decades ago, the cemetery was full of weeds and collapsed monuments, and the custodian’s house was in disrepair. Today, the tombs are restored, irises—Florence’s symbol—bloom among the graves, and the site, including the library, is open to visitors.
Sister Julia’s extensive library, including books she inherited from her father, a Barrett Browning scholar, and works on history, language, medieval mysticism, religious politics, and comparative religions, traveled with her from England, where she was born, to the United States, before finding a permanent home in Florence. “I’m glad I kept my books, as they allowed me to continue researching and writing,” she said. The collection includes works by notable cemetery residents like Barrett Browning as well as writer Walter Savage Landor, central figures in Florence’s Victorian literary community.
The library is open to all—students, scholars, researchers, teachers, and the public. “I dreamed of [creating] a free library,” said Sister Julia, “to which poor could come as well as international scholars.” She also set up a small press on-site, making limited-edition books using marbled endpapers and Victorian-era binding equipment.
Her collaborators in the cemetery’s transformation are members of Florence’s Roma community, who have been central to restoration efforts: building shelves, cataloguing the library, and repairing graves. “Roma were begging nearby when I first saw them; one had a nine-day-old baby. They were evicted from an abandoned warehouse during a storm, so I let them stay with me. In return, they repaired a collapsed wall and cleaned the entire house.” When she realized they’re often illiterate, she established the Alphabet School at the library to teach them to read. Now, she said, they are eager to write their life stories, which Sister Julia plans to publish at her cemetery press. She jokes that it’s the influence of being around all her books.
