‘The convenience of such a label of proprietorship, printed or engraved, led to its adoption soon after the appearance of printed books. Books have been lost, borrowed, or stolen ever since type began, and a mere manuscript name is inconspicuous and easily effaced.’ John Byrne Leicester Warren (Lord de Tabley), A Guide to the Study … Continue reading Ex Libris: Bookplates in UCD Special Collections (Part 1)
Often, we find ourselves engrossed in a book, —whether for a little escapism or perhaps for the purposes of research—lost amongst the words on the page. The art of writing is, of course, reason alone to become lost. However, the beauty of the book itself, as an object of material culture, can often be overlooked … Continue reading Delightful Devices: the art of the printer’s mark
In an interview with Dennis O’Driscoll, Seamus Heaney noted that ‘A friendship…is a field of force. There’s a mutuality, a happy shadowing and colouring of minds. You wake to different things in yourself and in the world, just by coming alive in the company of different friends.’ [1] A recent donation to UCD Special Collections … Continue reading ‘Old Friendship & Regard’: The Joseph M. Hassett Donation, 2022
While we might think of viral social media trends as a purely modern phenomenon, the people of the past were certainly no strangers to passing fads and fashions. The Victorian era, the long stretch of time encompassing much of the nineteenth century and ending with the death of Queen Victoria at the turn of the … Continue reading A Frenzy for Ferns: Fern-Mania in Victorian Literature
At first glance, Robert Pool and John Cash’s Views of the most Remarkable Public Buildings, Monuments and other Edifices in the City of Dublin (25.J.8) seems like many other eighteenth century books held in UCD Special Collections. Published in Dublin for 'J. Williams, 21 Skinner-row in 1780', the book guides the reader through the streets … Continue reading Extra! Extra! Finding Bonus Material in a Book
Some time ago, seated at ease upon a summer evening and taking a serene review of an indefensibly fortunate and happy life, I calculated that I must have committed at least fifty-three murders, and been concerned with hiding about half a hundred corpses for the purpose of the concealment of crimes; hanging one corpse on … Continue reading The Real Father Brown: Rediscovering John O’Connor
Constantine Curran and James Joyce first meet in 1899, when they were both students in University College, then located at 87 St. Stephen’s Green. This was the beginning of a life-long friendship between the two men, as Curran remained a close confidant of the writer after he moved away from Ireland. Photograph of James Joyce … Continue reading ‘Yours heroically’: James Joyce and the Curran/Laird Letter Collection
Published by Julius Bien, New York, in 1870, F.V Hayden’s Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery, with a description of the Geographical and Geological Features, and Some Account of the Resources of the Great West is a large and weighty book. The copy now housed in UCD Special Collections was once part of the Royal … Continue reading Sun Pictures: Geology, Photography and the Rocky Mountains
Ar an 15ú lá Iúil 2022, céiliúrfaimid comóradh céad bliain i ndiaidh bhreithlá an t-údar, Cathal Ó Sándair. Bhain sé cáil amach lena shraitheanna leabhar do dhéagóirí. Agus muid ag druidim i dtreo an chomóraidh seo, chaith foireann Sainchnuasaigh UCD am ag catalógú tromlach na leabhar a scríobh Ó Sándair, mar chuid den obair ar … Continue reading Taobh Thiar Den Laoch, Reics Carló / Behind the Hero Reics Carló
Recently, and in part-fulfilment of my MA in Archives and Records Management, I was afforded the opportunity to arrange and catalogue material belonging to Seán Ó’Ríordáin (1917–1977) which had been donated to UCD Special Collections in the years after the accession of his principal collection. As a lifelong Gaelgeoir, I have always found resonance with … Continue reading ‘Litir pharanoiach – duit féin amháin’: Seán Ó’Ríordáin, File, Fáidh agus Draoi