Graffiti have been scratched onto hard surfaces since a hand first hefted a piece of sharp flint and scratched an image of what the next meal could look like … if they could only catch it first.
Not surprisingly the Old Library has its share of scratched surfaces. I am indebted to our eagle-eyed Library guard, Brian Foley, for spotting this well-executed intaglio profile carved into the top of the low bookcase between book stacks V and W, on the north side of the Long Room. The alcoves that flank each side of the Long Room were originally furnished with sloping desks and seats for readers. These were removed in 1817 and it may have been at the time of this refurbishment that a knot in the wood was infilled with coloured wax to smooth out a defect in the surface melding it in with the dark oak. The artist must have struck while the wax was still malleable. Another indistinct face, with a high, furrowed brow and possibly wearing spectacles, has been scratched directly into the wood to the right of the profile head.
Moving outdoors – at the west end of the Old Library, immediately to the right of the West Pavilion door, two heads have been carved into the stone block (sixth up from ground level) at about eye height. They must have been executed by a stone mason or somebody used to handling a chisel. Anthony Cains, former Director of Conservation in Trinity College Library, noticed these profiled heads and tentatively assigned them an 18th-century date.
There will be great acclaim showered upon anyone who can identify the graffitists’ subjects.
Felicity O’ Mahony