Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Menu Search

Category: BLU

Posted on

Yuletide display in the Berkeley Library foyer display case

We have chosen to display A holiday book for Christmas and the New Year, London, [1853] for the month of December. The opening on show includes an image of Martin Luther, popularly believed to have been the originator of the modern decorated tree, and his family. The book is a collection of legends, poetry, music, games, etc.

A holiday book for Christmas and the New Year, London. [1853]. Shelfmark: V.b.22 .
A holiday book for Christmas and the New Year. London, [1853]. Shelfmark: V.b.22.

The Christmas tree as we know it has its origins in early modern Germany but there are precedents going back much earlier. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Hebrews used evergreen wreaths, garlands and trees as symbols of everlasting life. In the nineteenth century, the custom of decorating Christmas trees became widespread amongst the royal courts and nobility throughout Europe but it was through the influence of Queen Victoria’s husband, the German Prince Albert, that families throughout Britain and Ireland first adopted the idea.

The Christmas supplement to The Illustrated London News 1848 carried a full-page picture of the Queen’s Christmas tree at Windsor Castle with a note that ‘the exhibition of the Christmas Tree is somewhat more of a German than an English custom’ followed by a short story by the poet R. H. Horne ‘which will throw some light upon the festive purposes for which they are employed in Germany’. In 1850 Charles Dickens wrote a description of ‘a merry company of children assembled round that pretty German toy, a Christmas tree’ in the December 21 issue of his weekly journal, Household Words.

A holiday book for Christmas and the New Year, London. [1853]. Shelfmark: V.b.22.
A holiday book for Christmas and the New Year, London. [1853]. Shelfmark: V.b.22.
Posted on

‘Fighting words’ now on display in the Berkeley Library foyer display case

Fighting Words is a writing centre founded in Dublin’s north inner city by Roddy Doyle and Sean Love in early 2009 to provide free classes for children and young people. To raise money for the workshop the centre has published ‘Fighting words‘. Produced in a limited edition of only 150 copies, the book contains an etching by the Irish-born American Sean Scully, twice nominated for the Turner Prize, and stories by ten authors.

The artist, the ten authors and Roddy Doyle, the instigator of the project and author of the foreword, have each signed every copy. The stories were printed at Stoney Road Press on a very old Swiss proofing press borrowed from the National Print Museum.

The Department of Early Printed Books and Special Collections is extremely grateful to The Friends of the Library for purchasing this book. The Friends of the Library is one of the oldest associations of its kind, established in June 1945 to “assist the College in promoting the welfare of the Library”. The provision of a fund for the timely purchase of rare books and manuscripts was one of the Friends’ main objectives; it remains so.

Posted on

First music degree from Dublin University, October 1612

This month marks the 400th anniversary of the first Bachelor of Music degree awarded by the University of Dublin, in October 1612. The recipient of this degree is not recorded, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that it was Thomas Bateson (d. 1630), organist and vicar choral at Christ Church Cathedral since 1609.

Thomas Morley ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’ London, 1608. Shelfmark: V.ee.45

Music was not taught in the College at this time, so Dublin University is likely to have followed the practice already established at Cambridge and Oxford of awarding the degree to a distinguished musician of proven ability, perhaps on submission and performance of a suitable composition.

p.116-117
Thomas Morley ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’ London, 1608. Shelfmark: V.ee.45

To celebrate this anniversary, two music publications from the period are currently on display in the Berkeley Library foyer. The first is ‘A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke’  by Thomas Morley (London, 1608). This was the first book on music theory to be published in the English language, and was amongst the earliest books purchased for the Library in the first decade of the 17th century. The book takes the form of a dialogue between the Master (Morley) and two pupils (the brothers Philomathes and Polymathes). It is laid out in three sections, dealing in turn with the rudiments of music, counterpoint and canon, and composition.

Also on display is John Dowland’s ‘First booke of songes or ayres’ (London, 1603), which has particular significance because of its innovative typographical design. Each song can be performed by a solo voice with lute accompaniment (printed on the left-hand page), but is also set for four voices, with the three lower voice parts printed on the right-hand page in a layout designed to allow the singers to read from a single copy while seated around a table (hence the term ‘table-book’ to describe this format).

John Dowland ‘First booke of songes or ayres’ London, 1603
Shelfmark: Press B.7.21

Five editions of this collection appeared between 1597 and 1613, making it the most successful musical publication of its time.

-Roy Stanley, Music Librarian, Trinity College Library.

Posted on

Popular magazines from 100 years ago on display in the Berkeley Library foyer

‘The Strand Magazine’, ‘Pearson’s Magazine’, and ‘The Windsor Magazine’, September 1912.

"O mistress mine, where are you roaming" by Edwin Abbey, used to accompany an article on "Music in Picture" by Austin Chester.
“O mistress mine, where are you roaming” by Edwin Abbey, used to accompany an article on “Music in Picture” by Austin Chester.
The Windsor Magazine, September 1912

From around 1880 until 1950, general-interest family magazines proliferated in Britain. These took inspiration from popular American titles such as ‘Harper’s’ and included a high proportion of popular fiction. Printed on high quality paper, the magazines were copiously illustrated, with ‘The Strand Magazine’ aiming at a picture on every page. Circulation figures and distribution are unfortunately difficult to establish with accuracy, but the sheer number of titles tells its own story. Mike Ashley, in his history of the medium, ‘The age of storytellers‘, (London, 2006) lists 144.

"November Joe, the detective of the woods" by H. Hesketh Prichard. "The mystery of the black fox skin."
‘The mystery of the black fox skin.’
“November Joe, the detective of the woods” by H. Hesketh Prichard.
Pearson’s Magazine, September 1912.

Of these magazines, ‘The Strand Magazine’ is the most famous, made so by its serialisation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. Following the runaway success of ‘The Strand’, magazines such as ‘Pearson’s Magazine’, ‘The Windsor Magazine’, and ‘The Pall Mall Magazine’ entered the market, each attempting to carve out its own niche. In general the magazines tended to include a mixture of popular fiction, non-fiction feature articles, poetry and humour.

To give a flavour of what was popular 100 years ago, we currently have issues of ‘The Strand Magazine‘, ‘Pearson’s Magazine‘, and ‘The Windsor Magazine‘ from September 1912 on display in the foyer of the Berkeley Library. The article from ‘The Strand Magazine’ is particularly fabulous, so we’ve reproduced it here in full. To read the text you will need to click into the gallery, and then click the ‘View full size’ link at the bottom right of the page.

Posted on

London Olympics, 1908

You may have noticed that the Olympics are being held in London this year …

To mark the occasion we are displaying an edition of the ‘Illustrated London News’ in the exhibition case in the foyer of the Berkeley Library, giving details of the dramatic finale to the Marathon in the 1908 Games, which were also held in London.

Unlike the four-year gap between modern Games, the London Olympics in 1908 came only two years after Athens. They were initially planned for Rome, but an untimely eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 redirected Italian government funds elsewhere. Given the deluge of rain that occurred in London over the two-week period, Rome must have seemed even more appealing in hindsight.

In addition to sport and the weather, politics made its presence felt. Finland, at the time an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, marched flagless in the opening ceremony because Russia, through diplomatic channels, had insisted the Finns should march under a Russian banner. Irish contestants paraded under a Union Jack and were disgruntled that their efforts would add to the haul of medals for Great Britain.

Political decisions were not the only ones to see disfavour. The 400 metres final ended in a walkover for British athlete W. Halswelle as J.B. Taylor and W.C. Robbens, both from the USA, withdrew in protest over the disqualification of their compatriot J.C. Carpenter.The biggest controversy, however, was in the marathon. Lining up with 74 other contestants, Italy’s Dorando Pietri entered the Olympic Stadium in the lead and looking exhausted. On the final stretch he fell several times and was supported by confused officials. This led to his disqualification. Queen Alexandra was reportedly greatly moved by Dorando’s show of courage in completing the race, and awarded him a gold cup.

Here are the pages displayed in the case, plus a couple of bonus images.