News & Current Projects
News from all Projects
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The process of digitising Mathew Paris’s ‘Book of St Albans’The digitisation of the Book of St Albans manuscript by Matthew Paris was quite possibly the most anticipated step within the Medieval manuscript digitisation project currently being conducted within the Library of Trinity College Dublin. This high value manuscript was first photographed as black and white collotype prints for the M.R. James Facsimile edition in … Continue reading "The process of digitising Mathew Paris’s ‘Book of St Albans’" -
Eileen C. Booth, Cuala Press artist.This blog discusses one of the less well-known Cuala Press artists, Eileen C. Booth, and her role as a designer in Elizabeth Yeats’ arts and crafts enterprise. -
‘The most lamentable burning of the cittie of Corke’: a view on Irish history from a Dutch CollectionOn the morning of 31st May 1622, exactly four hundred years ago, a terrible fire struck Cork city. It was sparked by an early summer thunderstorm. Many of the tightly packed dwellings within the city walls were built of timber or clay and had thatched roofs, and when lightning struck they quickly went up in … Continue reading "‘The most lamentable burning of the cittie of Corke’: a view on Irish history from a Dutch Collection" -
John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, TCD MS 503TCD MS 503 is principally comprised of John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, a text which describes itself as having been derived from the more celebrated and much more elaborate Worcester Chronica chronicarum, a twelfth-century chronicle, the authorship of which has been attributed variously to Florence and/or John, both Worcester monks. As the diminutive form of its … Continue reading "John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, TCD MS 503"
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Transcontinental ThreadsDesigns for Cuala embroideries currently being conserved by the TCD library were exported worldwide. This blog looks at their conservation, international influence, and references the work of one of Cuala’s lesser-known designers Ruth Lane-Poole.
Cuala Press Project
The Cuala Press Project commenced in October 2020 and is focused on two collections, the Cuala Press Print Collection (TCD MS 11574) and the Cuala Press Business Archives (TCD MS 11535). The project is supported by the Schooner Foundation which funded the appointment of an archivist, a conservator, a digital photographer, and a post-doctoral researcher in the history of art. The aim of the project is to catalogue, conserve, research and digitize the collections, and make them more accessible to researchers.
The Cuala Press was established by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (1868-1940) and Susan Mary Yeats (1866-1949) in Churchtown, County Dublin in 1908. The Cuala Press Print collection comprises 111 hand-coloured prints designed for the Cuala Press by artists such as Dorothy Blackham, Beatrice Moss Campbell (Lady Glenavy), Mary Cottenham Yeats and Elizabeth Corbet Yeats. The Business Archives of the Cuala Press comprises approximately 81 boxes of material and includes some minute books of directors' meetings, cash books, letters, some original drawings for prints, sample books, and designs for embroidery. The Cuala Press collections are visually stunning and form an important part of Ireland's Creative Legacy.
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Eileen C. Booth, Cuala Press artist.This blog discusses one of the less well-known Cuala Press artists, Eileen C. Booth, and her role as a designer in Elizabeth Yeats’ arts and crafts enterprise.
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Transcontinental ThreadsDesigns for Cuala embroideries currently being conserved by the TCD library were exported worldwide. This blog looks at their conservation, international influence, and references the work of one of Cuala’s lesser-known designers Ruth Lane-Poole.
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The Cuala Press Business ArchivesAn insight into the Business Archives of the Cuala Press written by Project Archivist Ciara Daly. -
Women of the Cuala – Maire ‘Molly’ GillTo celebrate Women's History Month we have a blog on Maire Gill, one of the longest serving employees of the Cuala Press.
Fagel Collection Project
The Fagel Collection at the Library of Trinity College Dublin is one of the most important and largest still-extant Dutch private libraries from the eighteenth century. The library was assembled as a working library by several generations of the Fagel family, of whom successive members held high offices in the Dutch Republic throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Trinity College Dublin purchased the collection of books, pamphlets and maps as a whole in 1802.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin and the KB, National Library of the Netherlands will collaborate in a three-year project (2020-2022) for the conservation and digital cataloguing of the Dutch 18th-century Fagel Collection by the Library of Trinity. The project 'Unlocking the Fagel Collection' is made possible by the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken).
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‘The most lamentable burning of the cittie of Corke’: a view on Irish history from a Dutch CollectionOn the morning of 31st May 1622, exactly four hundred years ago, a terrible fire struck Cork city. It was sparked by an early summer thunderstorm. Many of the tightly packed dwellings within the city walls were built of timber or clay and had thatched roofs, and when lightning struck they quickly went up in … Continue reading "‘The most lamentable burning of the cittie of Corke’: a view on Irish history from a Dutch Collection"
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Farcical Fountains in the Fagel collectionIn our third guest post about the Fagel Collection by History of Art and Architecture students, Olivia Bayne tells us about fountains which were more than just decoration. Be ready to run! -
Ephemeral Architecture Eternalised in Print:Zoe Cooke, History of Art and Architecture student, discusses the 'Pompa Funebris Alberti' from our Fagel Collection. -
The Fagel French Garden ConnectionThis post, by Niamh Flood, discusses the Chateau de Clagny and the Fagel House.
Manuscripts for Medieval Studies Project
The project, generously funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will seek to research, catalogue, conserve, digitise and share 16 medieval manuscripts of international research significance. The project outputs will be presented in the Library's Digital Collections platform in III-F display, allowing us to share our collections with communities around the world, to catalyse research and educational dissemination on a global scale, whilst ensuring the preservation of our collections for generations to come. The selection of manuscripts demonstrates the breadth and variety of the Library's collections of source material for the study of the art, history and culture of the medieval period, and the history of the book in particular.
The project will also directly contribute to teaching and research within Trinity College Dublin, foster collaborations with other research institutes, and will open up engagement with the manuscripts to a global audience at the click of a button. This project was personally supported by Dr Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, who died on 15 April 2021. This project will stand as a memorial to his deep belief in the transformative power of libraries as a 'vital necessity for the soul, mind and future dreams of a nation'.
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The process of digitising Mathew Paris’s ‘Book of St Albans’The digitisation of the Book of St Albans manuscript by Matthew Paris was quite possibly the most anticipated step within the Medieval manuscript digitisation project currently being conducted within the Library of Trinity College Dublin. This high value manuscript was first photographed as black and white collotype prints for the M.R. James Facsimile edition in … Continue reading "The process of digitising Mathew Paris’s ‘Book of St Albans’"
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John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, TCD MS 503TCD MS 503 is principally comprised of John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, a text which describes itself as having been derived from the more celebrated and much more elaborate Worcester Chronica chronicarum, a twelfth-century chronicle, the authorship of which has been attributed variously to Florence and/or John, both Worcester monks. As the diminutive form of its … Continue reading "John of Worcester’s ‘Chronicula’, TCD MS 503"
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‘Babbling in the Vernacular’: The English Language in the Middle AgesAmong the riches being digitised as part of the Manuscripts for Medieval Studies project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York are three codices containing English, one eleventh-century, one thirteenth- or fourteenth-century and one fifteenth-century. Collectively, these three manuscripts give us an interesting snapshot of the status of English in the Middle Ages and … Continue reading "‘Babbling in the Vernacular’: The English Language in the Middle Ages" -
Digitising Medieval Manuscripts: Common challenges in the studio and insights into using the conservation book cradleThis blog will provide a brief introduction into our digitisation process for medieval manuscripts as well as some of the challenges encountered and give an insight into the most unique piece of equipment we use within our studios, a motorised book cradle.