Marsh's Library@MarshsLibrary

We have paused using this account until this site stops being a cesspit of lies and hate.

 Dublin
marshlibrary.ie
Joined October 2011
3,664 Photos and videos
We are pausing our presence on X for the foreseeable future. Join us over on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, & TikTok.
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Good luck to everyone starting their leaving cert today! A little bit of addition to warm the brain, from 'Records Arithmetick', a manual to teach simple & practical maths.
Part of a printed page from a 17th century book in English

ALT Part of a printed page from a 17th century book in English
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Have a lovely bank holiday weekend! Whatever you're up to, may you be as entertained as these swans and fish!
Woodcut showing a man playing a cello on an Island, watched by swans & fish. From A history of the Northern People by Olaus Magnus, 1555

ALT Woodcut showing a man playing a cello on an Island, watched by swans & fish. From A history of the Northern People by Olaus Magnus, 1555
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It's very lovely to see all the irises in bloom around Dublin 8 at the moment. These lovely hand-coloured ones are from a mid-16th century herbal.
Page from a 16th century herbal showing woodcuts of a gladiolus and two irises. The names of the flowers are printed above the illustrations in several European languages

ALT Page from a 16th century herbal showing woodcuts of a gladiolus and two irises. The names of the flowers are printed above the illustrations in several European languages

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A happy looking dog at court! From the engraved title page of Hugo de Groot's Introduction to Dutch jurisprudence, printed in 1636.
Detail of an engraving showing a dog with a pencil for scale

ALT Detail of an engraving showing a dog with a pencil for scale

Engraved title page of Inleydinghe tot de Hollandsche rechts-gheleerdheydt (Haarlem, 1636)

ALT Engraved title page of Inleydinghe tot de Hollandsche rechts-gheleerdheydt (Haarlem, 1636)
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An impressive bouquet of flowers from Paul Contant's 'Le Bouquet Printanier', printed in 1600 in La Rochelle.
Engraving of bouquet of flowers

ALT Engraving of bouquet of flowers

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Somebody went to real efforts to erase what was written on the title page of this work on Roman obelisks from 1589. They scribbled out the inscription and pasted a slip of paper over it. Must've been scandalous!
Title page of De gli obelischi di Roma, by Michele Mercati (Rome, 1589)

ALT Title page of De gli obelischi di Roma, by Michele Mercati (Rome, 1589)

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In our latest blog post, recent Maddock Fellow Dr Joe Borsato @TheEcoAlchemyst looks at how Indigenous peoples shaped Huguenot colonization in the seventeenth century. marshlibrary.ie/the-indigeno…

The Indigenous Worlds of Huguenot Colonization - Marsh's Library

Recent Maddock fellow Joe Borsato discusses how Indigenous peoples shaped Huguenot colonization in the seventeenth century. On 27 May 1603, the Innu (Montagnais), an Indigenous people of northeastern...

marshlibrary.ie
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The binder used a fragment of printed music to line the spine of the letters of Aldo Manuzio the younger, from 1592. Music was tricky to print & the page may have had an error, or perhaps it didn't sell. Whatever the reason, it ended up in the waste pile #Fragments #Bindings
Photo showing of the inside cover, spine lining and flyleaf of Lettere volgari di Aldo Manucci (Roma, 1592), the letters of Aldus Manutius teh younger.

ALT Photo showing of the inside cover, spine lining and flyleaf of Lettere volgari di Aldo Manucci (Roma, 1592), the letters of Aldus Manutius teh younger.

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On Newstalk's Talking History, Marsh's Director Dr Jason McElligott joined Prof Daniel Cook, Prof David Kenny & Dr Clíona Ó Gallchoir to talk about the continuing impact of Gulliver's Travels. You can listen back here: newstalk.com/podcasts/highli…

Gulliver's Travels at 300 | Newstalk

We mark the 300th anniversary of the publication of one of the most influential books ever writte...

newstalk.com
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A tiny map of Venice from the title page of a pamphlet printed in 1606.
Detail of a title page from 1606 showing map of Venice with a pencil for scale

ALT Detail of a title page from 1606 showing map of Venice with a pencil for scale

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The pamphlet was printed during the Venetian Interdict of 1606-7, a quarrel between the Roman Church & Venice which led to a temporary excommunication of Venetian Catholics.
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A later owner tried to wash out a scribble on the title page of this Byzantine novel, but still the ownership inscription remains. A good thing too, as it tells us the book belonged to poet & playwright Ben Jonson.
Title page of the novel 'De Ismeniae et Ismenes amoribus', Lyon, 1617

ALT Title page of the novel 'De Ismeniae et Ismenes amoribus', Lyon, 1617

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A very relatable look of 'can I just get five minutes peace with my book'. From Le Rommant de la Rose, a hugely popular Medieval poem, printed in Paris, 500 years ago.
Woodcut showing a woman reading from Le rommant de la rose (Paris, 1526)

ALT Woodcut showing a woman reading from Le rommant de la rose (Paris, 1526)

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A lovely piece about Jonathan Swift in the current issue of The New Yorker. Lots of references to Marsh's Library in it: newyorker.com/culture/the-we…

Jonathan Swift Wrote His Own Epitaph. Was It a Joke?

A college professor spent seven years decoding the inscription on the grave of the writer Jonathan Swift. He thinks he’s finally cracked it.

newyorker.com
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Lily of the valley blooms in May, as an early reader indicated in this herbal from 1552 #spring #flowers
Page from 16th century book showing hand-coloured woodcut of lily of the valley with text in Latin in a column on the right

ALT Page from 16th century book showing hand-coloured woodcut of lily of the valley with text in Latin in a column on the right

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The printer's mark of Huguenot printer Conrad Badius from 1562 showing a printing press and a quote from Genesis 3:19 reminding us that to labour is the lot of mortal humans: 'by the sweat of your brow you will eat'. A fitting sentiment after the bank holiday!
Detail of printer's mark from the title page of Commentaires sur les Epistres de l'Apostre S. Paul by Jean Calvin

ALT Detail of printer's mark from the title page of Commentaires sur les Epistres de l'Apostre S. Paul by Jean Calvin
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Happy #MayDay ! Falalas from Thomas Morley's 1595 'Balletts to five voyces' and birdsong from Marsh's Library garden, 2026!
Page of printed music from 1595

ALT Page of printed music from 1595
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Tulips & sea daffodils, with bonus beetle, from Daniel Rabel's 'Theatrum florae' printed in Paris in 1622
Engraving of tulips

ALT Engraving of tulips

Engraving of sea daffodil and amaryllis

ALT Engraving of sea daffodil and amaryllis
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