The Bradshaw collection
| The Bradshaw collection (class Hib.) of approximately 14,000 books which were printed in
Ireland, were written by Irish authors, or are about Ireland is one of the
best known such collections in existence. The largest part was the private
collection of Henry Bradshaw, University Librarian from 1867 to 1886, which was
presented to the Library in 1870 and 1886; it has since been the Library's
policy to add suitable items to this collection. In 1916 the Library published
a detailed catalogue, by C.E. Sayle, of Bradshaw's books plus the
additions up to that date, and this remains a standard reference source for
Irish books. It describes about 8,850 items, of which about 5,850 were printed
in Ireland; of those printed elsewhere, about 1,200 are "written by Irishmen"
and about 1,800 "relating to Ireland", including many rare 17th century
pamphlets. Since 1916 about 5,000 items have been added, mostly Irish
printing. As it now stands, the greatest strength of the collection is in books printed in Ireland before 1850: there are approximately 330 of the 17th century, 5,600 of the 18th century, and 2,600 from the first half of the 19th century. The collection aims to cover every aspect of Irish printing and therefore has a wide subject coverage. Although many 18th century Irish reprints of English books are included, the majority are on Irish subjects and/or by Irish authors, making the collection an important resource for students of Irish history and Irish printing from the 17th century up to 1850. There are also about 2,000 items published after 1850 (although few are later than 1930), including some scarce Irish ephemera; but these are only a small proportion of the Library's Irish books from this period.Individual records for all the books should now be available on Newton. References and further reading:
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Cover of Hib.8.760.1 (Charter of the Royal Hospital of King Charles II, Dublin, 1760, ESTC T114729) in an Irish red morocco binding. |
