Currently setting up our new exhibition on #Swift and #GulliversTravels to mark 300 years since its publication. We're particularly happy with this staging of A Modest Proposal (1729), for which thanks to Joan Moynihan.
An unusual panel on this 16th century binding, possibly Swiss? It covers Martin Bucer's Du royaume de Jesus Christ nostre saveur printed in Geneva in 1558 #Bindings
Denis the Carthusian hard at work among his books, on the title page of his biography from 1532 #TitlePageTuesday
A blanket of blossom, bird song, & sunshine in the Close; spring has made a welcome return this morning!
Some blingy books for world book day: A mid-15th century manuscript of Caesar's Gallic Wars, written on vellum, and that once belonged to the king of France; and our earliest printed book, the letters of Cicero to his friends printed on paper in 1472. Shiny! #WorldBookDay
An exciting call for artists' residencies at Marsh's Library and National Museum of Ireland: visualartists.ie/advert/open-...
The music to cure 'tarantism', a frenzied state thought to be caused by a tarantula bite. From the third ed. of Magnes, Athanasius Kircher's work on magnetism, printed in 1654
Some delightful snarkiness from 17th century advice column The Athenian Gazette: a reader asks why the authors answer silly questions. Answer: 'everyone who sends any question thinks both himself and his question as wise as he that sent this'
A potted carnation from 1552, printed from woodblock and then hand-coloured.
Our first librarian Élie Bouhéreau added recipes for laudanum to the flyleaf of one of his books on treating disease. The first was from English Physician Thomas Sydenham who popularised the use of the tincture in the late 17th century, followed by another Bouhéreau picked up on his travels in Paris
A bit late sorry, and I think you already have the answer, but just to reiterate, 7420, Sept 1911-Aug 1912
A very pleasing acanthus border on this title page printed in 1525. Note the sliver of medieval manuscript fragment, used in the binding, peeking out! #TitlePageTuesday #Fragments
![Detail of a page from a 16th century book showing printed text and reader annotations in ink. From 'Annotationes in Acta Apostolarum' [i.e Commentaries on the acts of the apostles] (Basel, 1525)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qpbct5zmxv47jw47bxdrgakj/bafkreiaepmbktqjgpyqfeag5cmjfyd6jxfanqi7kmm7ty2vfmqu23zbkay)
A reader added a fetching cuff to their 'manicule', a pointing finger used to indicate an important passage in Justus Jonas' commentaries on the acts of the apostles, printed in Basel 501 years ago #ManiculeMonday #MondayMarginalia
Suggestions for how to stay well & live to 100 from 1683: rinse your mouth out with wine (or cider) to keep your gums healthy, snort powder of rhubarb, because what can't rhubarb cure!
This 1594 edition of the works of Virgil was given to H. Bouhereau in 1613. It was kept in the family & travelled with our first librarian, Élie Bouhéreau (1643-1719) from his native La Rochelle to exile in Dublin, where it has been on the shelves of Marsh's Library since 1707.
Happy Lunar New Year! This beautiful specimen is from our 1668 edition of 'Markham's master-piece ... touching on curing all diseases in horses', a seminal text on horse care #LunarYear #YearOfTheHorse
We are seeking to appoint an Assistant Librarian in Marsh's Library. This will be a great position for an early-career librarian. Further details at: marshlibrary.ie/assistant-li...
We think the flourish after '25' in this inscription signifies 'deniers', indicating the cost of the book, anyone have any different ideas? We've come across this symbol a few times on books owned by our first librarian, Élie Bouhéreau, a Rochelais Huguenot #bookhistory
LAI Rare Books Group AGM & Annual Lecture. Dr Nora Moroney, exhibition curator "Benjamin Iveagh - a life in books". Online, Wed 18 Feb, at 12.00. The Group is also running an online rare books cataloguing course on Thurs, 26 Feb. Links below!
https://ow.ly/AJkB50YcJ8O
https://ow.ly/U9qM50YcJ8P
Today marks international day of women and girls in science. Louyse Bourgeois (1563-1636) was midwife to the French royal family & the first woman to publish on obstetrics. #WomenInScience
Our intern Audrey found this lovely drawing left by a past reader. They traced one of the bunnies from the title page onto the other side. The rabbits were part of the device or emblem of 16th century Parisian printer Simon de Colines.
Amid their copious annotations, a reader left a 'manicule' or pointing finger to indicate an important section in 'The Greek anthology', a collection of poetry printed in Paris 495 years ago.
The early days of the winter Olympic biathlon! From The History of the Northern People, 1555
Hidden in the binding of this 16th century French herbal, a book describing the uses of plants, are sheets of printed 'waste' used by the binder to bulk up the cover. This seems to be a frame for something never printed #fragments #bindings
Sometimes if we're lucky owners write the price they paid inside their books. In this case an English owner tells us they paid £2 12 shillings for the two volumes of a work on religious controversy printed in Paris. According to TNA's currency converter that's 37 days wages for a skilled tradesman!
A belated Happy St Brigid's Day, celebrated optimistically in Ireland as the first day of spring! These (early) narcissi are from L'Obel's 1591 Icones Stirpium
#StBrigidsDay #LaFheileBride #Spring
Several visitors have left us these tiny rubber ducks at the till recently. We've made sure they're getting some culture, including showing them watercolours of their 18th century ancestor!
Thank goodness they turned it off at some stage or we'd all be in the sea by now
A lot of the country seems to have moved a bit south on this 16th century map of Ireland! From Antoine Lafrery's Geografia Tavole.
Happy #InternationalLegoDay! It's party time for #MarshsMinifigures If you pop into the library today, take a self portrait sheet home with you and become a minifigure for the day 📷
