if we don't tell strange stories, when something strange happens we won't believe it - shannon hale
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One of the tourists at the old library I'm working at cornered me and a coworker while we were moving a trolley of books around today.
Said tourist was like "I wish I could breathe this old book smell all day, you're so lucky!"
I fear this person. Who voluntarily wants to breathe dust and red rot all day?
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Trinity Library, Dublin, Ireland
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Trinity Library, Dublin, Ireland
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Trinity Library, Dublin, Ireland
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Trinity Library, Dublin, Ireland
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Booklovers itinerary to Dublin
Whiskey, beer and... books? If you think you got Ireland all figured out, think again.
**For the main post on my trip to Dublin, check here.**
If you think Dublin is only whiskey and beer, you are so wrong! As a massive bibliophile, I already knew about the Trinity College and its library. However, I did not know that Dublin had quite a bit more to offer the travelling booklover.
So what can a booklover do in Dublin? Keep on reading (see what I did there?)
Book of Kells and…
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Trinity College Library Staircase , Dublin
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Manuscript Monday
This Insular manuscript was created by Irish Catholics, who were well known to be stewards of knowledge and artistic ability during the ‘dark ages’ of the 6th-10th centuries CE. In particular, the Insular style consists of flattened, two-dimensional figures of people and animals accompanied by elaborate ornamentation throughout its pages. We often see interlacing designs and Celtic knots within this ornamentation and the proportions and rendering of the figures and architecture seen throughout the manuscript are not always realistic. For example, in the Book of Kells, produced around 800 CE by Irish monks in Scottish west-coast island of Iona, the columns holding up the arches on canon tables are circular and would lack structural integrity in the real world, for obvious reasons. We can see the flattened, strange rendering of figures on folio 32v (shown below), which is a depiction of Christ Enthroned. Christ’s knee is lifted to hold up the codex in his hand, but the placement of his knee is anatomically incorrect. We also see the flatness of the figure and the inclusion of ornamentation throughout the image, and we can see even more of this decoration on carpet pages throughout the manuscript. The Insular style was not only limited to manuscripts but was also used in metal objects like broaches, chalices, sculpture, and architecture which are also said to have been inspiration for Insular style manuscripts.
Our copy of the facsimile of the Book of Kells was published by the Faksimile Verlag of Luzern, Switzerland in 1990 and includes a separate volume with commentary edited by the noted Trinity College librarian Peter Fox. If you have the urge to see the original Book of Kells, it is shown in the Trinity College Library in Dublin. The library shows two folios of the manuscript at a time and changes the pages shown every twelve weeks.
View more Manuscript Monday posts.
– Sarah S., Special Collections Graduate Intern
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one of those pictures is from Marsh's Library, which is a collection assembled in the early 18th century by the Archbishop of Dublin and a former Provost of Trinity College. Subsequent additions have been made as well, and its current claim to fame is that it's where Bram Stoker did his research about Transylvania and vampires.
It's a very cool space, and the staff on duty didn't mind my bothering them about why so many books were marked "opera" (from the Latin, meaning work in collection) and why there was a skull sitting in the reading room (it's a cast of Esther Johnson's, who had an ambiguous relationship with Jonathan Swift).
However, most interesting to me was that…it's just a library. Very little is behind glass, there were none of the blink-y lights or bulky monitors I associate with maintaining a historical collection of books. You can't check out the books, obviously---but then, you never could. I don't even think there was air conditioning.
When I asked about it, the curator said that the library has existed for so long, it's its own ecosystem. The books swell or shrink together as the room warms or cools; the shades are drawn to prevent direct sun damage, but that's about it. Staff basically just monitor moisture levels, and if it it goes the wrong way?
"We open a window," the curator said with a shrug.
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Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland
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