Special Collections & Archives Blog

The late C19 – early C20 period is commonly regarded as “The Golden Age” of children’s illustrated books and our new display showcases some representative works from five renowned illustrators of the period.

Victorian Children’s Illustrators Display

Randolph Caldecot (1846-1886)

Randolph Caldecott
(Image:CC0)

Born and educated in Chester, where his prodigious artist talent was evident even as a child, Caldecot gave up his job in banking at the age of 26 to pursue a career as an artist. He soon attained both critical and commerical success as an illustrator and artist, not least through the 16 volumes of picture books produced in collaboration with printer Edmund Evans.

The Caldecot Medal is named in his honour and awarded annually by the  American Library Association to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Daddy Darwin’s Dovecot. London: E & J. B. Young & Co. 188?. “Daddy Darwin Faces the Board” pg. 24

Walter Crane
Detail of photo by Frederick Hollyer (1837-1933). Public Domain

Walter Crane (1845-1915)

Born in Liverpool and raised in Torquay, the young Crane served a three-year apprenticeship with wood engraver W. J. Linton. Aged 20, Crane was commissioned to illustrate a series of books to be printed by Edmund Evans, eventually producing 37 of these ‘toy’ books over the next decade. With Randloph Caledcott and Kate Greenaway, Crane is considered one of the most influential children’s book illustators of his generation.

Flora’s Feast: a masque of flowers, presented by Walter Crane. London ; New York (etc.) : Cassell & company limited, 1889. ‘When lilies turned to tigers blaze’

Edmund Dulac (1882-1953)

French by birth, although he would later become a naturalised Briton, one of Dulac’s first commissions was a series of 60 illustrations for the Brontë novels. A regular contributer to the Pall Mall magazine, his next major commission came from Hodder and Stroughton who asked him to provide the illustrations for their new (1907) edition of The Arabian Nights.

Dulac supported the war effort by turning his artistic talents to the design of posters, stamps and charity gift books. Whilst book illustration remained a keen interest, Dulac’s post-war creativity found outlets as varied as theatre design, currency design and stamp design.

Princess Badoura : a tale from the Arabian nights retold by Laurence Housman ; illustrated by Edmund Dulac. [London] : Hodder and Stoughton, [1913]
“The Fisherman and the Genie”

Kate Greenaway
Image CC0

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901)

Catherine (“Kate”) Greenaway enrolled at the Finsbury School of Art at the age of 12, and from there went on to study at the National Art Training School at Kensington (now the Royal College of Art). Her first book illustration was published in 1867 and this was soon followed by a significant commission to produce six watercolour images to illustrate the children’s book Diamonds and Toads, published by Frederick Warne. Her work was regularly commissioned in the years that followed and in 1878, Greenaway published the first of her own books, Under the Window: Pictures and Rhymes for Children, to widespread critical acclaim. Other books written and illustrated by Greenaway include The Language of Flowers, Kate Greenaway’s Alphabet and Kate Greenaway’s Book of Games.

Established in 1955, the Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually by CILIP in recognition of “distinguished illustration in a book for children”.

Mother Goose : or, The old nursery rhymes Illus. by Kate Greenaway.
London and New York : Frederick Warne, (1881?)
“Willy Boy”

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)

Arthur Rackham Self Portrait, 1934

Born in London, Rackham attended evening classes at the Lambeth School of Art before taking up a position as news and features illustrator on the Pall Mall Budget, followed by the Westminster Buget and the Westminster Gazette. His first major illustrations for children’s books included  Gulliver Travels (1900) and Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1900).

Rackham’s changing styles over the course of his career reflected improvements in printing technology and the varied influences of his extensive European travels as well as demonstrating his extraordinary versatility as an artist.

A midsummer night’s dream by William Shakespeare ; with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. London ; New York : Heinemann : Doubleday, Page & Co, 1908. “Puck”

Books displayed:

Daddy Darwin’s dovecot : a country tale  by Juliana Horatia Ewing … illustrated by Randolph Caldecott

An elegy on the death of a mad dog  Written by Dr. Goldsmith, pictured by R. Caldecott, sung by Master Bill Primrose.

A masque of days : from the last essays of Elia newly dressed & decorated by Walter Crane.

Flora’s feast : a masqve of flowers, penned & pictured  by Walter Crane.

Princess Badoura : a tale from the Arabian nights retold by Laurence Housman ; illustrated by Edmund Dulac.

Dulac’s Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Colour by Edmund Dulac. Dover: New York, 2004 [Private Collection]

Kate Greenaway pictures from originals presented by her to John Ruskin and other personal friends (hitherto unpublished) With an appreciation by H. M. Cundall

The pied piper of Hamelin  by Robert Browning ; with 35 illustrations by Kate Greenaway ; engraved and printed in colours by Edmund Evans.

Mother Goose : or, The old nursery rhymes  Illus. by Kate Greenaway.

A midsummer night’s dream  by William Shakespeare ; with illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

The Ingoldsby legends : or, Mirth and marvels  By Thomas Ingoldsby, esq. (the Rev. Richard Harris Barham). With illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

Dr Michael O’Connor of QUB Special Collections reflects on an idiosyncratic Eighteenth-Century Newspaper Collection

Recently, I had the good fortune to be invited by Armagh Public Library to visit and consult their eighteenth-century Irish newspaper collection. I had the pleasure of meeting the Dean of Armagh, the very Reverend Gregory Dunstan and staff at the Library, including Carol Conlin, and I’m very grateful for the hospitality and assistance I received during an extremely memorable visit. My thanks are also due to Dr. Sally Montgomery for arranging this in the first instance. Aside from their unfailing graciousness, the visit proved especially significant since I had the opportunity to peruse a seldom consulted, but rather considerable, treasure of Irish printed newspapers.

The Library is blessed in its holdings of an appealing assortment of newspapers spanning the eighteenth century. Many of the titles are Dublin titles; this is hardly surprising owing to the importance of Dublin as a print centre – dynamic and fertile in terms of its published output throughout the early modern period particularly. As a result the Library holds titles such as The Dublin Evening Post, The Dublin Journal, The Dublin Gazette and The Dublin Mercury. These newspapers will be of obvious interest to scholars of the eighteenth-century period and those investigating Dublin as a print and news hub.

Most notable, however, among the eighteenth-century newspaper holdings is the Henry Irwin collection. Substantial – both in terms of significance and volume – it is an impressive scrapbook collection that is both thrilling and captivating; it has the potential to enthral all who examine its hefty tomes. It is in remarkably good condition also and cannot fail but astonish, amuse, and interest by its beguiling singularity and the sheer breath of newspaper topics included.

Henry Irwin Collection at Armagh Public Library

It is evident that the eponymous collector, Irwin (b. 1717) had a fascination with events and newspapers of that period since he amassed, collected and arranged eighteenth-century newspapers in his own personal collection. The collection comprises 6 volumes, 16 newspaper titles and approximately 2200 issues. Irwin’s 6 volume scrapbooks include the following newspaper titles:

•  Dublin Evening Post
• The Morning Post: or Dublin Courant
•  Magee’s Weekly Packet
• Evening Herald
• The Public Register, or Freeman’s Journal
• Pue’s Occurrences * [Not available NLI. Available TCD]
• Saunder’s News-letter and Daily Advertiser * [Not available NLI. Available TCD]
• The Times (London)
•  The Town: Dublin Evening Packet
•  Lloyd’s Evening Post
• The Evening Herald; or, General Advertiser * [Not available NLI. Available TCD]
•  Dublin: The Universal Advertiser
• The Rights of Irishmen: or National Evening Star * [Not available NLI. Available TCD]
• The Public Register, or Freeman’s Journal
• Dublin News-letter
• Dublin Gazette

While some of the above titles are not recorded in English Short Title Catalogue, all these newspapers are available in National Library of Ireland or Trinity College Dublin.

Henry Irwin Collection. Vol. 2 Front Cover (l); Vol. 1 Inside Cover (r)

Each volume is covered with a rudimentary and inelegant but perfectly functioning leather binding. Each volume is prefaced with autographed notes from Irwin. This includes date information, the number of newspapers contained within each volume, the topics foregrounded at the outset of each volumes and additional notes, including notes to the reader. I have captured this information and include in the grid below:

Who was Henry Irwin?

Unfortunately, very little is known about Henry Irwin. As the compiler of the scrapbooks, his name, initials, handwriting and signature feature in the volumes; his age is also provided at the outset of each volume. He is recorded as 77 years old in volumes 1-3, 83 years old in volumes 4 & 5, and 85 years old in volume 6. This means that Irwin would have been born in 1717 and was still alive in 1802, the date of the last volume. Some of the handwritten notes on the inside cover of Vol. 1 (dated 1790) confirm that the compilation of the scrapbook was contemporaneous with the publication dates of the newspapers contained therein. For example, Irwin makes reference to John Fitzgibbon as “now Chancellor of Ireland.” This was a position Fitzgibbon held 1789-1802.

Our best source of information about Henry Irwin is the collection itself. Without question, he was a newsprint aficionado. The heavily annotated scrapbook collection attests to his evident passion for compiling and commenting on news, and his annotations reveal a man of strong emotions and imposing personality.

His annotations could be humorous, mordant or, indeed, excessively censorious. For example, he denounces the loss of an estate in Meath by an individual, the result, Irwin posits, of “youthful Extravagance” and he comments on the fate of a man who is sentenced to hang at Newgate, a fate he regards as befitting – he “deserve[s] it well.” He notes that “Billy Pitt [is] audacious [.] I wish I had hold of him [.] I’d cure his ambition if I cou’d.”

He was also however capable of delivering praise and admiration. In November 1788, he cites “Doctor Robinson” as

[T]he best Primate Ireland ever had Except Usher [.] He leaves more Improvement in & about Armagh & laid out more money for the good of the country than all the clergy in the kingdom did for a century past [.] They are generally greedy [,] proud and overbearing [,] but he is a real good man of meekness [,] humanity and charity – where can you find such another& not amongst them.

The unrestricted nature of his annotation is part of the fascination of this collection. These annotations – some are very forthright and peremptory – may suggest that they were possibly circulated to a ‘private’ circle of family and very close friends, those who shared Irwin’s views, or, at the very least, understood Irwin’s indomitable character. Beyond that circle of friends and well-wishers, one imagines that his comments could have jarred and provoked ire. One could argue, however, that perhaps his comments were expressly designed to challenge and that the sometimes excoriating nature of his annotations do not preclude circulation to a readership beyond family, confidants and close friends.

While there is further work needed to establish the finer detail concerning the circulation and readers of the collection, a number of core facts can be established. The presence of a note addressed to the reader in each volume evidences that the volumes were circulated to his contemporaries, and that they were designed to amuse. Irwin asks of his readers that they “do not abuse or be careless of this Book, (the best History of the times) for I have taken pains and trouble in preparing and fitting it up with my own hands, for my own, for others, and your amusement.” The absence, moreover of pecuniary information in relation to circulation suggests strongly that this was not a commercial enterprise.

Appeal of Irwin’s Newspapers:

Irwin’s collection is compelling for two main reasons. Firstly, Irwin organised the material into volumes which are arranged chronologically. Issues are arranged by date and not grouped together by newspaper title. This permits the reader to compare and contrast news items across a specific time period from different newspapers. Secondly, Irwin’s annotations provide a unique insight into one contemporary reader’s response to significant national and international events. For example, he comments on the mental health of King George III, the French Revolution, the Fall of the Bastille and other pertinent news items of the late eighteenth century. It is thus the intersection of his comments with the printed news items which provide the real charm of the collection since it betrays Irwin’s biases and interpretation, and reveals much about him as ‘newsman’ and collector.

The collection is ultimately a valuable resource of untapped intertextuality, waiting to be explored by potential researchers. The sheer volume of the printed collection (approximately 8000 pages of newspaper content), coupled with the intriguing handwritten annotations, provides wonderful material for prospective researchers across a range of disciplines and for those more generally interested in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

@qubsc

As you may have noticed from our Twitter feed (or, indeed if you’ve been working on Floor One of the McClay Library) it’s been all change for us this week, as we have been upgrading the Special Collections’ display cases.

Our display space, before and after the installation of the new cases

Like all Special Collections, we operate from a closed store, meaning our collections can’t be browsed openly in the same way as most of the rest of the library’s holdings, but are instead kept in a secure, climate-controlled environment accessible only to Special Collections’ staff. (That’s where we scurry off to fetch books or manuscripts whenever you order material at our enquiry desk!)

Behind the scenes in the Special Collections’ store

Our display space is important therefore, as it gives us a chance to showcase our holdings to a wider audience, including anyone using the library. Exhibitions are changed regularly and include themed seasonal displays (e.g. Hallowe’en or Christmas), displays in support of conferences or events being held in Queen’s, and general interest displays curated by members of the Special Collections and Archives team.

Our three new display cases have a high level of both security and environmental control, enabling library users and visitors to get a close-up view of a much wider range of our materials than we could display previously.  Unlike retail showcases (which tend to be cheap, cheerful and not too concerned about their contents’ long-term exposure to volatile vapours and chemicals!) museum-quality display cases need to be constructed from conservation-quality materials.

Schematic of display cases, courtesy of Clicknetherfield:

In our case, this means 11.5mm low iron anti-bandit laminated glass (which provides UV filtration and minimises colour distortion) and an aluminium alloy and steel base frame. The display cases have an air exchange rate of c. 0.5 air changes per day (which helps to buffer external environmental conditions and maintain a stable temperature and humidity level in the interior) and gas spring assisters enable easy access to the hinged cases, which are opened using glazing suckers. The new display cases are slightly lower than our previous display case, giving a much greater level of accessibility to our exhibits.

The inaugural exhibition in the new display cases highlights some interesting treasures from our collections, including a bill spike which belonged to Irish novelist and literary critic Forrest Reid, a stunning facsimile edition of The Book of Kells, composer and conductor Hamilton Harty’s collapsible Opera Hat, and a palm leaf manuscript containing a copy of Guṇṇantarac  nisya by Shin Sāravaṃsa, written in Pali (Burmese round script) and Burmese.

Palm Leaf Manuscript

Why not come in and check it out?!

The Art of French Crime Fiction Display

Our new display, curated by Dr Dominique Jeannerod (School of Modern Languages), features an exhibition devoted to classic French Crime Fiction and Suspense Literature series.

The exhibition showcases some of the 1,500 Crime Fiction books in the French language which have been added to the collections, having recently been donated to the Library by the Paris-based Bibliothèque des Littératures policières (BILIPO) and other partners in the project Visualising European Crime Fiction.

This project,  led by Dr Dominique Jeannerod, together with colleagues in the ICRH Research Group, International Crime Fiction,  was awarded a grant by the AHRC, as part of the Big Data in the Arts and Humanities Framework (2014-15).

The chief task of the Visualising European Crime Fiction project was, as Dr Jeannerod explains,

“To develop innovative digital methods with which to bibliographically record (database) and visually present (Graphs, Maps, Dataviz) the innumerable volumes of Crime Fiction published across Europe since the early 20^th Century. The aim in developing such new digital instruments was to rethink the significance of popular culture and its dissemination in a globalised world. It was also to reconsider the role of crime fiction in a transnational, cultural and literary context.”

“The present exhibition, based on a small sample of French publishers’ series from the 1950’s and 1960’s devoted to Crime Fiction and Spy thrillers gives an idea of the variety and attraction of these mass market publications, and reflects on their iconic cover art”

 

“Graphic artists such as Aslan, Brantonne, Michel Gourdon and Jef de Wulf are associated with the series to which they contributed thousands of original drawings and to whom they lent a distinctive, immediately recognisable identity. Their work was celebrated by artists such as Jean Cocteau and their popularity usually surpassed that of the authors of the books they illustrated. The endlessly repeated themes and archetypes seen on these covers reveal to us to  what extent these books were active agents in the dissemination of post-war mythologies. This should remind us that these, or very similar images were absorbed and appropriated, by whole populations across Europe, both as commonly available (and disposable) commodities, and as magical objects”

Acknowledgements:                                                                                                            (Dominique Jeannerod)

Many thanks are due to the BILIPO and its director, Catherine Chauchard, as well as to Senior Librarian Samuel Schwiegelhofer, for their unique and indispensable collections and their enthusiasm and knowledge in sharing them. Many thanks also to Stéphane Ménard, for the generous donation of hundreds of vintage volumes from his rich private collection, and to Isabel O’Kelly of the McClay Libraryfor her unfailing support. I am also grateful to Philippe Aurousseau, Didier Poiret, Thierry Gautier, Jacques Chesnais, Federico Pagello, John Thompson, Daniel Magennis, Daniel Finlay, Annika Breining, Markus Schleich, Deirdre Wildy, David Gordon, Bronagh McCrudden and to all the colleagues and partners in the International Crime Fiction Research Group.

Fuller details of the Crime Fiction books featured in the display can be found below:

Agapit, Marc Le Pays des Mutants (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1971).

Agapit, Marc Phantasmes (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1962).

Agapit, Marc Les Ciseau d’Atropos (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1973).

Agapit, Marc L’Antichambre de l’Au-Delà (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1970).

Barner, Alex Vendu au FBI (Paris: Éditions Galic, 1962).

Becker, Benoît  Dernier Contact (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1955).

Béraud, Mario La Maison Rouge (Paris: Éditions Galic, 1963).

Braun, Maurice-Georges Qu’un Sang Impur (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1957).

Braun, Maurice-Georges La Belle et Satan (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1953).

Bruce, Jean O.S.S. 117 Contre X (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1952).

Certön, Erik J. Un Drame de l’Au-Delà (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1960).

Conty, Jean-Pierre Canal Street (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1953).

Cousin, Michel L’Enlèvement de Sabine (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1963).

Dazergues, Max-André Le Chemin des Idoles (Paris: Éditions Galics, 1964).

Didelot, Francis Bignon et les Nuits Blanches (Paris: A. Fayard, 1964).

Duquesne, André Faux Poids et Demi Mesure (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1961).

Ferny, Claude Sept Coups Au Cœur (Paris: Nouvelles Presses Mondiales, [1950]).

Ferrière, Jean-Pierre Un Diable Sur Mesure (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1965).

Kenny, Paul Coplan Contre-Attaque (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1957).

Léaud, Pierre Taxi Pour L’Échafaud (Givors: A. Martel, n.d.).

Limat, Maurice Crucifie le Hibou (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1961).

Meroy, Martin Un Couteau Dans la Plaie (Paris: Presses internationales, n.d.).

Piguet, Roland L’Épervier Attaque (Paris: Presses noires, 1965.).

Piljean, André Corridor E (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1956).

Piljean, André Péril Sur l’Ouest (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1954).

Quint, Jimmy La Route Infernale (Paris: Presses noires, 1966).

Randa, Peter La Belle Amour (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1967).

Ropp, Mario Plus Facile de Mourir (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1959).

Ropp, Mario Jeu Sans Joie (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1957).

Saint-Moore, Adam Section de Recherches (Paris: Éditions Fleuve noir, 1956).

Sauvage, Guy Concile aux Balkans (Paris: Éditions de l’Arabesque, 1964).

Vlatimo, Roger Le Temps des Rapaces (Paris: Éditions de l’Arabesque, 1965).