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John Exshaw, twice Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1789-90 and 1800, came from a prominent family of booksellers. He was a successful businessman and was active in municipal politics from an early age. Members of the book trade were represented by the Guild of St Luke the Evangelist, the guild of cutlers, painter-stainers and stationers, founded in 1670. Officers of the guild were important in municipal politics as the master and wardens were part of the Common Council, the precursor to Dublin Corporation. John held a number of important posts in the city: an alderman from 1782, he held the positions of sheriff, high sheriff, coroner, police magistrate, and Lord Mayor. He was admitted free ‘by birth’ in 1779 and was elected warden of the Guild of St Luke in 1782. As a printer and bookseller he held a privileged place in the commercial life of the city. Part of the merchant sector, booksellers also held a special position due to the particular skills required to practise their trade. While John was a major player in municipal politics, his ambitions were not fulfilled at parliamentary level.

John Rocque, An exact survey of the city and suburbs of Dublin, 1756, detail showing Dame Street.

The eighteenth century was a golden age for printers and booksellers in Dublin (Pollard 1989; Phillips 1998). The absence of a copyright act before the Act of Union of 1800 gave them great freedom to reprint bestsellers first published in London. This resulted in a loss of revenue for London booksellers as no fees were paid and, more importantly, the loss of the valuable Irish market for their sales. By the eighteenth century literacy in the English language had increased and the printed word was in evidence around the city on notices and posters. The disposable wealth of the aristocracy and gentry was spent on luxury items and the principal streets of Dublin were given over to the most opulent shops. In 1790 Dame Street was home to bookshops, map and print sellers, music sellers and instrument makers, hatters and milliners, goldsmiths, jewellers and watchmakers, cloth, lace and silk merchants, mercers, woollen and linen drapers, hosiers and tailors, apothecaries, perfumers, grocers and tea merchants, and lottery offices (Wilson’s Dublin directory 1790). Bookshops were situated on Cork Hill, Skinner Row and Dame Street in the early years of the eighteenth century, moving towards fashionable Grafton and Sackville Streets in the last decades of the century (Kennedy 2005). Books, newspapers, pamphlets and magazines were widely available, and their prices, while high, were within the range of those of middle income. Sumptuous book bindings were a distinctive feature of Dublin craftsmanship during this period, and the quality of the design and workmanship has never been surpassed.

Family:

John Exshaw, grandfather of the Lord Mayor, was a merchant in Dublin. He may be identified with John Exshaw, laceman, who had his shop in Golden Lane from the early 1720s, but John was a common family name, so the laceman may have been a cousin. John and his wife Thomasin had at least three sons: Edward, John (father of the Lord Mayor), both booksellers; and James, a lace and tea merchant (Wilson’s Dublin directory 1761). Thomasin Exshaw died in 1767. James’s wife died in 1769 and he himself died in 1771. (Belfast Newsletter, 9 Oct 1767; Freeman’s Journal, 25-29 Apr 1769; 14-17 Sep 1771). Charles Exshaw, painter and engraver, was possibly another son (Strickland 1913). Edward Exshaw was the first of the family to work as a bookseller, he was apprenticed to George Ewing, a prominent Dublin printer, bookseller and bookbinder. Edward did well in business, was active in the guild and became warden in 1747. John, Edward’s younger brother, was apprenticed to him, and they became partners in business about 1745. John was admitted free of the guild in 1749, and was elected master in 1766 (Freeman’s Journal, 23-26 Aug 1766). At Edward’s death in December 1748 he was succeeded in his portion of the business by his widow, Sarah (née Ward) (Public Records in Ireland 1895, addenda, p. 991; Parish Register Society 1915). John and his sister-in-law Sarah worked in partnership for about 10 years. Succession by women was common practice in the book trade in Ireland, Great Britain and on the continent. Women, (widows, mothers, sisters, daughters), were able to step in and take over a business. It was never disputed by the guild, although women could only become quarter brothers (Kinane 1991). Women were always master printers or booksellers, they could not become apprentices, and therefore were heavily dependent on the skill of their work force. It is likely that women played an important role in the business of bookselling, performing such tasks as press correcting and proof reading, accounting and selling.

John senior married Faith Walker on 12 March 1748 (Register of the Parish of S. Werburgh, p. 125). They had at least two sons, Thomas, the elder son, and John, who was born in 1751. Thomas married Susannah Nairac in 1779 (Public Records in Ireland 1895, appendix, p. 287; John Exshaw portrait; Cullen 2000, pp 29; 198). Faith Exshaw died in 1764 and John senior married again in 1769, a Miss Swiney of Caple Street, but she died the following August (Freeman’s Journal, 7-11 Feb 1764; 28-30 Dec 1769; 19-21 Aug 1770). John was married for the third time in 1772, to Mrs Dorcas Wilkinson, a widow from Anne Street, Linen Hall (Public Records in Ireland 1895, appendix, p. 287; Hibernian Chronicle, 3 Sep 1772). John senior died on 9 March 1776 (Hibernian Magazine VI, 1776, p. 216).

John the younger was apprenticed to his father, and he took over the thriving family business on the death of John senior. John married two months after the death of his father, in May 1776: ‘John Exshaw, an eminent bookseller to Miss Wilkinson, a most amiable young lady with a considerable fortune’ (Finn’s Leinster Journal, 22-25 May 1776). John’s wife, Angel Wilkinson, was the daughter of his father’s third wife, Dorcas. John and Angel Exshaw had at least four children, an infant who died in 1779, Angel James (1780-1841), Ann Tomasina (1782-1857) who married Alexander Montgomery of Rutland Square in 1805, and Johanna (1787-1827) (Egan 1995; Public Records in Ireland 1899, p. 336; Parish registers of Clondalkin). A surviving manuscript, compiled by Angel from the age of 11 in 1767 until her marriage to John in 1776, is a commonplace book in which she inscribed poems and other writings. It includes a note by her mother Dorcas, entrusting the volume to one of her granddaughters (Dublin Ms 101). In October 1787 John’s wife, the amiable Miss Angel Wilkinson, died aged 32 years (Dublin Chronicle, 25 Oct 1787). John married again in the mid 1790s. From his second marriage he had at least four children: John born about 1796, Elisabeth (Eliza), born about 1798 who married James Lynar in 1816 (Ion Lynar), Charlotte who married John Anderson of Larch Hill, King’s County in 1822, and Hanna Theresa, his youngest daughter, who married Ralph Smith of Hybla, Co. Kildare, in 1823. John’s daughters Charlotte and Hanna Theresa were both married at Rathfarnham Church, the Rev. John Exshaw officiating (Public Records in Ireland, 1899, p.336. Cork Morning Intelligence, 16 Jul 1822. Freeman’s Journal, 5 Sep 1823. He was married for the third time in 1805, possibly to Hannah Lagrovere. The birth of a son was announced in March 1806 and Mrs Exshaw died at her home in Roebuck in June of that year (Public Records in Ireland, 1899, p.336. Hibernian Magazine XXXVI, 1806, pp 190, 384). John’s career was long and distinguished, he remained in business in Dame Street and later in Grafton Street until 1822. He died on 6 January 1827, at his seat in Roebuck, aged 74 years, and is buried at St John’s Cemetery, Clondalkin, with his first wife Angel and three of their daughters (Egan 1995). The Gentleman’s Magazine printed an obituary in which his career was outlined and praise lavished on him for his command of the Stephen’s Green yeomanry ‘during the disturbances of 1797 and 1798’ (Gentleman’s Magazine, Jan 1827, p. 94). John was not succeeded in business by any of his family, his son John entered Trinity College in 1811 aged 15, took a B.A. in 1817 and an M.A. in 1839 (Alumni Dublinenses). This John may have married Eleanor Lynor in 1819 (Public Records in Ireland, 1899, p. 336). The Exshaw family bookselling business, which began in 1732 ended with John’s retirement about 1822.

Business:

John Exshaw took over the family business on the death of his father in 1776. He inherited an extensive business. His uncle, Edward, had been an innovative bookseller, with his bookshop at the Bible on Cork Hill from 1732. Edward made his money selling schoolbooks and prayer books, a profitable trade as demand was countrywide and print-runs could amount to several thousand copies. Edward imported the monthly London Magazine from the mid 1730s, but in 1741 he began to issue an Irish edition. Like some contemporary newspapers this involved reprinting most of the original content of the magazine, but included some material of Irish interest such as news items, listings of new Irish books, and notices of births, marriages, deaths and promotions. The magazine was used to foster an interest in books and literature, but in particular to promote titles published and sold by Exshaw. Edward set the pattern for the Exshaw’s business which was successfully carried on and expanded by his successors.

The Gentleman’s and London Magazine, volume XXXI (Dublin, John Exshaw), title page. The English registry for 1777 (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1777), title page.

John senior joined Edward in business in 1745, and when Edward died in December 1748, John remained in partnership with Edward’s widow, Sarah, until about 1757. John and Sarah continued to publish Exshaw’s London Magazine, and from 1755 the title was changed to Exshaw’s Gentleman’s and London Magazine as material from the Gentleman’s Magazine began to be included in the reprint. Just before Edward’s death he and John published the first issue of the annual English Registry, a list of English members of parliament, officers of the army and navy, of the law and trade, which was issued to accompany Watson’s Almanack. John also embarked on the bookbinding business and records show that he was responsible for a major rebinding project of Trinity College’s manuscripts (O’Sullivan 1970). John moved his bookshop to a more prominent location at 86 Dame Street, at the corner of Crampton Court, in 1754. The publication and sale of schoolbooks, plays, devotional and prayer books formed a substantial part of his business.

Freeman’s Journal, 23-26 Mar 1776, advertisement. Hibernian Journal, 22-25 Mar 1776, advertisement. Freeman’s Journal, 2-4 Apr 1782, advertisement.

From 1774 John junior was advertising patent medicines, such as Dr James’s Powder and Daffy’s Elixir, which he imported from London. He placed an advertisement in The Hibernian Journal and The Freeman’s Journal in March and April 1776, a month after the death of his father, informing the public that, as his father’s successor, he intended to continue in business as printer, bookseller and stationer at 86 Dame Street, corner of Crampton Court (Freeman’s Journal, 23-26 Mar 1776. Hibernian Journal, 22-25 Mar 1776). When John took over in 1776 he inherited a well-run, solid enterprise, with many publications such as Exshaw’s Gentleman’s and London Magazine and Exshaw’s English Registry bringing in a regular income. He became printer and stationer to several official bodies, he printed schoolbooks, college texts, trials, speeches and plays, and he sold a variety of patent medicines. John remained at the corner of Crampton Court until April 1782 when he announced the removal of his bookshop to the new buildings, Grafton Street, near Suffolk Street (Freeman’s Journal, 2-4 Apr 1782). He stayed at 98 Grafton Street until 1809, when he changed to 103 Grafton Street.

Thomas Holcroft, The noble peasant (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1784), title page. Fables, letters, et variétés historiques (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1778), advertisement page.

A staple component of Exshaw’s business was the reprinting of plays that were performed in the Dublin and London theatres. Cheap to produce, these slim texts sold in large numbers and were very profitable. Theatre-going was a popular pastime in Dublin in the last quarter of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The theatres at Smock Alley and Crow Street were supported by different levels of society, from the gentry in the expensive boxes to the trades people in the upper gallery. The reading of plays could form part of the theatre-going experience or could be done independently of attending the performance (Morash 2006). Copies of plays, farces and comic operas could be purchased for threepence or sixpence, or could be borrowed from circulating libraries. Exshaw’s name appears on the imprint of 24 surviving plays from 1776 until 1800.

A full report of the trial of Rev. William Jackson (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1795), title page. Report of the trial of Robert Emmett (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1803), title page. Report of the trial of Daniel Waring (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1817), title page.

Like the reprinting of plays, publication of trial reports was a good business proposition. They were cheap to produce as they did not require a big investment in paper or standing type, their appeal was immediate and they found a ready audience. In addition to extensive newspaper coverage the public was eager to read transcripts of sensational trials, especially those for murder and high treason. Exshaw sought to get the most authentic reports and many of his trial reports were compiled by William Ridgeway, barrister at law. Examples include A full report of all the proceedings on the trial of the Rev. William Jackson … for high treason in 1795, or A report of the trial of Robert Gore, Esq. upon an Indictment for the murder of the Right Honorable William late Earl of Meath in 1797. At the end of the eighteenth-century several high-profile state trials took place, mostly as a result of the 1798 rebellion, he printed the report of the trial of Oliver Bond and Michael-William Byrne for high treason. In 1803 Exshaw advertised that ‘The trial of Robert Emmett is in the press, and will be published with all the expedition that is consistent with the fidelity of a judicial report’ (Freeman’s Journal, 22 Sep 1803).

Fables, letters, et variétés historiques (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1778), title page. Les avantures de Gil Blas (Dublin, John Exshaw, 1763), title page and frontispiece.

Like his father and uncle, John printed books in French, one of his titles was Alain René Le Sage’s Les avantures de Gil Blas, a picaresque novel that was used in schools as a reader. This was published by John senior in 1763 and it remained a steady seller for John junior, who reprinted it in 1784 and 1796. The production of textbooks for schools and for Trinity College was very lucrative as print-runs amounted to several thousands and there was a steady market. In 1788 Trinity College ordered 950 sets of Tacitus Opera in four volumes (Pollard 2000). With the bookseller James Williams he issued Guthrie’s Geography for the use of schools in 1780 in a print-run of 2,000 copies (Sher 2006, p. 487). School books were in demand throughout the country and John was able to tap into this profitable market through his contacts established in all the major Irish towns for the sale of Exshaw’s London Magazine and Exshaw’s English Registry. Exshaw’s Magazine was taken by booksellers in Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Newry, Armagh and Coleraine in 1755. It is also possible that Exshaw supplied the extensive American market with school books and other works (Cole 1986).

Guillaume Raynal, A philosophical and political history of the settlements and trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies (Dublin, John Exshaw and William Halhead, 1779), title page and frontispiece.

Not all of Exshaw’s publications were aimed at the popular best-selling market, he also invested in publications which took time and expertise to print and whose selling price was beyond the purse of the casual purchaser. In 1776 and again in 1779, with William Halhead, he published Abbé Guillaume Raynal’s A philosophical and political history of the settlements and trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies in four volumes octavo, with plates and maps. In 1784, with the bookseller Luke White, he published a new edition in six volumes octavo (Freeman’s Journal, 30 Nov–2 Dec 1784). This edition was printed on superfine paper, with elegant engravings and a new set of maps, and it had a selling price of two guineas bound (Volunteer’s Journal, 21 Jun 1784; 3 Dec 1784. Freeman’s Journal, 30 Nov–2 Dec 1784). In 1779 and 1780 he shared the printing, with John Chambers, of Rev. Alban Butler’s Lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints, printed for John Morris in twelve volumes octavo. A major investment was required in 1794 when he printed The plays and poems of William Shakespeare with essays and notes by Edmond Malone. Published in sixteen volumes royal duodecimo, it was a revised edition with supplementary essays and dissertations, it was printed on fine wove paper, with plates, and sold for three guineas in boards, ready for binding (Freeman’s Journal, 10 Apr 1794).

Becoming official printer or stationer to a municipal, government or religious body was an advantageous appointment as it ensured a guaranteed amount of work and income in the course of a year. Exshaw was named as stationer to the Lottery Commissioners, printer and stationer to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, printer to the University Press, and stationer to the Post Office and the Police (Pollard 2000. Dublin Chronicle, 22 Mar 1792). He worked with the Grand Juries of Dublin city and county, carrying out printing work and supplying books and stationery for the Sessions Court and ‘for the use of the Public Money’ (Freeman’s Journal, 12 Jun 1810; 3 Jun 1812; 12 Jun 1813). He carried out printing work for Dublin City from 1804, becoming official printer to the city from 1818 to 1820.

Political Career:

Exshaw’s political career was focussed on the municipal stage, although he had higher ambitions, running for a parliamentary seat in 1790. He stood for election in opposition to Henry Grattan and L. Henry Fitzgerald in 1790 but was unsuccessful in his bid. His position within the Guild of St Luke was strong from the beginning, coming from a family of active members and having a substantial business behind him, his rise within its ranks was swift. After his freedom was granted in 1779 his first post was that of sheriff, he was elected for the year 1779/80 (CARD, XIII, pp 52, 64-5). He became an alderman in 1782 and in October of the same year was sworn warden of the guild (CARD, XIII, p.235). He was elected coroner for the city on 15 October 1784 (CARD, XIII, p.523). Exshaw was divisional justice of police for two years, handing in his resignation in 1788. The Dublin Chronicle referred to this experience: ‘for nearly two years he acted as a Divisional Magistrate to an institution that was confessedly unpopular, with judgement, temper, perspicuity and candor, in the various situations of that arduous duty’ (Dublin Chronicle, 23-26 May 1789). He later resumed this position after the Dublin Police Magistrates Act of 1808 (48 Geo.3.c.140), and remained a magistrate until his death in 1827. Exshaw was captain of the First Regiment of Royal Dublin Volunteers in 1797, and he commanded the 1,000 strong Stephen’s Green yeomanry in 1797 and 1798 (Gentleman’s Magazine, part I, 1827, p. 94). A ceremonial sabre, made by Archer of Dublin, was presented to Exshaw in 1797 by his regiment, and it is still in the possession of his descendants. It is inscribed: ‘Presented by the Non Commissioned Officers and Privates of the First Regt. of Royal Dublin Volunteers to Alderman John Exshaw, their Captain Commandant. Dublin 1797.’

When Alderman John Sutton was chosen to be Lord Mayor of Dublin for 1789/90 he asked to be excused due to ill health. Alderman John Exshaw was elected in his place on 8 May 1789 and he took up his position after the Michaelmas assembly on 16 October. The Dublin Chronicle commented that Exshaw would be the youngest ‘Chief Magistrate’ to govern the city of Dublin (Dublin Chronicle, 23-26 May 1789). To celebrate his appointment he gave ‘a sumptuous entertainment to several of the nobility, gentry and citizens at the Mansion House’ (Freeman’s Journal, 29 Sep–1 Oct 1789). His term in office was uneventful, the main matters for consideration were the extension of the pipe water system to various areas in the city, the regular management of the city leases, and the initiation of a project to raise a fund for the rebuilding of the Tholsel (CARD, XV, p. 154).

His second term as Lord Mayor came in 1800 when on 24 February he was elected in mid-term on the death of the sitting Lord Mayor, John Sutton. He held office for the remainder of the year, until Michaelmas when the new Lord Mayor, Charles Thorp, was sworn in (CARD, XV, p. 140). His second term in office was marked by a very bad economic phase with high inflation and scarcity of provisions. The over-riding political debate concerned the proposed legislative union with Great Britain. A series of objections to the proposed union was undertaken by the city assembly. On 17 January 1800 the sheriffs and commons requested the Lord Mayor, John Sutton, to appoint a committee to ‘draw up resolutions expressive of our entire disapprobation of the destructive measure of a Legislative Union between this Country and Great Britain’ to be published in the Freeman’s Journal and Anti-Union Evening Post (CARD, XV, pp 127-8). The publication of the resolutions was followed at the end of the month by the drafting of a petition to parliament against the proposed union, which they considered to be ‘so destructive to the interest, so fatal to the independence, and so pernicious to the tranquillity of Ireland’ (CARD, XV, pp 135-7). The death of the Lord Mayor occurred during this process, and Exshaw acted ‘locum tenens’ from early February until his election on 24 February, and he continued the anti-union campaign. In April Lord Mayor Exshaw, with the board of aldermen, drafted a petition to the king, arguing against the union on the basis of the ‘destructive consequences that must arise to the trade and manufactures of this kingdom’. A deputation was sent to London to present the address (CARD, XV, pp 143-4, 156, 160, 165). On the return of the delegation the address was ordered to be printed in the Freeman’s Journal. The delegates, Alderman Henry Howison and Nathaniel Hone, Esquire, were paid £300 expenses for the trip.

The assembly vehemently opposed the union, which it considered to be a ‘national calamity’, fearing the erosion of the ‘commercial privileges’ of the city, and the destruction of the ‘chartered rights’ of its citizens (CARD, XV, pp 136-7). The loyalty of the petitioners was stressed at all times, their affection for the crown and their support of the constitution. In particular they noted that they were not just defending their own rights and privileges as businessmen, but defending those of all citizens. In May, after the attempted shooting of George III, an address of congratulation on his ‘providential escape’ was drafted by the assembly and was presented to the Lord Lieutenant to be sent to His Majesty (CARD, XV, pp 158-9).

As a bookseller there were two major consequences of the Act of Union on Exshaw’s business interests. The first concerned the extension of copyright to Ireland, the second the loss of a significant portion of the market for books as the parliamentary elite and fashionable society moved to London. Irish booksellers benefited throughout the eighteenth century from the lack of copyright legislation in force in Ireland. The provisions of the English Copyright Act of 1709 (8 Ann, c.19, Great Britain), which came into force on 10 April 1710, were not considered by the Irish parliament and were not adopted as law (Pollard 1989, pp 69-70). Consequently, Irish booksellers could reprint any new publication from London without having to pay for copy. Critically, they were able to supply the Irish market with new and bestselling books, undercutting London prices and thus depriving English booksellers of their Irish customers. Accusations of piracy from the London book trade failed to have any damaging effect on the Irish trade, which blossomed during this period.

Conclusion:

John Exshaw came from a substantial and successful family of merchants in Dublin city. His father’s bookselling business in Dame Street and his first wife’s considerable fortune set him up financially early in life. This enabled him to expand his business and gave him the opportunity to serve the city with distinction in several different roles. He lived and worked through turbulent times, commanding a battalion of the yeomanry during the 1798 rebellion. He was a strong supporter of government in all matters, but he was vehemently opposed to the union as he considered it would be harmful to trade. After the 1798 rebellion and the act of union many radical Dublin booksellers, such as John Chambers, Patrick Byrne and Matthew Carey emigrated to America where their careers blossomed in New York and Philadelphia (Cole 1986). John Exshaw remained in Dublin after the union and continued to prosper, sustained by the diversity of his printing and publishing projects, and in particular by his role as official printer and stationer to official and public bodies, until his retirement from business in 1822.

This paper was first delivered as part of The Dublin City Hall lunchtime lecture series, Tuesdays in October, on 24 October 2006. An expanded version has been published as ‘Printer to the City: John Exshaw (1751-1827), printer, bookseller and Lord Mayor of Dublin’, Long Room, 52-53 (2007-2008), pp 15-25, and another version, ‘John Exshaw: champion of Dublin’s merchants’ in Leaders of the city: Dublin’s first citizens, 1500-1950, edited by Ruth McManus and Lisa-Marie Griffith (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2013), pp 74-84.

References:

Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), edited by George Dames Burtchaell and Thomas Ulick Sadleir (Dublin, Alex. Thom and Co., 1935).

Butler, Alban, 1780. Lives of the fathers, martyrs, and other principal saints in twelve volumes octavo for John Morris, publisher and press corrector.

CARD. Calendar of ancient records of the city of Dublin, ed. by John T. Gilbert and Rosa Mulholland Gilbert, 19 volumes (Dublin, Dollard, 1889-1944).

Cole, Richard Cargill, 1986. Irish booksellers and English writers 1740-1800 (London, Mansell Publishing Limited, 1986).

Cullen, L. M., 2000. The Irish brandy houses of eighteenth-century France (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2000).

Dublin Ms 101. Dublin City Library & Archive: Dublin Manuscript 101, ‘Angel Wilkinson’s commonplace book 1767-1776’.

Egan, Michael J. S., 1995. Memorials of the dead, Dublin City and County, volume 8 (Dublin, MJSE Ltd., 1995), p. 16.

John Exshaw portrait. A surviving portrait of John Exshaw’s nephew, John (1782-1847), founder of the Exshaw brandy firm in Bordeaux shortly after 1800, was donated to Dublin City Council by Kathleen van Loosen in 1989 and it is now held in Dublin City Archives. Portrait of John Exshaw (1782-1847), oil on canvas. Dublin City Archives: DCPC 4/3. This John was the son of Thomas Exshaw and Susannah Nairac, his mother a member of the Dublin branch of the Nairac family who were important merchants in Bordeaux.

Kennedy, Máire, 2005. ‘Politicks, coffee and news’: the Dublin book trade in the eighteenth century, Dublin Historical Record LVIII, no.1 (Spring 2005), pp 76-85.

Kinane, Vincent, 1991. ‘A galley of pie: women in the Irish book trades’, Irish Booklore, Linen Hall Review (December 1991), pp 10-13.

Lynar, Ion. Information from Ion Lynar, a descendant of Elisabeth Lynar in Australia, shows from her death record that she was born about 1798, the daughter of John Exshaw, Gentleman, and Hannah La Graville. (Deaths in the district of South Melbourne in the Colony of Victoria, registered number 11110). It is not clear if Hannah La Graville is the same as Hannah Lagrovere who is listed in the Appendix to the 30th report as marrying John in 1805.

Morash, Christopher, 2006. ‘Theatre and print, 1550-1800’, in The Oxford history of the Irish book, III, The Irish book in English 1550-1800, ed. by Raymond Gillespie and Andrew Hadfield (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006), pp 319-34.

O’Sullivan, W., 1970. ‘The eighteenth century rebinding of the manuscripts’, Long Room, no.1 (1970), pp 19-28.

Parish Register Society of Dublin, 1915. Marriage entries in the registers of the parishes of S. Marie, S. Luke, S. Catherine, and S. Werburgh. 1627-1800, edited by A. E. Langman, XII (Exeter and London, 1915), Register of the Parish of S. Werburgh, p. 123.

Parish registers of the Church of Ireland parish of Clondalkin, Dublin Heritage Group (DHG) database at Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street. Two more deaths are listed at St John’s parish, Clondalkin: Thomas Exshaw on 10 January 1781 and John Exshaw on 10 July 1782.

Phillips, James W., Printing and bookselling in Dublin 1670-1800 (Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1998).

Pollard, M., 1989 Dublin’s trade in books 1550-1800 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1989).

Pollard, M., 2000. A dictionary of members of the Dublin book trade 1550-1800 (London, Bibliographical Society, 2000).

Public Records in Ireland, 1895. Reports of the Deputy Keeper, Appendix to the 26th report, Dublin, 1895. Edward Exshaw and Sarah Ward were married on 9 November 1739.

Public Records in Ireland, 1899. Reports of the Deputy Keeper, Appendix to the 30th report (Dublin, 1899).

Sher, Richard B., 2006. The Enlightenment and the book (Chicago and London, Chicago University Press, 2006).

Strickland, Walter G., 1913. A dictionary of Irish artists, 2 volumes (London, Maunsel and Company, 1913).

Printing in Ireland was slow to commence, the first title printed in 1551, and the book trade in Ireland remained in the shadow of London for about a century and a half. Dublin’s first printers were licensed from London, controlled by the King’s Printer’s patent. From 1550 to the late seventeenth century only one press was licensed to operate in Ireland at a time. The patent gave a monopoly over all printing, bookselling and bookbinding, although some licensing from the King’s printer could allow others to enter the market. At this period, due to the King’s printer’s monopoly, the book trade was constrained and slow to expand and develop. Book trade activity was minimal outside Dublin, and few dedicated booksellers could operate in the country towns before the 1720s. A small amount of local printing took place during the Confederate Wars in the mid seventeenth century in Kilkenny, Waterford and Cork, but this was confined to wartime news and propaganda (Dix 1900; Sessions 1990; Barnard 2017). Books, pamphlets and newspapers printed in Dublin were distributed to the principal towns around the country, often to general merchants, apothecaries and others who combined bookselling with their main business interests. Outside the capital books were imported through the main ports during the seventeenth century, mainly from London and Bristol, and newspapers and parliamentary votes were imported for city and town councils (Gillespie 1996; Kennedy 1998).

Pre-1700:

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century Cork’s trade in printed materials was heavily dependent on Dublin and on imports from London. A scatter of names involved in the book trade appear in the mid to late seventeenth century. William Smith (1649-1690) is the most noteworthy, he was printer to the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Ormonde, in Kilkenny in 1649. He had set up his press in Cork by at least 1656, and worked there until about 1690. He printed ballads, as well as items of religious and royalist political content. In 1657 he printed a 22 page quarto pamphlet on the ordination of Church of Ireland Anglican clergy, The agreement and resolution of severall associated ministers in the county of Corke for the ordaining of ministers, ‘for Richard Plummer and are to be sold at his house in Corke’. It is not clear if Richard Plummer was a bookseller, a merchant who sold books, or even a private individual. In 1662 Smith printed Rev. John Butler, A sermon preached on the Sunday before Easter, 1661 … in the church of St Finbarry, the cathedral of the diocese of Corke in quarto format. About 1668 he printed Dermot MacCarthy’s A chronological table of the pedigree and lineall descent … of the Right Honourable Justin Lord Viscount Mountcashell for the author, a short 58 page pamphlet in octavo format. In 1679 he printed an eight page pamphlet Strange and remarkable prophecies and predictions of the holy learned, and excellent James Usher, late archbishop of Armagh and lord primate of Ireland. Although carrying a London imprint the first earl of Orrery’s Poems on most of the festivals of the church was printed by William Smith in Cork in 1681 (Bradshaw 1916, ii, p. 828; Barnard 2017, pp 272-73). This was a high status folio volume of 80 pages, the preliminary pages printed in London with the body of the text printed in Cork, presumably under the supervision of the author.

Edward Worth, Scripture evidence, 1653, title page. The agreement and resolution, 1657, title page.

The widow T. Taylor issued two sermons by Rev Edward Worth, dean of Cork, preached in Cork in April and June 1653, with the overall title Scripture evidence for baptizing the infants of Covenanters. The quarto format publication was printed for her and sold at her shop in Cork, but it is not clear if the text was printed in Cork, nor if her shop was specifically a bookshop.

1700-1720:

From the early years of the eighteenth century newspapers, printed and manuscript news sheets, proceedings and votes of parliament were imported for the administration of the city, and London suppliers were sought to provide them at the cheapest rate (Caulfield 1876, p. 379). In 1704 Cork Corporation ordered £4.19s be paid for the ‘public news’ sent from London by Mr De-laffa for three quarters of a year, and to continue ‘till further order’ (Caulfield 1876, p. 306). Charles Delafaye (1704-1723) of the Chief Secretary’s Office in London continued as newspaper supplier to the Corporation until 1713 when it was noted on 4 January 1713/14, ‘That Mr Charles Delafay be paid £36 for six years newspapers, and that he desist sending any more’ and ‘That Mr Joshua Savage be paid for two years three quarters news at 4 guineas per annum, amounting to £12.13s.’ (Caulfield 1876, p. 363; Harris 1975). In August 1714 the mayor was looking for a new supplier to send the Postman, Flying Post, Evening Post, and the Votes of Parliament from London (Caulfield 1876, p. 368). The cost of the public newspapers from London was rising from about £6 to more than £7 per annum into the 1720s. In 1718 Mr Hugh Mitchell in London was paid £6.9s. English for the previous year’s news, and a further £7.4s.3d. was paid for three year’s news up to 29 September 1718 (Caulfield 1876, pp 402, 403). In 1721 £7.3s. was paid to Mr Harper for a year’s news from London, in 1723 £7.5s. was paid, and by 1724 £14.10s.9d. was paid for the news for two years, and the chamberlain was ordered not to exceed payment of £8 per annum for the news (Caulfield 1876, pp 416, 428, 444).

Edward Wettenhall, Pastoral admonitions, 1691, title page. Richard Orpen, The London-master, 1694, title page.

The earliest named bookseller stationer of the eighteenth century in Cork is David Jones (1691-1711), while Dix gives the distinction of first named printer of the century to George Bennett (Dix 1921-24). In 1691 Jones’s name appeared in the imprint of Bishop Edward Wettenhall, Pastoral admonitions directed by the Bishop of Cork to all under his charge printed by Dublin printer John Brent ‘for David Jones, bookseller, and are to be sold at his shop in Cork’. In 1694 he was listed as selling agent in the imprint of William Norman’s Dublin printing of Richard Orpen, The London-master: or, the Jew detected. In the first two decades of the eighteenth century the most prominent printer booksellers working in Cork were Thomas Cotton, Andrew Welsh, George Bennett and John Redwood with their bookshops in Castle Street, near the exchange, and Samuel Terry off Main Street. Of these Bennett was the most active in city affairs and his business the most long lived (See ‘George Bennett of Cork (1715-d. 1743): printer, bookseller and alderman of the city’, mairekennedybooks.wordpress.com).

Thomas Cotton (1710-d.1743) and Andrew Welsh (1714-1739):

Thomas Cotton was printer, bookseller and newspaper publisher. He began his career in Dublin, Pollard notes him in 1710 when he took on an apprentice from the Bluecoat School (Pollard 2000). He worked with Andrew Welsh from at least 1714, publishing and printing The Dublin Weekly Journal and The Impartial and Historical Weekly Mercury (29 May 1714; 12 Jun 1714; 28 Jul 1714). They transferred to Cork about 1715 or 1716 and remained in business at Castle Street until the early 1720s when their paths diverged. Cotton moved to Waterford in 1722, where he remained until 1729, before moving to Cumbria in England, first to Highgate, Kendal, from 1730 to 1736, and finally to James Street, Whitehaven, from 1736 until his death in July 1743 (McKay 1995).

About 1716 Cotton and Welsh printed a single folio sheet, The freeholder’s answer to the Pretender’s declaration, for bookseller John Redwood (ESTC online T206753). This sheet was reprinted from the twice-weekly periodical, The Free-holder, first published in London and reprinted in Dublin for George Grierson, King’s printer, from December 1715 to June 1716, complete with index. In the Dublin edition The freeholder’s answer was not printed as a separate sheet, but part of number 9 (Friday 20 Jan 1716). There was a Cork reprint of the periodical, but the only surviving issue was printed by George Bennett (no. XXIV, Thursday 31 May 1716, Ó Casaide n.d., pp 10-11; Madden 1867, ii, p. 167). Munter suggests that Cotton and Welsh possibly printed The Cork Intelligence newspaper, the sole reference to this newspaper is in the Cork Corporation reports of 13 March 1718/9, but no printer is named (Caulfield 1876, p. 397; Munter 1988).

Thomas Cotton moved to Waterford about 1722 where he worked as printer and bookseller until 1729 or 1730. He is credited with printing Waterford’s first newspaper, The Waterford Flying Post in 1729 (Madden 1867, ii, pp 190-91; Munter 1988). The same year he acted as subscription agent for T. Sherlock, The tryal of the witnesses, printed in Dublin for George Risk, George Ewing and William Smith. He was also named in an advertisement at the end of the Tryal as subscription agent for their forthcoming publication, William King’s The state of the Protestants of Ireland, which was published in 1730. The cost to subscribers was 4s.4d. bound in calf leather (Dublin Intelligence, 13 Sep 1729).

John Rocque, Map of Cork city, 1759, detail showing Castle Street and Cornmarket.

Thomas Cotton’s business partner, Andrew Welsh, was printer and bookseller in Cork from 1716 to 1738, working next door but one to the Cork Arms at the corner of Castle Street, near Cornmarket. He began his career in Dublin working with Cotton where they printed The Dublin Weekly Journal and The Impartial and Historical Weekly Mercury newspapers in 1714. They moved to Cork before 1716 and printed The freeholder’s answer to the Pretender’s declaration for bookseller John Redwood that year. From 1722 Welsh was printing in Cork on his own, starting with Richard Willis, The speech at large which the Bishop of Salisbury made to His Majesty. In 1723 and 1724 he printed John Knapp’s Almanacks. Knapp was a mathematician, watch and clock maker in Cork, at the Sign of the Dyal, at the lower end of St Peter’s Church Lane, on the Key, and later at Hammond’s Marsh. As well as a calendar of days and months, almanacs noted the rising and setting of the sun and moon, mapped eclipses, and moved into the realm of astrology by predicting celestial influences on people and events. They also gave lists of English monarchs, Dublin city officials, mayors, aldermen and sheriffs, and guides to the main highways in Ireland (Evans 1897). Knapp’s almanacs gave the movements of the sun and moon calculated for Cork and Dublin, supplemented with mathematical questions and puzzles. Knapp’s earlier almanacs had been printed in Dublin by Elizabeth Sadleir from 1717 to 1722, and later editions were printed by Samuel Fuller in Dublin. These annual publications were printed in large numbers and sold cheaply, they had a wide circulation among farmers, landowners, merchants, mariners and others requiring such up-to-date factual data. In 1728 Welsh printed another almanac by a rival astrologer, Cork native John Coats, Vox stellarum: or, an almanack for the year of Our Lord 1728. Coats’ almanacs were calculated to the meridian of Dublin, but were valid for all of Ireland. They were mainly printed in Dublin, the earliest surviving edition from 1713, printed by Edward Waters.

John Knapp, Almanack for 1721, title page, detail. Edward Lloyd, A description of the flourishing city of Corke, title page. Essay, 1735, Welsh imprint.

In 1725 Welsh printed a French language text written by Rev. Étienne Abel Laval, pastor of the French church in Cork, entitled Les veritez et les devoirs de la religion Chrêtienne tirez des livres du V. et du N. testament, ‘imprimé à Cork chez Andre Welsh’. The book was printed in quarto format with the title page printed in red and black. It was dedicated to the elders and the heads of families of the French church in Cork, who would have been the target audience for the publication. A single sheet folio notice headed ‘Dublin. November 4. This day arrived from Corke. The copy of a letter from James Butler late D-ke of O[rmon]-d, to His Majesty King George the Second’, printed in Cork ‘by permishon (sic) by A. Welsh’ and reprinted in Dublin, dates to about 1727. In 1732 he printed, for the author Edward Lloyd, citizen of London, A description of the flourishing city of Corke, in which appeared an advertisement for the bookshop of Thomas Pilkington. He reprinted an eight page poem by Rev. Jonathan Swift, The lady’s dressing-room discover’d; a poem, in quarto format. First printed by George Faulkner in Dublin in 1732 in the smaller format octavo, Welsh’s reprint of the third edition was issued in late 1732 or 1733. A celebratory poem, printed in Dublin for Thomas Thornton in 1733, A poem inscrib’d to the Right Honourable Col. Boyle; on his being chosen Speaker to the House of Commons of Ireland, was reprinted in Cork by Welsh in the same year. About 1735 he printed a sixteen page octavo pamphlet entitled An essay, to induce the gentlemen of the county of Lymerick, to form a society for the improvement of tillage by English husbandry, and to encourage arts and manufactures. In 1738, possibly in response to The Medley, a weekly newspaper in quarto format printed in Cork on Thursdays by George Harrison, Welsh issued The Serio-jocular Medley (Windele 1839, pp 138-130; Madden 1867, ii, pp 167-168). Ó Casaide refers to it as a piracy (Ó Casaide, n.d.). No copies of this production are listed in Irish libraries (ESTC online).

Welsh’s printing and bookselling business was successful, passing on to his son, Andrew (born about 1718), who worked as printer, bookseller and newspaper proprietor in Limerick from 1738 or 1739 until his death in 1772, and his grandson, Thomas, from 1757 to 1787 (Herbert 1942). Andrew junior began his publishing career in Cork where he printed George Berkeley, A discourse addressed to magistrates, in 1738. The following year, Robert Clayton’s A sermon preached in Christ Church, Cork, on Sunday, April the 15th, 1739 … by Robert, Lord Bishop of Cork, was printed in Cork by Andrew Welsh, either father or son, at Andrew senior’s address. However, by about February 1739 Andrew Welsh, no longer styling himself junior, was established in Limerick at Mary Street, opposite the exchange, and had commenced publication of The Limerick Journal newspaper, later continued as The Munster Journal. He later worked from John Street, Irish town; above the Market House. On 11 July 1739 Andrew and his wife, Margaret’s eldest son, Andrew, was baptized at St Mary’s Limerick (Findmypast.ie online, ffolliott Parish registers). He died in March 1772 aged 54 years, and his will, dated 14 January 1772, named his sons Andrew, Thomas and George as beneficiaries (Herbert 1942; Dix 1909-1911).

John Redwood (1715-1723) and Samuel Terry (1720-1728):

John Redwood was printer and bookseller in Castle Street, Cork, near the Exchange. In the early years of his business he was selling agent for Dublin bookseller, Samuel Fairbrother, and subscribed to other Dublin publications. He later acted as bookseller publisher, with his publications printed by Samuel Terry, with whom he had an informal partnership. Finally, from about 1722 or 1723 he printed his own publications. In 1716 he was agent for three Dublin publications printed by Fairbrother, two texts by Rev. Rowland Davies, dean of Ross, and afterwards dean of Cork, Christian loyalty and The truly Catholick and old religion, sold by George Bennett and John Redwood, and a Latin text, Phaedri Caesaris Augusti, printed by Fairbrother and sold by Redwood in Cork. In 1716 he sold the single sheet broadside, The Free-holder’s answer to the Pretender’s declaration, printed by Andrew Welsh and Thomas Cotton. In 1719 he subscribed to seven sets of Humphrey Prideaux, The old and new testament connected in the history of the Jews, printed in Dublin by Aaron Rhames for a group of booksellers, and for which George Bennett was subscription agent in Cork (Dublin Courant, 31 Jan 1718/19). This was a folio edition bound in calf with engraved plates and maps, selling for 12 British shillings (13s. Irish). The bookseller’s discount often involved the purchase of seven books for the price of six.

John Rocque, Map of Cork city, 1759, detail showing Main Street and Cock-Pit Lane.

Richard Mead, A short discourse, title page. James Puckle, The club, title page.

From 1720 to 1722 or 1723 Redwood worked in association with Samuel Terry, printer in Cock Pit Lane, off Main Street, across from St Peter’s church. Terry worked as a printer in Dale Street, Liverpool, from about 1712 until 1720, where he printed a range of mainly religious works for other Liverpool booksellers (ESTC online). He arrived in Cork in 1720 but his stay was short, and by 1722 he had moved to Ball’s Bridge, Limerick, where he remained until 1727. Buckley suggests a family connection between Samuel Terry and the Cork merchant family, who were active in the local council, with John Terry serving as mayor in 1719-1720 (Buckley 1902, p. 199). Herbert further suggests that Terry may have served his apprenticeship in Cork and was admitted free of the city in 1680 (Herbert 1942, p. 7).

In 1720 Terry printed for John Redwood A guide to gentlemen, farmers, and house-keepers, for brewing the finest malt-liquors by a Country Gentleman. First published in London in 1700, with new editions in 1718 and 1719, it was in its fourth edition when reprinted in Cork. It comprised 32 pages in octavo format. The following year (1721) Terry printed four titles for Redwood. He reprinted Thomas Bisse, D.D., The beauty of holiness in the common prayer, the eighth edition from the original London printing, and James Puckle, The club, in a dialogue between father and son, reprinted from the third edition of a London copy. Rev. Henry Downes, bishop of Elphin, A sermon preach’d at Christ’s-Church Dublin … on Friday, the 23d of December 1720, was reprinted from the Dublin edition printed by Aaron Rhames, for the booksellers. The Cork edition came to sixteen pages quarto. May 1720 saw an outbreak of a deadly epidemic, the last major occurrence of bubonic plague in Europe, which broke out in Marseilles and devastated the city and surrounding area over the next two years. A number of publications, medical and spiritual, searched for explanations, prevention methods and cures. In 1721 Terry reprinted a 26 page text in octavo format by Dr Richard Mead, A short discourse concerning pestilential contagion, for John Redwood. This was a medical treatise by the esteemed London physician, it put forward strategies for preventing the contagion, including quarantines. First issued in London in 1720 and reprinted in Dublin in the same year, it had a relevance and topical interest, and went into seven editions in its first year.

Richard Steele, Conscious lovers, title page. John Rocque, Map of Cork city, 1759, detail showing George’s Street and the playhouse.

The association between Redwood and Terry continued after Terry’s move to Limerick. In 1722 when Redwood and Terry issued John Henley’s Apotheosis. A funeral oration; sacred to the memory of the most noble John Duke of Marlborough, first printed in London, the imprint stated ‘re-printed in Cork by John Redwood, and Samuel Terry in Limerick’. Redwood issued four publications in 1723 in which he is named as printer. He reprinted a 64 page account of a celebrated trial, first published in London, and also reprinted in Dublin, The whole tryal of Christopher Layer, Esq.; as it is publish’d by the celebrated author Mr Abel Boyer in his Political state of Great Britain. For the month of January 1722/3. He printed and sold Conscious lovers. A comedy in octavo format. This popular comedy, the final work of Richard Steele, first produced in London in 1722, had several London and Dublin editions in 1722 and 1723. At this period Cork had no regular playhouse, the directors of Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin had leased a large room off Main Street for performances in the summer of 1713, and they may have visited Cork in subsequent summer seasons, but it was not until the mid 1730s that a dedicated playhouse, the Theatre Royal, was erected off George’s Street at Dunscomb’s Marsh (Clark 1965, p. 70). Plays, however, made popular reading matter, and this was one of the hits of the season. Redwood printed two religious texts, a duodecimo prayer book The spiritual week, consisting of rules for the conduct of life, with meditations and prayers for every day and Robert Nelson, The great duty of frequenting the Christian sacrifice, the eighth edition, first printed in London, and re-printed in octavo in Cork. Nelson’s work was supported by the higher clergy and gentlemen subscribers in the diocese of Cork and Ross, Cloyne and Limerick. Each subscriber took quantities of 12 to 48 copies, intended for distribution to the poor. Redwood advertised his own publications in his other works. In The spiritual week he advertised Nelson’s The great duty, and in The great duty he advertised his other religious works, The beauty of holiness by Bisse, printed in 1721, and The spiritual week.

Robert Nelson, The great duty of frequenting the Christian sacrifice, advertisement and page from subscription list. The spiritual week, advertisement.

Samuel Terry printed three items in his own name while he worked in Cork in 1721, Pietas Corcagiensis. Or, a view of the Green-Coat Hospital: and other charitable foundations, The run upon the bankers, and, the South-Sea detected and An abstract of the several publick charities, given by Edward Colston, Esq. Pietas Corcagiensis was commissioned by The Trustees of the Green-Coat Hospital, a charitable school for poor children founded in 1715, who ordered it published. They dedicated it to the Society for Promoting Charity Schools in Ireland, and proceeds from sales would go to supporting the school. The engraved frontispiece, showing the south prospect of the Green-Coat Hospital was signed by the engraver ‘Jos. Harris, Corc: sculpsit’. The fact that Terry was equipped to print this engraving testifies to his ability as a printer. The run upon the bankers was a verse printed in two columns on a single folio sheet. It was a topical piece dealing with the spectacular financial crash of 1720, where investors in The South Sea Company, a British joint stock company dealing in slaves, set up by Act of Parliament in 1711, lost vast sums of money. The imprint of an eight page octavo pamphlet, An abstract of the several publick charities, given by Edward Colston, Esq; first published in London in 1721, and printed by Terry in 1721 or early 1722, gives Cork as place of publication and Samuel Terry as printer in Cork and Limerick.

Pietas Corcagiensis. 1721, title page and engraved frontispiece.

Terry was established in Limerick in 1722 and he printed a number of items, many short and ephemeral, from 1722 to 1727 or 1728. In 1722 he printed The libertine school’d, or a vindication of the magistrates power in religious matters by Rev. Claudius Gilbert, minister of the Gospel in Limerick. This 74 page octavo tract was first published in London in 1657 in quarto format and the Limerick reprint is credited with being the second book ever printed in Limerick, and the first of the eighteenth century (Dix 1912; Herbert 1942). In 1723 or 1724, in association with L. Bixou, alias Tabb, he printed The sacramental catechism, an Anglican religious text comprising 96 pages duodecimo. The main topical controversy of 1724 concerned William Wood’s copper halfpence patented for use in Ireland, and Dean Jonathan Swift’s campaign against this debased coinage in his series of Drapier’s letters. Terry printed and sold Swift’s An answer to Mr Wood’s proposal, a sixteen page octavo pamphlet selling for one penny at his shop in Limerick, ‘where may be had the said author’s letter to the shopkeepers’. In 1725 he reprinted from the Dublin edition a 16 page octavo sermon by Rev. William Burscough, bishop of Limerick, A sermon preached in Christ’s Church Dublin … on Sunday, August 1, 1725. In June 1727 a phenomenon occurred in County Limerick, where 300 acres of bog began to move, flattening trees and covering potato and corn fields. Terry printed an account headed The wonder of Ireland, or, a strange and surprising account of the moving bog near Draleen, in the county of Limerick in a single folio sheet, printed in two columns. This ephemeral sheet is similar to a newspaper account of the event. He printed a single folio sheet advertisement for letting an estate in County Limerick, dated 9 Jan 1727 (i.e. 1728 as the new year began on 25 March according to the Julian calendar then in use). This kind of local jobbing work was the mainstay of a provincial printer for most of the eighteenth century.

Combra Daniel (1723-d.1734):

Combra Daniel was bookseller, bookbinder and subscription agent in Cork, opposite the Main Guard, from at least 1723 until his death in 1734, when his will was proved in the Cork and Ross Diocesan Court (FindMyPast.ie online). He married Sarah Hood in 1713, and he was succeeded in business at the same address in 1734 by Daniel Hood, possibly his nephew or stepson (Gillman 1896-1898; Munter 1988). His bookshop was later occupied by bookseller Cornelius Sullivan (Dublin News Letter, 1-4 Jan 1736-7). In his will he is termed a bookseller, and there is no record of Daniel as a printer. In November 1723 he was paid £8.12s.6d. for binding 230 bibles for Cork corporation (Caulfield 1876, p. 434). He acted as subscription agent for Dublin publications, and he is known to have issued at least one publication in his own name. In 1728 he published a sixteen page octavo pamphlet by Rev. Jonathan Swift, A short view of the state of Ireland (Cork, printed for, and sold by Combra Daniell, bookseller, opposite the Main Guard, 1728). This pamphlet was first published in Dublin by Sarah Harding in January 1728, and was part of an ongoing debate on economic conditions in Ireland.

His bookshop stock included a number of publications printed by various Dublin booksellers. In many instances he and bookseller Thomas Pilkington of Castle Street both acted as Cork agents for subscription editions, especially those published by booksellers George Risk, George Ewing and William Smith (See ‘Pilkington Booksellers, Cork (1728-1757)‘, mairekennedybooks.wordpress.com). It is likely that he also stocked other publications issued by these prolific publishers. In 1726 he subscribed to 12 copies of Daniel Defoe, The complete English tradesman, first printed in London and reprinted in Dublin in octavo for George Ewing. Proposals for printing it by subscription were advertised at the beginning of the year, at a British half crown, neatly bound in calf and lettered, 13 pence to be paid at subscribing and the rest on delivery by the end of March (Dublin Weekly Journal, 4 Feb 1725/26). In July 1726 Daniel was agent for Major Richardson Pack’s Miscellaneous works in verse and prose, first published in London in 1718 and reprinted in Dublin in duodecimo by Samuel Powell for George Risk (Dublin Weekly Journal, 2 Jul 1726). The price to subscribers, neatly bound in calf and lettered, was a British half crown, a British sixpence to be paid in advance and the remainder on delivery. The book, in two parts, with an account of the author, was completed and ready for delivery to subscribers at the end of September (Dublin Weekly Journal, 1 Oct 1726). In 1729 Combra Daniel and Thomas Pilkington were subscription agents for Ben Jonson’s Plays printed in Dublin by Risk, Ewing and Smith. Their advertisement offered Jonson’s Plays, in two volumes duodecimo, for a British crown (5s.5d. Irish), neatly bound in calf leather with gilt spine (Dublin Intelligence, 22 Feb 1728/9). In another advertisement of 1729 Daniel and Pilkington are named as subscription agents for two further publications by Risk, Ewing and Smith, the Dublin reprint of T. Sherlock’s Tryal of the witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, and the forthcoming State of the Protestants (Dublin Intelligence, 13 Sep 1729). The state of the Protestants, written by Rev. William King, late Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, was likely to be a best seller; proposals for printing it by subscription were published at the end of Tryal of the witnesses in 1729, and Daniel is given as one of the subscription agents. Printed in octavo by Samuel Powell for Risk, Ewing and Smith, it was priced at four British shillings (4s.4d. Irish) neatly bound in calf, half to be paid on subscribing, and it was completed in 1730. In 1733 Daniel and Pilkington were subscription agents in Cork for the second volume of the Dublin edition of Gilbert Burnet, History of his own time, by Risk, Ewing and Smith, to cost 14s. in sheets (Dublin Journal, 26 Jan 1733).

Merchant booksellers:

In the early century bookselling in Cork was not as streamlined as it became in later decades. The book trade was supplemented by merchants and occasional booksellers, who sold books as part of their general business. In 1711 Samuel Wilson was selling agent for the third edition of Edward Synge’s Plain instructions for the young and ignorant, printed in Dublin by Edward Sandys for L. Forster, ‘and sold by Samuel Wilson, merchant in Cork’, and in 1720 he was agent for a new edition of Old Irish statutes printed in folio by Andrew Crooke, King’s printer, and Eliphal Dobson, in Dublin (Dublin Courant, 30 Jul 1720). It is very likely that he can be identified with Samuel Wilson, a member of Cork Corporation who served as sheriff in 1709-10, elected and sworn member of the common council in September 1711, and elected chamberlain in September 1716 (Caulfield 1876, pp 349-50, 384-5). On 2 February 1718/19, Samuel Wilson was requested by the corporation to subscribe for 300 Bibles, advertised by the undertakers of the edition in Dublin, to be paid for out of the fund of the Blue Coat Hospital (Caulfield 1876, p. 404). This was the octavo Holy bible, printed in 1722 by Aaron Rhames for a group of Dublin booksellers, and sponsored by the Society for Promoting Charity Schools in Ireland (ESTC online). In 1723 when 234 copies of the bible were delivered in sheets, the corporation ordered on 23 August ‘that Mr Wilson and Bennett agree for the binding of them’ (Caulfield 1876, pp 433). By December 1724 the binding was completed and every member of the council was given a number of bibles to distribute ‘to such charitable uses as they see fit’ (Caulfield 1876, p. 449).

Dublin Intelligence, 21 Oct 1712, advertisement for Sir John Temple, History of the Irish rebellion. Dublin Gazette, 11 Jul 1713, advertisement for The book of common prayer.

In 1712 William Boyle in Cork took subscriptions for Patrick Campbell’s Dublin printing of Sir John Temple’s History of the Irish rebellion. The volume was to be printed in quarto format, on good paper, using ‘a fair new London character’. Campbell was prepared to go to press once 250 subscriptions were gathered. The volume was priced at a British crown (5s.5d. Irish) in sheets, half to be paid on subscribing; it was completed and published in 1713 (Dublin Intelligence, 21 Oct 1712). William Saftlow in Cork was listed as subscription agent in 1713 for John Richardson’s edition of The book of common prayer (Dublin Gazette, 11 Jul 1713). In 1719 William Ray, merchant in Cork, took subscriptions for Dublin editions of the earl of Clarendon’s History of the rebellion and civil wars in England, three volumes folio selling for £1.4s., Peter Heylyn’s Life of Archbishop Laud in three parts folio, and the second volume of Richard Fiddes’ Body of divinity (Pue’s Occurrences, 3-7 Mar 1718/19; 7-11 Apr 1719; 11-14 Apr 1719; Dublin Intelligence, 14 Nov 1719). In 1726 Holland Goddard, merchant in Cork, subscribed to 12 copies of Daniel Defoe, The complete English tradesman in octavo, first printed in London and reprinted in Dublin by George Ewing.

Edward Webber, Town Clerk of the city, appointed in December 1714 and serving until his death in 1730, was responsible for the disbursement of monies for goods and services, and for repaying expenditure incurred by officers of the council. In November 1723 he provided books, paper and votes of parliament for the corporation, but there is no reason to believe that he was a bookseller or stationer (Caulfield, , pp 370, 372, 434, 496).

Thomas Pembrock was possibly an occasional bookseller, and possibly also a printer, in Cork from about 1719 until at least the late 1730s. He was a member of Cork Corporation, serving as sheriff in 1725 during George Bennett’s mayoralty. He was sworn a member of the common council in April 1732 and elected mayor for 1733-1734, becoming alderman in 1734, a status granted to those who had served as mayor (Caulfield 1876, pp 507, 528, 531; Windele 1839). He was justice of the peace and served as one of the judges of the assize for Cork city. On 21 September 1734, as his term as mayor was coming to an end, the council ordered that ‘£9.0s.2d. be paid Tho. Pembrock for printing work done, and for the future that Ald. Bennett shall print what will be wanted for the corporation … (Caulfield 1876, p. 536). While it is possible that Pembrock ran a printing workshop, it is also possible that he contracted out the work to a local printer; printed notices and proclamations supplied during his time as mayor could have been paid for through his own account and the sum reimbursed.

Evidence that Pembrock acted as bookseller is slim and comes mainly from subscriptions to Dublin and Cork publications. In 1719 he subscribed to seven sets of the earl of Clarendon’s History of the rebellion and civil wars in England, printed in Dublin for John Hyde and Robert Owen. This was an expensive work, printed in three volumes folio, with portraits sent to London to be engraved. The initial cost to subscribers was announced at £1.4s., half to be paid on subscribing, a year later the remaining cost due was 12s. per volume, with an extra 6s. to have the three volumes bound in calf leather (Pue’s Occurrences, 3-7 Feb 1718/19; Dublin Intelligence, 8 Feb 1719/20). The purchase of this work could not be for personal use, but for resale. In 1723 he subscribed to Richard Allestree, Works, printed in Dublin for Patrick Dugan, and for which George Bennett was subscription agent in Cork (Dublin Intelligence, 5 Nov 1720; 22 Jan 1722/3). This was a substantial folio volume in two parts by the author of the best selling The whole duty of man. The cost to subscribers was 13s. unbound in sheets (Dublin Intelligence, 3 Apr 1722). As he did not subscribe to multiple copies this may have been a personal purchase. In 1737 Alderman Thomas Pembrock subscribed to Remarks on religion, trade, government, police, customs, manners, and maladys of the city of Corke, by Alexander the Coppersmith, printed in Cork by George Harrison, also possibly for his own interest. This publication was of particular interest to members of the corporation and was supported by the mayor (Thomas Farren), sheriffs and several of the aldermen and councillors, some taking multiple copies. Thomas Pembrock’s death was announced in September 1754, ‘this day died of the gout in his stomach, Thomas Pembrock Esq., one of his majesty’s justices of the peace for this city (Corke Journal, 19 Sep 1754).

Conclusion:

In the first decades of the eighteenth century the book trade in Cork was coming into its own, largely based on books, pamphlets and newspapers brought in from Dublin and imported from London. The trade depended on a reliable commercial structure, which was in place in the busy port of Cork at this period, with good road and sea connections to the main centres of production. Publications at the higher end of the market and subscription editions were advertised in the Dublin newspapers and Cork booksellers were sometimes named as selling agents. Cheap and ephemeral items were not advertised and therefore mostly passed under the radar. Local publications were few, most often reprinted from Dublin or London editions, or having a purely local content or interest. Jobbing work (such as printed notices, handbills or proclamations) has a poor survival rate, and cannot always be attributed to an individual printer. The publication of a newspaper was a big undertaking, involving a major investment of labour and resources and the setting up of a distribution network, so many early attempts were unsuccessful and titles ended after a few issues. Survival rates of such early examples are also poor. In the early decades of the century Dublin and London newspapers served the market.

It could be difficult for a printer bookseller to make a living given the size of the potential market, the low rates of literacy and the relatively high cost of printed works. Many printers moved from town to town before settling. In the early decades of the century dedicated bookshops in the provincial cities and towns could struggle to exist, but general merchants extended their businesses by the sale of books and pamphlets. By the 1720s conditions in Cork city and surrounding areas were more favourable for the sale of printed materials, and from this time on a number of booksellers could stay in business at the same time, sharing the market and earning a living from the book trade without the need to diversify into the sale of general commodities.

Some of the earliest printers and booksellers of the eighteenth century in the city were active in the local administration. Alderman George Bennett was the most prominent printer bookseller of this period on the council. As a prerequisite all members of the council needed to be members of the established Church of Ireland, and of good standing in the community, so the better off merchants and business people could become members and serve as officers of the council, up to the role as mayor. Council monies were often channelled through its officers to pay for goods and services, so it is not always clear if a member is being paid for his own services or being reimbursed for bills already paid to other businesses or trades. Therefore, without external evidence, the role of some councillors in the supply and delivery of printed materials remains uncertain.

References:

Barnard, Toby, 2017. Brought to book: print in Ireland, 1680-1784 (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 2017).

Bradshaw, Henry, 1916. A catalogue of the Bradshaw collection of Irish books in the University Library Cambridge, 3 volumes (Cambridge, printed for the University Library, 1916).

Buckley, James, 1902. ‘Some account of the earliest Limerick printing’, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 8, no. 56 (1902), pp 195-200.

Caulfield, Richard (ed.), 1876. The council book of the corporation of the city of Cork (Guildford, J. Billing and Sons, 1876).

Clark, William Smith, 1965. The Irish stage in the county towns 1720-1800 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965).

Dix, E. R. McClintock, 1900. ‘A list of the 17th and 18th century Cork-printed books’, part I, 17th century, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 6, no. 47 (1900), pp 168-174; part II, 1701-1750, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 6, no. 48 (1900), pp 233-240.

Dix, E. R. McClintock, 1909-1911. ‘Will of a Limerick printer of the 18th century, Andrew Welsh’, Journal of the North Munster Archaeological Society, 2, no. 1 (1909-1911), pp 44-46.

Dix, E. R. McClintock, 1912. ‘List of books, pamphlets, newspapers, printed in Limerick from the earliest period to 1800’, second ed., Irish Bibliography, V (Limerick, Guy and Co., 1912).

Dix, E. R. McClintock, 1921-24. ‘Printing in Cork in the first quarter of the eighteenth century (1700-1725)’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 36 (1921-1924), pp 10-15.

ESTC online. English Short Title Catalogue, searchable at estc.bl.uk

Evans, Edward, 1897. Historical and bibliographical account of almanacks, directories, &c. &c. published in Ireland from the sixteenth century, Dublin Bibliographical Series, No. 3, facsimile reprint (Dublin, Carraig Books, 1976).

Gillespie, Raymond, 1996. ‘The book trade in Southern Ireland, 1590-1640’, in Gerard Long ed., Books beyond the Pale: aspects of the provincial book trade in Ireland before 1850 (Dublin, The Rare Books Group of the Library Association of Ireland, 1996), pp 1-17.

Gillman, Herbert Webb, 1896-1898. ‘Index to the marriage licence bonds of the diocese of Cork and Ross, Ireland, for the years from 1623 to 1750, preserved in the Public Record Office of Ireland’, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 2-4 (1896-1898).

Harris, Michael, 1975. ‘Newspaper distribution during Queen Anne’s reign’, in Studies in the book trade in honour of Graham Pollard (Oxford, Oxford Bibliographical Society, 1975), pp 139-51.

Herbert, Robert, 1942. Limerick printers and printing: part one of the catalogue of the local collection in the City of Limerick Public Library (Limerick, City of Limerick Public Library, 1942).

Kennedy, Máire, 1998. ‘Eighteenth-century newspaper publishing in Munster and South Leinster’, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 103, (1998), pp 67-88.

McKay, Barry, 1995. ‘Thomas Cotton: Kendal (1730-36), later Whitehaven (1736-1743)’, unpublished typescript, 1995.

Madden, Richard Robert, 1867. The history of Irish periodical literature, 2 volumes (London, T. C. Newby, 1867).

Munter, Robert, 1988. A dictionary of the print trade in Ireland 1550-1775 (New York, Fordham University Press, 1988).

Ó Casaide, Séamus, n.d. ‘A history of the periodical literature of Cork from the beginning up to A.D. 1900’, typescript, National Library of Ireland (Ir 6551 C2).

Pollard, M., 2000. A dictionary of members of the Dublin book trade 1550-1800 (London, Bibliographical Society, 2000).

Sessions, William K., 1990. The first printers in Waterford, Cork, and Kilkenny, pre 1700 York, Ebor Press, 1990).

Windele, John, 1839. Historical and descriptive notices of the city of Cork (Cork, Luke H. Bolster, 1839).

Introduction:

The book auction has an honourable tradition in Irish cultural life.[1] The earliest Irish book auctions took place in Dublin in the late seventeenth century, run by booksellers such as William Norman, Robert Thornton and Patrick Campbell. John Dunton arrived in Dublin from London in 1698 bringing a ‘venture of Books (of near Ten Tun)’ to be sold by auction at Dick’s coffee house and later at Patt’s coffee house. He published a lively account of his time in Dublin, entitled The Dublin scuffle.[2] Throughout the eighteenth century book auctions provided the Irish reading public with rarities, and spiced up the everyday fare of bookshops in Dublin and in other cities and towns.

The last quarter of the eighteenth century saw some of the most renowned libraries in the country come under the hammer, which attracted an international interest in the sales. The library of Denis Daly, MP for Galway, celebrated for its fine editions, was auctioned by James Vallance in 1792. The catalogue went on sale three months prior to the auction in bookshops in Dublin, Cork and Belfast, and from the ‘principal Booksellers in Great Britain, and on the continent’.[3] Similarly, for the sale of the Mornington library in 1795, R.E. Mercier’s auction catalogue was to be had in London, Chester, and from the principal booksellers of Great Britain and Ireland.[4] After the Act of Union many of the great houses were closed up as their inhabitants moved to London in response to the shift of power to Westminster. The early nineteenth century saw very many libraries and collections of books coming on the market due to this migration of the administrative elite.

Charles Sharpe’s business:

Charles Sharpe began his career in partnership with Charles Cumming in the firm of Charles Cumming & Co., booksellers and stationers, 19 Dame Street, but the partnership was dissolved in August 1819.[5] In December 1819 Sharpe announced his intention to set up as auctioneer ‘in all its numerous branches’, first at 11 Dame Street, and temporarily at 26 Parliament Street ‘during the period of his procuring an eligible and permanent situation’.[6] In May 1820 he moved to 43 Upper Camden Street and in March 1821 settled at 33 Anglesea Street.[7] The Anglesea Street premises had been the book shop of John Parry, whose death occasioned the sale of his stock by Sharpe in November 1820. At the conclusion of Parry’s sale the furniture and lease of the house were to be disposed of by auction ‘unless an acceptable offer for the purchase is made in the meantime’.[8] On 14 March 1821 the lease was signed and the building on the east side of Anglesea Street became Sharpe’s, at an annual rent of £75.[9] Recently refurbished, the house consisted of a ‘breakfast and dining parlour, drawing room, six bedrooms, two kitchens, out-offices and an excellent shop’.[10] Sharpe occupied the literary sale room in Anglesea Street for his entire career until 1851. The street numbering changed in 1844 due to alterations to buildings near Cope Street, and Sharpe’s address became 31 Anglesea Street, but the premises remained the same. He left Anglesea Street in November 1851 and was succeeded by H. Lewis, who continued the business of book auctioneering.[11]

In the first half of the nineteenth century Anglesea Street was occupied mainly by those in the book and textile trades. When Sharpe opened his literary sale room he was in the heart of a bookselling and printing enclave, with nearby Eustace Street, Dame Street and Grafton Street prime locations for the trade. Between 1820 and 1850 from a quarter to one-third of businesses in Anglesea Street were involved in the print trade, including engravers, printers, booksellers, stationers and bookbinders. In the 1820s the Hibernian Journal had its newspaper office at 19 Anglesea Street. In 1824 Sharpe announced sales at his enlarged sale room indicating success in his business venture.[12] This success is mirrored in the extensive advertising of his sales carried in the Freeman’s Journal and other newspapers at this period. A contributor to The Dublin University Magazine in March 1868, reminiscing on Dublin book auctions of the past, noted Sharpe’s auction room in Anglesea Street, and Jones’ in Trinity Street, as the most prestigious venues.[13]

Sharpe’s life.

Sharpe was born about 1782 and seems to have come to Dublin from England.[14] His mother was living at Stoke Newington in Middlesex up to January 1830.[15] He does not appear in the records of the guild of St Luke the Evangelist. In 1820 and 1821 when he started business on his own, he is listed in Wilson’s Dublin directories as ‘accountant, general-agent and auctioneer’. By his first marriage he had six daughters and two sons; his wife Julia died in 1830.[16] Both sons predeceased him, Charles in 1833, aged 12, and Thomas Cain in 1850 at the age of 33, ensuring that there would be no male successors in the business.[17]

On 19 October 1838 Sharpe married as his second wife Deborah Mullen, eldest daughter of the late George Mullen, at St Mary’s church.[18] Deborah was the daughter of the renowned bookbinder who had died in 1822. Sharpe was already acquainted with the Mullen family through a rather unhappy circumstance, when in June of 1827 he auctioned a collection of valuable books in rich bindings, the property of George Mullen junior, Deborah’s brother, who was declared bankrupt in May.[19] The witnesses at the Sharpe marriage were Deborah’s brother, George, and Samuel Orson, husband of her younger sister, Margaret Louisa. Samuel Orson, who had a coach building business at Bachelor’s Walk, was already a member of the Mullen family as his sister Eliza had married George, Deborah’s brother, in 1824.[20] Thus Sharpe had allied himself to two important Dublin families of the period. From about 1850 increased prosperity allowed Sharpe to have a country residence at Uplands, the Hill, Monkstown. In November 1851 he retired due to ill health, leaving Anglesea Street and moving fully to Monkstown. He was succeeded by H. Lewis who had worked in the business for the previous four years and had been conducting the auctions for some years.[21] Sharpe died at Uplands on 7 December 1854, aged 73 years, and was buried in St Andrew’s churchyard with his first wife, two sons and daughter, Sarah, who had died in 1836.[22]

The collection.

The collection of book auction catalogues and folded sheets of Charles Sharpe’s sales, held at the Royal Irish Academy is very complete, covering the years 1820 to 1851. A manuscript note loosely inserted in the bound volume for 1820 states that these are ‘the late Charles Sharpe’s private collection of all his own sales of Books, Paintings, Engravings, extending from 1820 to 1851, partly priced with ms notes.’ Few catalogues have survived elsewhere, the National Library of Ireland has only a handful of Sharpe catalogues, Trinity College holds a small number, and some catalogues are to be found in Harvard University, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. Considering that many hundreds of catalogues are likely to have been printed for each sale, the survival rate is quite poor and points to the very ephemeral nature of auction catalogues. The fact that this collection was gathered together and bound into annual volumes has helped ensure its survival. Auction hand-bills, posters and fold-out sheets are very rare and have little hope of survival unless bound into volumes or scrapbooks. Here many fine examples have been preserved, giving an excellent flavour of the auction milieu, from advertising to the practicalities of the sale.

Freeman’s Journal, 16 June 1827; 22 April 1848

Sharpe auctioned the libraries of great and small collectors throughout his career. Some libraries were of international prestige, while smaller collections were often included as part of a miscellaneous sale. Catholic clerymen’s libraries are prominent in his sales, some owners identified and many more remaining anonymous. During the eighteenth century Catholic clerical libraries sold by public auction were nearly always low-profile, anonymous sales. One exception was the sale of the very valuable library of Dr John Carpenter, Irish scholar and archbishop of Dublin, which was offered for sale in 1787 by James Vallance.[23] However, by the late eighteenth, and particularly in the nineteenth century, Catholic clergymen’s names appeared increasingly on auction catalogues. The contents of these libraries were varied and interesting, including continental editions and books in several European languages, particularly French, Italian and Spanish, reflecting the educational backgrounds of these men in the Irish Colleges of Paris, Rome, Lisbon, Salamanca etc.

Among the more prestigious Catholic clerical libraries to come under the hammer in the early years of his business were those of Dr John Thomas Troy (1739-1823), archbishop of Dublin, in 1823, Dr Michael Blake (1775-1860) in 1825, and the libraries of Dr Patrick Joseph Plunkett (1738-1827), bishop of Meath, and Rev. Michael Kearney (1753-1827), archdeacon of Meath, sold together in 1827. Archbishop Troy’s library of over 1,000 lots, was rich in continental imprints, including a Canon missae pontificalis, a present from ‘His Holiness’.[24] He was also in possession of many books from the library of his predecessor, Archbishop John Carpenter, auctioned in 1787. Dr Michael Blake, vicar general of the diocese of Dublin, returned to Rome in 1824 to re-establish the Irish College there after the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and to become president of the college until 1828. His library of over 1,000 lots was auctioned by Sharpe in 1825, realising £340.11s.5d.[25] Dr Patrick Joseph Plunkett went to France disguised as a merchant’s apprentice to receive his education in 1753, going on to become professor and later superior of the Collège des Lombards in Paris, and royal professor of theology at the Collège de Navarre. Returning to Ireland in 1779 during the American war of independence, his possessions, including his library and a ring given to him by Queen Marie Antoinette, were seized by the privateer, John Paul Jones. They were only restored to him after the intervention of Benjamin Franklin, the American envoy to Paris.[26]

When George Mullen, Sharpe’s future brother-in-law, was declared bankrupt in 1827 it was Sharpe who undertook the auction of his stock. George Mullen senior had his bookbinding business at Fleet Street and later at Temple Bar, carrying out regular binding work for Trinity College library and Marsh’s library.[27] George and his son, George, moved to 38 Nassau Street, near Grafton Street, having taken the lease in September 1821 at £150 per annum. Both father and son were listed at this address in 1822, George senior as bookbinder and George junior as bookseller and stationer.[28] In 1822 George junior issued his first bookseller’s catalogue, in which both men advertised their businesses, George senior stating that he had been 25 years in business in Dublin, and George junior saying that he had recently commenced, having gained his bookselling experience ‘in a highly respectable bookselling establishment in London’.[29] The catalogue is dated 6 April 1822 and George senior died later in the month, on 23 April. In May 1823 George advertised a ‘splendid sale of books and shop fixtures’ stating that ‘in consequence of the Book-binding business having devolved upon him, by the death of his Father, and finding that it is absolutely necessary to devote his whole attention to it, is resolved to dispose of his present very choice and select Collection of Books by Auction’. On this occasion the auctioneer was Samuel Jones of Trinity Street.[30] In 1825 Mullen issued a catalogue of books in ‘handsome and costly bindings’, and also advertised his services in ‘the arranging and cataloguing of libraries’, noting that he acquired his bibliographical expertise ‘during five years’ Residence in London’.[31] Like his father he carried out binding work for Trinity College and Marsh’s libraries.

The notice of Mullen’s bankruptcy appeared in May 1827 and his stock was sold over two days, on 11 and 12 June of that year.[32] The collection comprised 454 lots, some of the books were folded for binding and some had fine bindings unfinished. As well as his stock of books, Mullen’s bookbinder’s tools, his household furniture including a piano, and the lease of his dwelling house and premises at 38 Nassau Street, formed part of the sale. It is not clear what led to Mullen’s bankruptcy, but he seems to have recovered from this major setback and cleared his debts. He continued in business at a new address, 61 William Street, until his death on 16 April 1848, at the age of 50, after an illness of five years.[33] The lease on this premises was transferred to the Provincial Bank of Ireland by his widow, Eliza, in June 1848, and she went to live with her son, George, in Dawson Street.[34] The binding output of both George Mullens, father and son, achieved an excellent reputation and is highly thought of, with fine examples present in most major Irish libraries.

Two of the most extensive and distinguished libraries auctioned by Sharpe were the libraries of Joseph Abbott in 1840 and the Putland library in 1847. Abbott’s library of 2,420 lots realised £1,755.7s.11d.[35] Joseph Abbott, solicitor, of 104 Capel Street may have been George Mullen’s solicitor as he acted as witness when Mullen’s premises at 38 Nassau Street was acquired in 1821 and as agent in the bankruptcy proceedings in 1827.[36] Abbott’s own library of books and engraved prints was very fine: many of the books in the best editions with sumptuous bindings. Continental imprints, with plates by the most noted engravers, in large paper editions with gilt edges and the best continental bindings in leather or vellum are prominent in the catalogue. He was primarily a collector, with an eye towards the rare and valuable, he collected book sale catalogues of important English and European collectors, bibliographical dictionaries and guides to book collecting. The Putland library was collected by three generations of the Putland family: John Putland (1709-1773) of Great Britain (now Parnell) Street, and Bray Head, County Wicklow, his son George (1745-1811) and his grandson George (1783-1841).[37] John was a leading member of the Dublin Society and its treasurer from 1754 to 1772, and both Georges were members of the Dublin Society and the Royal Irish Academy. The Putland family crest has an elephant-head motif, and this motif was used on the spine panels of their custom-bound books. The library comprised 1,268 lots, with many rare editions, continental imprints, Latin manuscripts on vellum, and some incunabula including a copy of Polychronicon in black letter, printed at Westminster by Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton’s successor, in 1495.[38]

The Sharpe collection contains a great many anonymous catalogues. Several of the anonymous catalogues have the true identity of the consignor inscribed on the title page, for example ‘the genuine property of a Roman Catholic Clergyman’, auctioned on 19 and 20 April 1830, is identified as belonging to Rev. J.H. King, and the ‘Library of a Private Gentleman’, sold on 6 August 1850, belonged to Sir George Goold, baronet.[39] A scrapbook compiled by Sharpe is held at the National Library of Ireland in which he has gathered together his newspaper advertisements and a fine collection of hand-bills spanning his whole career. This is a fascinating document giving an overview of his business activities over a 30 year period. Unfortunately the newspaper extracts are not identified, but the dates can be estimated from the dates of auctions advertised and their chronological arrangement.[40]

Features of the sales.

Sharpe’s general auctions were normally held at one o’clock, ‘Post Office time’, and law libraries at three o’clock in the afternoon ‘for the convenience of those in the profession’. Some sales were held at eight o’clock in the evening, or at half past eight in the summer months. While Sharpe was primarily a book auctioneer, he also termed himself a general auctioneer, offering to hold ‘out-auctions’, which would include estates and farming stock. His book auctions extended to the sale of sheet and framed prints, paintings, maps, music and musical instruments, musical boxes, library furnishings, plate and china, and items such as microscopes, celestial and terrestrial globes, pairs of pistols, coins, medallions, snuff boxes, kaleidoscopes, magic lanterns with slides, mathematical and medical instruments, a ‘bust of Buonaparte’ and a ‘Wellington writing case’. The variety of library furnishings offered at his various sales gives a fascinating glimpse into the environment in which books were collected and read. Writing desks in rosewood and mahogany, glass-fronted book cases, library ladders, study lamps and bell pulls are commonly listed. One library boasted a ‘Handsome Room Screen (four folds) covered with prints’ in 1826.[41] At another sale in May 1826 a portable library book case is described in detail: ‘A Travelling Portable Library Book-Case, most singularly constructed, and divided into 14 compartments, capable of holding upwards of 1,000 volumes’. It was considered ‘a very complete and important article for any gentleman to possess’.[42] An unusual sale took place on 14 February 1820 when a raffle was held for a painting of the Venus de Medicis, commissioned by Frederick Hervey, earl of Bristol and bishop of Derry, and painted in Italy by Sir William Hamilton. Twenty tickets at one guinea each could be purchased from Sharpe.[43]

Interest in the sales was expected to be widespread and catalogues of some of the more high-profile sales were distributed to booksellers around Ireland and in England. The library of Archbishop Troy went on sale in June 1823 and catalogues were available in London, Cork, Limerick, Clonmel, Kilkenny, Waterford, Carlow, Belfast, Newry, and at the hotel in Maynooth.[44] Booksellers in the Irish provincial towns and the hotel in Maynooth also carried the catalogue of Rev. John Barrett’s library in May 1823 and of Dr Michael Blake’s library which came up for sale in February 1825.[45] These libraries, rich in Catholic works of continental and local origin, would have appealed to Catholic clergy living around Ireland, and in particular to those studying and teaching at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Catalogues for the sale of the library of John Walker of Trinity College in May 1835 were available in Belfast, Cork and Liverpool.[46] The Irish library, Bibliotheca Hibernica, of Edward O’Reilly, the Irish scholar, went on sale in November 1830, and catalogues were to be had from the principal booksellers in Ireland, and in Edinburgh and London.[47]

A number of catalogues for Sharpe’s more prestigious sales were distributed in London in the 1840s and 1850s by Messrs Sharpe and Sons, 56, Fenchurch Street, which might indicate a family connection. The libraries of John Foster, last speaker of the Irish House of Commons, and of his son, Thomas Henry Foster, Viscount Ferrard, were put up for sale in April 1843, and catalogues were available in Liverpool and from Sharpe’s in London.[48] The sale, comprising 2,288 lots, grossed £900 against the estimated £500, due to the prestige attached to the sale.[49] Catalogues for the earl of Clanwilliam’s sale were also to be had from booksellers in Liverpool and Sharpe in London in 1846.[50] The catalogue of the rare, valuable and extensive library of Sir George Goold, auctioned in August 1850 was distributed by Sharpe in London, and by booksellers in Bristol, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cork and Belfast.[51]

Not all sales were held in the literary sale room, but were sometimes conducted in a public venue. In the early years of his business Sharpe frequently held his sales at the vendor’s house, and on many occasions the lease of the house was auctioned at the end of the sale.[52] In 1820 and 1821 he conducted a series of sales in Ulster, in July 1820 he held evening auctions at Shipquay Street, Derry, and from August to October he used the Castle-Place public rooms in the Corn Market, Belfast.[53] In February 1821 he returned to the Castle-Place rooms and later in the month moved to Hill Street, Newry.[54] In June 1823 the Rotunda, with its entrance in Cavendish Row, Dublin, was used by Sharpe for the sale of the library of C.P. Archer, a gentleman going to the continent, and later in the month for the library of Archbishop Troy.[55] In December 1823 the library of Dr Martin Hugh Hamill, Catholic vicar general of the Dublin diocese, was sold at Francis Street chapel house.[56] Some years later, in July 1827, Rev. Peter Ward’s books, furniture, framed prints and paintings were also sold at the chapel house in Francis Street.[57]

The book stock of the bookseller Robert Marchbank was sold after his death at Wyley’s Royal Hotel (late Spaddecini’s) on College Green in May 1825.[58] The theological library of an unnamed Catholic clergyman was sold in Carlow, near the Market Cross, in December 1825.[59] When Sharpe’s neighbour, Sylvester Tyrrell, bookseller at 28 Anglesea Street, was forced to sell out for non-payment of rent in January 1826, his stock was auctioned from the book shop.[60] In February of the same year, the library of Martin French Lynch, Catholic barrister, was sold from his house, 4 Mountjoy Place.[61]

Sharpe was a prominent member of the Dublin business circle in the first half of the nineteenth century, connected with some of the other important business families. His auctions are celebrated in a song entitled ‘The Booksellers’ Charter Song’, which was composed for John Cumming’s annual trade sale on 11 November 1840.[62] It was to be sung to the air of ‘The Fine Old English Gentleman’:

I’m now at home, fill up each glass, we’ll drink our noble selves,

And first, John Cumming’s honest health, long may he fill our shelves,

Smith, Curry, Tyrrell, Webb, Keene, Tims, Grant, Milliken, and Coyne,

And our own Sharpe, whose knock is felt, from London to the Boyne,

With cheering rapture drink their healths, these of the present time.

Conclusion.

Because of the ephemeral nature of book auction catalogues a sequence as full as this is relatively rare and very valuable. As they formed the auctioneer’s own collection they include many exceedingly scarce items such as handbills and auction posters, neatly folded and bound in place. Yet, even this collection is not complete, from advertising notices in the press we know that many more Sharpe auctions took place for which we have no surviving catalogues.

As a set, the catalogues represent the reading and collecting tastes of several sections of Irish society. Clerical libraries great and small, carefully amassed in the person’s lifetime, family libraries built up over generations, fine editions gathered by collectors, booksellers’ stocks sold because of bankruptcy or death, miscellaneous collections made up of discarded books from a library, unsold stock or small parcels purchased from individuals, give a clear indication of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century concerns and interests among the book buying public. Sharpe’s sales represent the upper end of the market, he handled some of the best sales of the period, advertising them widely in Ireland and Great Britain, and achieving large sums of money for his clients.

Extending over thirty years these catalogues give an insight into the intellectual life of the time. It is clear from the catalogues that continental editions in the vernacular European languages, chiefly French and Italian, and to a lesser extent Spanish and German, formed a significant part of a well chosen library. Contemporary literature and history especially are to be found in their original languages. Works in Latin continued to find a place, and increasingly Irish language texts and manuscripts were coming on the market. Rare and curious editions, valuable more for their scarcity perhaps than their content, achieved high prices. Books containing fine engraved prints were very much sought after. Beautiful bindings were also much in demand, and the level of expertise in assessing typography and bindings can be seen in the catalogues and may be assumed among collectors.

A version of this paper was given as one of the joint Royal Irish Academy/Linen Hall library lunch-time lectures, held at the Royal Irish Academy library, during April and May 2000. The Sharpe collection of catalogues in the Royal Irish Academy were conserved and rebound by Nick Abrahms, the English craft bookbinder, and the project sponsored by Mealy’s book auctioneers of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny.

This article was first published as ‘“Rare, Valuable and Extensive Libraries”’: the book auction catalogues of Charles Sharpe in the library of the Royal Irish Academy’, in Long Room, 46 (2001), pp 24-33.

[1] Máire Kennedy, ‘Book mad: the sale of books by auction in eighteenth-century Dublin’ Dublin Historical Record, LIV, no. 1 (Spring 2001), pp 48-71.

[2] John Dunton, The Dublin scuffle: being a challenge sent by John Dunton, citizen of London, to Patrick Campbel, bookseller in Dublin (London, 1699); new edition with an introduction and notes by Professor Andrew Carpenter (Dublin,Four Courts, 2000).

[3] Catalogue of the library of the late right hon. Denis Daly which will be sold by auction by James Vallance on 1 May 1792 (Dublin, 1792). Dublin Chronicle, 24 March 1792. J.S.C., ‘Book buyers in the olden time’, Irish Book Lover, 3, no. 10 (1912), pp 159-60. T.U. Sadleir, ‘An eighteenth-century Irish gentleman’s library’, Book Collector, 2 (1953), pp 173-6.

[4] Dengan sale. Part the first; containing the books. A catalogue of the extensive and valuable library, prints, paintings, statues, music, mathematical instruments and superb furniture of the chapel which belonged to the late Earl of Mornington at Dengan Castle (Dublin, R.E. Mercier, 18 May 1795).

[5] I would like to thank Charles Benson of Trinity College library for letting me know about Sharpe’s partnership with Cumming. Dublin Gazette, 23 September 1819, p.853. Wilson’s Dublin directory 1819.

[6] Freeman’s Journal, 18 December 1819; 9 March 1820. Catalogue of a valuable and excellent collection of miscellaneous books (Dublin, Charles Sharpe, 4 April 1820).

[7] J. Pigot and Co., The commercial directory of … Ireland 1820-21 and 22 (Manchester, 1820), p. 42. Catalogue of a select and valuable collection of books (Dublin, Charles Sharpe, 25 May 1820).

[8] Catalogue of the late Mr John Parry, bookseller (Dublin, Charles Sharpe, 13 November 1820; 27 November 1820). Freeman’s Journal, 4 December 1820.

[9] Registry of Deeds Dublin: 14 March 1821, Williams to Sharpe, 760.415.516351.

[10] National Library of Ireland, LO 2374: Charles Sharpe, ‘Cuttings and handbills 1819-1853’, p. 20, 27 December 1820.

[11] Wilson’s Dublin directories 1820-1833. Pettigrew & Oulton, The Dublin almanac and general register of Ireland 1834-1847. Thom’s Irish almanac and official directory 1847-1855.

[12] A catalogue of books (Du