2008 Exhibition

This exhibition is finished, and the items described here are no longer on public display in the Library. Information about current Library exhibitions is available on our events page.

The exhibition was opened in the library by Mr Martin Cullen, T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, on the 18^th of June 2008, and continued until Spring 2009. The following is the short description of the exhibition that was published at the time.

This exhibition opens with some of the earliest Bibles, including the King James Bible which is considered to be the finest translation into English. These are followed by a case of famous early maps.

The case entitled The Virgin Queen contains a book by the mathematician John Dee who was Queen Elizabeth's spy and astrologer. He forecast the most appropriate day for her coronation. Also here is a poem by Sir Walter Ralegh to Queen Elizabeth. A History of Queen Elizabeth by William Camden describes the row between the Queen and her favourite the Earl of Essex and his saucy, irreverent behaviour towards her. When the Queen would not agree to send Sir George Carew to Ireland, Essex "quite forgetting himself, uncivilly turned his back on her in contempt". The Queen "gave him a box on the ear and bade him get him gone and be hang'd". Camden also gives a moving account of the death of Mary Queen of Scots.

The exhibition also contains books on witchcraft, music, medicine and law. These early law books have been extensively annotated by lawyer and students and will be of particular interest to solicitors, barristers and judges.

The literary section of the exhibition includes books by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton and a book that belonged to John Donne.