The history of the Irish book Books in the Irish language and their semiotics

in the early years of the twentieth centuryi

Dr Anna Cisło

University of Wrocław

20th October 2014

The lecture commenced with presenting Ireland as a country famous, among others, for its books (James Joyce’s Ulysses, the Book of Kells, the contribution by the National Library of Ireland to the "Reading Europe: European culture through the book" online exhibition launched by The European Library).

Please consult

http://www.visitdublin.com/Asset/See_and_Do/tours_attractions/Museums_and_Galleries_in_Dublin/The_James_Joyce_Centre

https://www.tcd.ie/Library/bookofkells/book-of-kells/

http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=MS58_003v

http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/exhibition-reading-europe/countries.html

Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC) Publishing House by ANNA CISŁO, see http://fil.arch.ug.edu.pl/upload/files/1978/beyond_philology_9_2012.pdf

It next concentrated on the history of the Irish language book considered as the book in a lesser spoken language, focusing especially on printed productions in so called Irish characters and their use in the times of the Irish Revival.

Please consult

http://leabharlann.spd.dcu.ie/englishsite/collections/fourcenturies.html

Between tradition and innovation: The alternative Gaelic script by Anna Cisło, see http://www.wsf.edu.pl/upload_module/wysiwyg/Wydawnictwo%20WSF/Philologica%20Wratislaviensia.%20Acta%20et%20Studia%208_calosc.pdf

It finally summed up and listed other semiotic elements that revealed Irish books cultural identity during the times of the revival and the formation of the Irish state, i.e.

Language (Irish) Typography (Gaelic/Irish characters) Graphic design inside books (vignettes, logos, initials etc. that use Celtic knot design,

like the one on the stone below)

Celtic knot design in stone, photo by Anna Cisło.

The sign of The Educational Company of Ireland, copx bz Anna Cisło.

A Celtic knot design vignette, photo by Anna Cisło.

A decorative initial, photo by Anna Cisło.

Writers’ nicknames (e.g. Cú Chulainn, the name of the greatest Irish hero from the Ulster cycle of old Irish literature and the nickname of P. Ó Dubhda)

Cover and dust jacket design (e. g. iconic representation of Irish landscape, or specifically Irish objects, e.g. a traditional Irish boat - curragh, a hurling stick in hands of a hurling player), see for example dust jackets at

http://www.bc.edu/libraries/about/exhibits/burnsvirtual/bkcovers.html

i The lecture was part of the project carried out by the author and financed by the Narodowe Centrum Nauki in Poland.