Introduction

Abstract

Abstract Since its invention, print has fascinated those interested in the Irish past. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries scholars such as Richard Stanihurst, James Ware, and James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, all collected vast numbers of books, which they scoured for scraps of information. These were then pieced together to create narratives of Ireland ‘s histories that made their way through the printing press into the hands of readers. They were not alone in the world of print. Collectors on a grand scale such as Archbishop Narcissus Marsh of Dublin and his successor, Archbishop William King, assembled libraries, the contents of which spanned mathematics, science, philosophy, theology, music, and geography, among other areas of scholarly endeavour. Such men were often deeply attached to their collections.