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The Pollard Collection

The Pollard Collection is a collection of approximately 10,500 children's books assembled by librarian Mary 'Paul' Pollard and held at the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The Pollard Collection is the largest collection of children's books in Ireland.

History

Paul Pollard was the first to assume the role of Keeper of Early Printed Books at Trinity College Dublin and amassed her extensive collection of children's books as a personal project. Pollard assembled the collection between the 1950s and 1970s, before children's literature was distinguished as its own area of interest. The Library purchased the collection during Pollard's lifetime, but since she did not want to be separated from her books, they were not relocated until her passing in 2005 when the collection was officially bequeathed to the college.

The collection's acquisition was commemorated with an exhibition titled Tales of Wonder - A Peep into the Pollard Collection that ran until January of 2006. The exhibition was opened by Soibhan Parkinson.

Contents

Since collecting was a hobby of Pollard's, the contents of the collection reflect her own personal and academic interests. As such the collection primarily contains children's literature published in Ireland between the mid-17th and mid-20th centuries, with a self-imposed cut-off date of 1914. The collection is made up of story books for kids of all ages, many by Irish authors and most targeted towards girls. Notable inclusions are popular children's books such as Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Aesop's Fables, and an impressive number of works by Maria Edgeworth. Some of the books are rare; Pollard's edition of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, published in Dublin in 1789, is not reported to exist anywhere else. Another important book in the collection is Extracts and Original Anecdotes for the Improvement of Youth by Mary Leadbeater, Pollard's 1794 first edition being the earliest known woman-authored children's book to be published in Dublin. Other authors represented in the collection include Sarah Trimmer, Thomas Day, Barbara Hofland, and Priscilla Wakefield. The books are mostly in English, but the collection also contains some French, Irish, German, Scottish Gaelic, Latin, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Danish, and Portuguese.

Since Pollard was a skilled librarian herself, Trinity's collection also contains the index cards, folders, and reference books Pollard used to organise and catalogue her collection, with collecting notebooks dating as early as 1952.

Related to the Pollard Collection is the Pollard School-Book Collection, also assembled by Pollard, containing Irish school textbooks published before 1910. The Pollard School-Book Collection was purchased by the Library of Trinity College Dublin in 1985.

Limitations

Unfortunately, Pollard passed away before she could produce comprehensive academic work on her collection.

Former Keeper of Early Printed Books (the same position originated by Pollard), Charles Benson, points to the financial obstacles in the way of fully cataloging, and therefore taking full advantage of, much of the library's material. President of the Irish Association for the Study of Children's Literature, Anne Markey, contends that ideological barriers likewise precluded the cataloguing of the Pollard Collection, which did not begin until 2010. Markey claims that the delay reveals 'a lack of real commitment within college to the concept of children's literature as a legitimate area of academic research' and refers to the books of the Pollard Collection as 'neglected children'.

External Links

• The Pollard Collection, digitised at the Library of Trinity College Dublin
• In Fairyland: A series of pictures from the elf-world. London, 1870
• Virtual Trinity Library: Dublin for Children's Literature
• Trinity College Dublin's Children's Literature Collection, Digital Collections

The Pollard Collection article draft ends here!

Treasures of the library

Named Collections

• The Arch C. Alias Collection of material by and about Johnathan Swift (18th-20th Century)

• The Aspin Collection, dramatic works by Jean Racine, Pierre Corneille, Thomas Corneille, the Quinault family, and Molière including a first edition of L'Ecole Des Femmes (1663), (1610-1715)

• The Ball Collection, pamphlets collected by John Thomas Ball, Lord Chancellor of Ireland (19th Century)
• The Barry Brown Collection of plays, including volumes owned by Irish dramatist Kane O'Hara (17th and 18th Centuries)
• The Bender Collection, contains material printed in California between 1920 and 1940 by the Grabhorn Institute, John Henry Nash, et cetera, presented by Albert Bender
• The Bole Collection, including works by Oliver Goldsmith
• The Bonaparte-Wyse Collection, part of the personal library of William Bonaparte-Wyse of Co. Waterford (19th Century)
• The Bushe Collection, collection of pamphlets with the bookplate of Charles Kendal Bushe, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland 1822-1841 (18th and 19th Centuries)
• The Butler Collection, the library of Theophilus Butler, 1st Baron Newtown-Butler (17th and 18th Centuries)
• The Carrickford Collection, contains repertory of the Carrickford Theatre Company (1900-1940s)
• The Carton Collection, library of the Duke of Leinster at Carton House, Maynooth, Co. Kildare (17th and 18th Centuries)
• Collection of World War I Recruiting Posters issued by the British Army

• The Cuala Press Collection, material published by the Cuala Press
  • Contains works by Jack B. Yeats, W.B. Yeats, Elizabeth Yeats, Pamela Colman Smith, George William Russel, Evie Hone, Elinor Darwin, Harry Kernoff, Beatrice Elvery, Thomas Bodkin, Seán O'Sullivan, Dorothy Blackham, Elizabeth Rivers, Hilda Roberts, Lilla Minnie Perry, Brigid Ganly, Emma Duffin, Maurice MacGonigal, and Art O'Murnaghan
• The Dibdin Collection, plays and song sheets composed by the Dibdin family including Thomas Frognall Dibdin, Thomas John Dibdin, Charles Dibdin, and Charles Dibdin the Younger (18th and 19th Centuries)
• The Dolman Press Collection and the Freyer Dolman Press Collection, containing output from the Dolman Press printed between 1951 and 1973
• The Elsbeth and Bettina Bollmann Collection of fore-edge paintings and bindings (1639-1895)
• The Fagel Collection, private and working library of the Fagel family, greffiers to the Dutch Republic
  • Contains material related to the Dutch Cape Colony, including journals and records of Simon van der Stel's expedition to Namaqualand (1685)
• The French Collection, contains editions of John Millington Synge and material from the Maunsell Press (20th Century)
• The Gallagher Collection, pamphlets written by Frank Gallagher as speechwriter to Éamon de Valera (1920s-1950s)
• The Grosart Collection, contains works by A.B. Grosart
• The House of Lords Appeals Collection, volumes of legal arguments presented before the House of Lords between 1882 and 1990
• The James Goodman Collection of Irish Music (19th Century)
• The Jellet Collection, the law library of Serjeant Hewitt Poole Jellet
• The Johnston Collection, personal library and works of Irish dramatist Denis Johnston
• The Larcom Collection, pamphlet collection of Sir Thomas Larcom (19th Century)
• Library of the Trinity College Dublin Historical Society
• The Loftie Bibles, collection of Bibles and some editions of the Book of Common Prayer assembled by W.J. Loftie (1568-1660)
• The McAdoo Collection, the working library of Archbishop of Dublin from 1977-1985, Henry McAdoo, and contains works by Jeremy Taylor
• The Ó Cadhain Collection, personal library of Máirtín Ó Cadhain (20th Century)
• The Ó Sándair Collection, collection of works by Irish children's fiction writer Cathal Ó Sándair (1950s-1960s)
• The Pollard Collection of children's books, collected by librarian Mary "Paul" Pollard (17th-20th Century)
• The Prout Collection, personal library of Ebenezer Prout, contains own compositions as well as works by Bach, Handel, and Mozart (18th and 19th Centuries)
• The Queen of Roumania Collection, contains copies of novels by Elisabeth of Wied
• The Robinson Collection of Caricatures, including cartoons by J. Gillray, J. Doyle, and T. Merry (1780-1891)
• The Ryan Collection, contains several editions of Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day (1959) and The Last Battle (1966)
• The Sáirséal agus Dill Collection, collection of output from Irish publisher Sáirséal agus Dill between 1944 and the 1970s
• The Salmon Collection, pamphlets from the collection of George Salmon (19th Century)
• The Stephens Collection, personal library and works of Irish author James Stephens including editions inscribed by Stephens' notable contemporaries such as James Joyce and T.S. Elliot (1920-1950)
• The St. Sepulchre's Press Archive contains printed output of St. Sepulchre's Press founded by Mary Pollard (1964-1992)
• The Suzannet Collection, contains works by Sommerville and Ross a.k.a. Violet Florence Martin and Edith Sommerville
• The Townley Hall Collection, the library of the Balfour family of Townley Hall near Drogheda, Co. Louth (1760-1820)
• The Worth Collection, library of Dr. Edward Worth held in Dr. Steevens' Hospital, Dublin (18th Century)

Manuscripts

• The Book of Armagh, Irish illuminated manuscript containing Old Irish and texts related to Saint Patrick (9th Century)
• The Book of Dimma, Irish pocket gospel book from the Abbey of Roscrea in Co. Tipperary, Ireland (8th Century)
  • Early Medieval Irish jeweled casing or book shrine, called a cumdach, also preserved
• The Book of Durrow, Medieval illuminated manuscript gospel book written in Insular script and decorated with Insular art (c.650-700 AD)
• The Book of Kells, illuminated manuscript and Celtic gospel book, impressive for its Western calligraphy and Insular illumination (9th Century)
• The Book of Leinster, medieval Irish manuscript (c.1160)
• The Book of Mulling, Irish pocket gospel book (8th or 9th Century)
  • Early Medieval Irish jeweled casing or book shrine, called a cumdach, also preserved
• The Book of St. Albans, created by Matthew Paris
• The Book of the de Burgos, Irish illuminated manuscript (16th century)
• Brehon Law Manuscripts, early Irish law recorded in Old Irish (14th and 15th Centuries)
• Brut Chronicle, Medieval historical chronicles (15th Century)
• Codex Dublinensis, unical manuscript of the New Testament (6th Century)
• Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 105, a will written in Greek on a sheet of papyrus (c.118-137)
• Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 238, manuscript written in Greek on a sheet of papyrus (1st Century)
• Thomund Deeds, property and land deeds from Thomond, Co. Clare written in Irish (12th-17th Century)
• The West Dereham Bible, from the West Dereham Abbey in Norfolk, England
• William Lambarde copy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1536-1601)
• The Yellow Book of Lecan, late medieval Irish manuscript containing Irish mythology (1391-1401)
• Fragment of The Gutenberg Bible [Armoire S]
• The Garland of Howth (8th-10th Century) [MS 56]

Printed Books

• Aibidil Gaoidheilge agus Caiticiosma, the first printed book in the Irish language as well as in Gaelic type (1571)
• The Nuremberg Chronicle, first edition (1493)
• Synonyma by John of Garland

Other Printed Works

• Catalogue of Books of St. Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury
• The Marriage Certificate of James Francis Edward Stuart and Maria Clementina Sobieska, 1719
• Papers of Irish author James Stephens
• Papers of John Millington Synge (1871-1909)
• Papers of Michael Davitt
• Records of the Roman Inquisitions, 1626, signed by Luke Wadding