Preface (2)
From A Smaller Social History of Ancient Ireland 1906
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PREFACE...concluded
The old Irish writers commonly prefixed to their books or treatises a brief statement of "Place, Time, Person, and Cause." My larger Social History, following the old custom, opens with a statement of this kind, which may be appropriately repeated here, only with the "Time" changed:—
The Place, Time, Author, and Cause of Writing, of this book, are:—Its place is Lyre-na-Grena, Leinster-road, Rathmines, Dublin; its time is the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and six; the author is Patrick Weston Joyce, Doctor of Laws; and the cause of writing the same book is to give glory to God, honour to Ireland, and knowledge to those who desire to learn all about the Old Irish People.
I have now to discharge the pleasant duty of recording my thanks for help towards illustrating both this book and the larger Social History.
The Councils of the Royal Irish Academy, and of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland, gave me the use of the blocks of great numbers of the illustrations in their respective publications, and where the blocks were not available, permitted me to copy any of their illustrations I wanted. That the book is so well illustrated is mainly owing to the liberality of these two distinguished Societies. There is no need to enter into detail here, as under every illustration in the book is mentioned the source from which it is derived: but I wish to direct attention to the number of valuable and accurate figures I have borrowed from Wilde's "Catalogue of Irish Antiquities," belonging to the Royal Irish Academy.
Messrs. Hodges, Figgis, & Co., of Dublin, placed at my disposal the blocks of as many of Petrie's and Wakeman's beautiful drawings as I chose to ask for.
Colonel Wood-Martin lent me the blocks of many of the illustrations in his "Pagan Ireland" and "Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland."
From the Board of Education, South Kensington, I have received permission to use electrotypes from the original blocks of nearly a dozen of the admirable illustrations in Miss Stokes's "Early Christian Art in Ireland."
The Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, allowed me to reproduce some of the illustrations in Sir John T. Gilbert's "Facsimiles of Irish National Manuscripts."
I am indebted to the late Mr. Bernard Quaritch, of London, for leave to reproduce the beautiful illuminated page of the Book of MacDurnan, from Westwood's "Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts."
Messrs. George Bell & Sons lent me the blocks of some of the illustrations in Miss Stokes's "Three Months in the Forests of France," and "Six Months in the Apennines."
I had the permission of the Rev. Dr. Abbott, S.F.T.C.D., to copy some of the figures in his "Reproductions of Portions of the Book of Kells."
Lord Walter Fitz Gerald gave me leave to copy some of the illustrations in the "Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society."
The Editor of the "Revue Celtique" has given me permission to reproduce two of the figures in that periodical.
Besides the above, a number of illustrations have been taken from books having no copyright, and others have been purchased from the proprietors of copyright works: all of which are acknowledged in the proper places. And there are a good many original sketches appearing here now for the first time.
Dr. Petrie and Miss Margaret Stokes have been the chief illustrators of the Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland; and even a casual glance will show to what an extent I have been enabled to enrich this book with their beautiful and accurate drawings.
P. W. J.
DUBLIN,
October, 1906.
END OF PREFACE