Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2021 Issue

Guest writer, Maureen E. Mulvihill, brings our attention to an important publication event in Irish Studies.

In her newest essay for Rare Book Hub, guest writer Maureen E. Mulvihill discusses history-writing and the new Cambridge History of Ireland, 4 volumes, some 100 contributors. Do you spot a familiar face in this happy Dublin photograph? The foreground includes the volume editors, along with Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland. In the background are several project contributors. A joyful gathering of Irish talent and stewardship!

 

Click here to read this article.


Posted On: 2021-05-01 15:26
User Name: mairin

Posting for Sean O'S., Boston
(via Skype):

Enjoyed, admired this. Good information, especially
in the notes. Like the energy here, the dedication.
A crafted piece, good writing, graceful management of
a big complex subject. Liked the entire design and the graphics.
Glad you mentioned the important Flight of the Earls (I know
McCavitt's book, heard him at the LC, he 'owns' the subject).
I'll be using this essay in my survey class this summer. Maureen,
let me know any time you're in Boston. Thanks, RBH, for posting
this Comment. Impressive work, as usual, Dr M.
Best Irish regards from Sean O'S., Boston.
___


Posted On: 2021-05-02 01:23
User Name: mairin

Posting for Esther (Essie) Schaefer,
Collector; Tel Aviv / NYC.

Magic. Pure Mulvihill Magic.
Thanks, Maureen, for sending news of this
interesting essay. Lovely work, and I learned much.
I'll be attending some events at NYPL and Grolier
this autumn, please try to be around (are you still in
Brooklyn?). Be well, all, and my thanks to Rare Book Hub,
Esther Schaefer, Tel Aviv / NYC.
___


Posted On: 2021-05-02 01:45
User Name: mairin

Posting for Daniel R. Harris,
Multimedia Artist. Sarasota, FL.

Best check all the links, a few don't work on my computer.
And you get into sensitive territory when you say the "new Irish"
(the so-called Irish Ascendancy) were "unwelcome then, unwelcome now."
That may be the case, even yet, but I winced a bit reading that;
you might get some pushback. Otherwise, a real pro job, tasteful,
and an obvious example of the visual power and creative capabilities
of the digital medium in your line of work. DRH, Sarasota, FL.


Posted On: 2021-05-02 10:34
User Name: torrentius69

Nice and concise review for what looks like a monumental achievement here!


Posted On: 2021-05-03 04:30
User Name: mairin

Posting for Professor & Writer, C. Griffin, Brooklyn.
Hi, Maureen. Just read your review of the new history of Ireland volumes.
Terrific! So fluent, concise and on point! The work sounds really impressive.
Equally impressive to me was the familiarity you displayed with all the previous
work that had been done in the field. The fact that you could vouch for the
reputations of all the historians and editors involved was compelling, especially
in your informative endnotes. "Mulvihill Magic" is what one of your commentors
called your review. Well, it was certainly magic for me. I shall keep it as a model of book-reviewing practice. Thank you so much for sharing it with me. It was
such a pleasure to read! You turn scholarship into an art -- reading your review was
almost like reading a poem.

Be safe, be well, keep in touch, C. Griffin / Brooklyn.


Posted On: 2021-05-07 19:13
User Name: mairin

Posting for Dr Linkin (New Mexico State University),
Respected scholar on Mary Tighe of County Wicklow, IR.
MEM -
Thank you for posting this great review, so informative and well written (as always). You manage to cover so much ground. I can't wait to read the book. All best to you,
Harriet

Dr. Harriet Kramer Linkin
Emerita Distinguished Professor
Department of English
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003
____


Posted On: 2021-05-08 00:38
User Name: samcahill

Thank you so much for this wonderful review of an important scholarly production. Ireland celebrated an important anniversary in 2016, but the full context of that anniversary requires a deep study of history. I appreciate CUP for the undertaking and for the editors' choice, as you point out, to organize the volumes chronologically within topical volumes. This set of volumes promises to be a cornerstone of any library of interdisciplinary Irish studies. Thank you, Maureen Mulvihill for your deeply informed evaluation!

Samara Anne Cahill, PhD.
Blinn College, Bryan, TX.
Journal Editor, Studies in Religion and the Enlightenment
www.srejournal.org/author/sacahill
Recent Book: Intelligent Souls? Feminist Orientalism in 18th-Century English Literature.


Posted On: 2021-05-08 15:40
User Name: cdvbks

Dr. Mulvihill's essay is a most informative scholarly description of a monumental four volume historical publishing enterprise. Her objective critique skillfully summarizes the goals and methodology undertaken by a cast of respected scholars to condense and present 1500 years of Irish history in an orderly manner. I raise a glass to her and the many contributing scholars of this latest major historical work. Slainte !
(Mr.) Carmen D. Valentino
Antiquarian Bookseller
carmendvalentino@verizon.net


Posted On: 2021-05-09 21:35
User Name: mairin

Posting for Margaret Stetz, Carter Professor of Women's Stds., University of Delaware.

Dear Maureen,
I finally caught up with some things I'd waited to read, including the marvelously engaging review you wrote of The Cambridge History of Ireland. Really, it's a model of what book reviews should do: not merely judge, but inform and delight.
There's such a lively rhythm throughout--almost like dancing. It is a treat to find prose, too, that avoids the clichés of the moment. (You speak, for instance, of "deep delving," but not, thank goodness, of "deep diving." If I hear or see the latter one more time, I will start yelping.) Because you were not bored, and because you spoke to the reader in a way that precludes becoming bored, I found myself interested in something I wouldn't ordinarily have found interesting and being sorry when the review ended. That is certainly any book reviewer's definition of success.
As I have an invited review to write in the next two days for Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, this came at just the right time and will inspire me, though I certainly won't try to emulate your distinctive voice.
Thank you for alerting me to this newest credit of yours.
Margaret
___


Posted On: 2021-05-28 04:40
User Name: mairin

Posting for George Haborak, Writer, Sarasota, Florida. Member, Christopher Marlowe Society, UK. Guest Speaker, " 'Kit' Marlowe and the Shakespeare Authorship Debate," Florida Bibliophile Society, Sept. 15, 2013, with Marlowe portrait.
___

Dr. Mulvihill has provided an excellent review of The Cambridge History of Ireland, Volume II, and her review's several endnotes are wonderfully informative. And the entire piece is beautifully designed. She covers this one volume in a set of four with a strong personal viewpoint that will prompt scholars to turn to the complete set for further research and a fully examined history of Ireland. Mulvihill shows a clear insight into the use of modern technology and the services it now offers to historians and students alike. With her own Celtic heritage and passion for Ireland and Irish writers, she presents persuasive observation and analysis that will provide a boost to the scholarly work that went into the production of this monumental four-volume history. Her approach as a reviewer is refreshing and creative; it also underpins, validates, and praises this impressive achievement. Well done, all!
___


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