Introduction:
The establishment of commercial lending libraries was a product of late seventeenth-century London, developing in other English towns in the 1720s. A number of circulating libraries were commenced in Ireland by the mid eighteenth century. By the end of the century subscription libraries and reading societies were also founded to cater to different audiences (Manley 2018). As literacy levels rose and the base of readers broadened, many who could read and enjoy books were not able to afford them. Aristocratic, country house and estate libraries were used by family and friends of the owners, but there was a large cohort who could not gain access to them. Booksellers were innovative and flexible and they embraced a commercial solution, by lending new books to readers of more modest means. Commercial circulating libraries were particularly associated with lending novels, literary and epistolary narratives, plays and poetry. With the establishment of commercial ventures the very latest and most sought after titles became available for borrowing for a small weekly or monthly fee. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's well known line from The Rivals indicates their importance in the lives of readers, but also point to suspicion in some quarters about the kind of reading offered: 'a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge. It blossoms through the year!'.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century subscription or proprietary libraries became a feature of Irish towns, the Belfast Reading Society was founded in 1788, the Dublin Library in 1790, the Cork Library Society in 1792, the Limerick Institution in 1809 and the Kilkenny Library Society in 1811. They were distinct from circulating libraries in their set-up and their stock, not accessible to the casual reader but aimed at a group of members who observed the rules of the society. Established in English cities from the 1750s, they were geared towards the better off reader, with cultural and enlightenment values, and carried more serious titles in history, philosophy, belles letters, voyages and travels, theology, and the sciences, stocking few novels and romances (Kennedy 1989).
Business models:
Commercial lending libraries formed one part of the book trade in Irish cities and larger towns in the second half of the eighteenth century, where booksellers considered a sufficient audience could support the venture. By the early nineteenth century the widespread and intricate networks of book distribution enabled the establishment of circulating libraries in smaller towns. One of the earliest circulating libraries, as noted by Pollard, was run by James Hoey, bookseller in Dublin, who was lending novels and romances in 1735 (Pollard 1989; Hoey's Dublin Journal, 15 Jul 1735). In Munster the cities of Cork and Limerick had libraries in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, followed by Tralee, Co Kerry and Clonmel, Co Tipperary, after 1800. In Cork city at least seven lending libraries were provided by booksellers, in Castle Street by Thomas Lord from 1770, Michael Matthews from 1777, Anthony Edwards from 1787, and John Connor from 1792, in Patrick Street by George Cherry by 1801 and Dominick Jacotin by 1803, and by Henry Denmead in South Main Street in 1803. The first quarter of the nineteenth century saw an increase in circulating libraries, subscription libraries and reading clubs outside Cork city, in the towns of Bandon, Clonakilty, Cobh, Fermoy, Mallow, Mitchelstown and Youghal (Pigot 1820-22; Pigot 1824; Manley 2018). Limerick booksellers opened circulating libraries in the 1790s, John Carroll in Bridge Street by 1791 and Richard Hill, near the Main Guard also by 1791, and John and Thomas McAuliff, near the Exchange by 1801.
Finn's Leinster Journal, 9-12 Jul 1788; 8-11 Oct, advertisements for Catharine Finn's circulating library.
By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries libraries were frequently run by women, such as Catharine Finn's new undertaking in Kilkenny in 1788 (Finn's Leinster Journal, 9-12 Jul 1788; 2-6 Aug 1788; 8-11 Oct 1788). Catharine ran a successful printing and newspaper office and bookshop after the death of her husband, Edmund, in 1777 ('Edmund and Catharine Finn: enterprising booksellers in Kilkenny (1766-1801)', mairekennedybooks.wordpress.com). In the summer of 1788 she announced the establishment of her circulating library 'in compliance with the repeated solicitations of many ladies and gentlemen, as well as her own wish to contribute every thing in her power to the public convenience, she will open a circulating library on Monday the 21st instant; on which day catalogues (with the terms of subscribing) will be ready for delivery' (Finn's Leinster Journal, 9-12 Jul 1788). It is not clear how long the library lasted, if it closed early on, or if it became an integral part of her business. In 1794 a group of women proprietors proposed to establish a circulating library in Cork 'on a new and elegant plan'. They required 200 subscribers, each paying 11s.4½d. per annum to make the venture possible, a more modest fee than those pertaining at Bath or Dublin at the period (Cork Gazette, 8 Feb 1794). They targeted women and young persons, with the objective of blending amusement with instruction, intending to fit up the library in a neat manner for the reception of ladies, and to stock only the most approved writers, those who 'may safely be committed to the inspection of Young Persons'. As they wished particularly to attract women to the library, they arranged that the books could be browsed, 'which, it is presumed, will be more pleasing than the usual method of sending Servants'. It is not known, however, if the plan became a reality. From 1803 Mrs Jacotin carried on the day to day running of the English, French and Italian circulating library in Cork, while her husband taught French and Italian. In the early 1820s trade directories listed a number of circulating libraries in Munster run by women: in Cork Miss Fitton in Patrick Street and Bachelor's Quay (1817-1820) and Ellen Constant in the South Mall (1824); Catherine Geary at 5 Harbour Row in Cobh, Co Cork (1824); in Limerick Mary Crippes (1820-1824), and Eliza O'Shaughnessy (1824), both in Patrick Street, and Margaret Lynch in Dublin Street, Clonmel, Co Tipperary (1820-1824) (Connor 1817; Pigot 1820-22; Pigot 1824).
Booksellers running circulating libraries prided themselves on stocking the very latest and most fashionable reading matter, especially novels, plays and poetry. For a modest sum books could be borrowed and read. Currency of titles was a critical factor, so popular were certain three volume novels that each volume was lent separately to cater for the maximum readership. Robert Darnton points to the frenzy to read Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloïse in France as booksellers lent out volumes by the day or even the hour (Darnton 1985). The English translation, Eloisa, was available in a Dublin edition in four volumes duodecimo costing 10s.10d. (Dublin Catalogue 1779). In Ireland in the last quarter of the eighteenth century novels typically cost from 2s. to 3s.3d. per volume, while the membership fees at circulating libraries provided good value for readers.
Fees:
A circulating library became viable when a sizable audience was present with the means and leisure to sustain it. The fees were not cheap, but when compared to the cost of purchasing books they provided value for money. Not all enterprises were long lived, a substantial outlay was involved in the initial stages, when an extensive range of new stock needed to be purchased, and to be replenished regularly to keep it up-to-date. Generally fees were charged by the week, month or year, but Hugh Warrin, bookseller and stationer, who ran the Belfast circulating library, also lent books by the day (Belfast News Letter, 11 Jul 1796).
De la Cour, A prospect of poetry (Cork, 1770), title page; advertisement page.
A Fees charged for the use of circulating libraries were relatively stable, with some variation depending on their distance from centres of book production. In London James Lackington, with access to a broad range of new works produced in the city, charged 10s.6d. per year, down to 6d. per week, in 1776 ((Raven 2007, pp 288-9). When James Williams, bookseller in Dublin, established his circulating library in 1764 his fees were 16s.3d. a year, 4s.6d. per quarter or 6d. a week (Public Gazetteer, 13 Oct 1764). Fees in the capital remained within the same range for the rest of the century, on average 6½d. per week, 5s.5d. per quarter, or 16s.3d. per year in the 1780s and 1790s. The circulating library at Essex Gate, Dublin, advertised at this rate in 1783, claiming that the charges equalled the 'very moderate Terms at Bath' (Volunteer's Journal, 15 Dec 1783). Vincent Dowling conducted the Apollo Library in Suffolk Street, Dublin, in the 1790s, charging the same rate (Freeman's Journal, 8 Sep 1792). Fees in the county towns could be a little higher as transport costs added to the overheads. In 1770 Thomas Lord in Cork was charging 17s.4d. a year, 10s. a half year, 5s.5d. a quarter and 2s.2d. a month (De la Cour 1770). In 1777 Michael Matthews, bookseller and stationer under the exchange in Cork, advertised his circulating library 'on the most moderate terms' (Cork Evening Post, 24 Apr 1777). Anthony Edwards in Castle Street, Cork, charged 16s.3d. per annum, 5s.5d. per quarter or 8d. per week in 1787, the annual and quarterly rates equal to those charged in Dublin (Hibernian Chronicle, 12 Apr 1787). The women proprietors who planned to set up a new library in Cork in 1794 proposed a lesser fee of 11s.4½d. per annum (Cork Gazette, 8 Feb 1794). The fees at Dominick Jacotin's English, French and Italian circulating library in Patrick Street, Cork, were one guinea per year, 13s. for a half year, 8s.8d a quarter, 3s.9½d. per month, and one British shilling (1s.1d.) per week (Jacotin 1803). These elevated charges reflected the outlay involved with importing books from London, Paris and perhaps Italy. Mitchelstown circulating library charged 1s. per quarter in 1811 for perhaps a small selection of books (Townsend 1811).
Apollo Library catalogue (Dublin, 1792), title page. Antoine Gerna, Catalogue (Dublin, 1793), title page.
Catalogues:
The operation of commercial lending libraries can be gleaned from a number of sources, especially advertising. Thomas Lord advertised his new circulating library under the Exchange Coffee House in Castle Street, Cork, in 1770, guaranteeing attendance from six in the morning until nine at night (De la Cour 1770, final leaf). For the most part borrowers had no access to the shelves and library stock could not be browsed. Catalogues were issued from which customers could choose their preferred titles. Titles were usually numbered, which acted as call numbers, and prices were sometimes given, which were used as replacement values if books were lost or damaged (Cabinet littéraire 1796). Servants were sent to the libraries to pick up the books. In Sheridan's The rivals, the servant, Lucy, is sent in search of a list of novels, including The reward of constancy, The fateful connection, The mistakes of the heart: 'I transferr'd half the town in search of it – I don't believe there's a circulating library in Bath I ha'n't been at' (Sheridan 1775, scene 2, p. 20). When planning their proposed new library in Cork the women proprietors made a point of advertising that the books could be browsed, 'which, it is presumed, will be more pleasing than the usual method of sending Servants' (Cork Gazette, 8 Feb 1794).
Few catalogues or lists have survived, where examples are available it can be seen that most titles are present in single numbers, with more popular titles available in multiples. It is likely that catalogues were printed as they were needed in large numbers. Printed catalogues were frequently issued in London and other English and Scottish towns, often for a small charge of sixpence or one shilling. In Dublin William Spotswood issued a 68 page catalogue in 1782 while Dowling's catalogue for the Apollo Library about 1793 ran to over 140 pages, and Richard Twigg's 62 page catalogue was issued in 1797. Catharine Finn in Kilkenny advertised her catalogues, which included the terms of subscribing, and would be ready for delivery when the library opened on 21 July 1788, but no copies have survived (Finn's Leinster Journal, 9-12 Jul 1788; 2-6 Aug 1788). John Connor informed his customers that catalogues of the library would be given gratis (Cork Gazette, 17 Apr 1793; 20 Apr 1793). Connor advertised a new catalogue in 1795, following his importation of 2,000 volumes from London (Cork Gazette, 5 Sep 1795). This is likely to be the catalogue.containing 1,310 titles, made up of novels, some in multiple copies, plays, memoirs, magazines and historical works (Loeber 1998, p. 2). In 1800 Connor offered a catalogue of new books, to be had at the library (Cork Advertiser, 3 May 1800). In 1803 Dominick Jacotin issued a Catalogue of the English, French and Italian circulating library and bookshop in Cork. Mitchelstown circulating library had a list of 123 titles in 200 volumes printed in Horace Townsend's, Observations on Dr Copinger's letter to the Dublin Society (Townsend 1811, pp 61-64).
Stock:
Commercial circulating libraries and subscription libraries carried a substantially different stock. Circulating libraries stressed that they provided entertaining reading, and were geared towards the female reader, or towards young persons whose finances were slender. They specialised in lending novels, plays, magazines, essays, memoirs and other literary fare. Circulating libraries were particularly associated with lending novels, and were sometimes accused of corrupting impressionable young minds. Subscription libraries and reading societies focused on providing serious works representing the full range of contemporary knowledge, trying for a more broadly based stock, in addition to literary works they included history and the sciences, as well as multi volume periodicals and antiquarian titles. However, there was often an overlap in the offerings of different types of libraries. Lending libraries had extensive holdings, most amounting to thousands of volumes. New novels were imported from London or purchased from Dublin booksellers. In the eighteenth century circulating libraries were part of a bookselling enterprise, while they had a dedicated lending stock they also had the back-up of bookshop stock to make a broader range of topics available, and to sell off stock when no longer needed for lending.
Edward Holland, A poetical miscellany (Cork, 1794), title page and advertisement.
Thomas Lord's new circulating library under the Exchange Coffee House in Castle Street, Cork, offered new books as soon as published in 1770 (De la Cour 1770, final leaf). In 1777, when advertising his circulating library in Castle Street, under the Exchange, in Cork, Michael Matthews offered 'the highest price for libraries and parcels of books' (Cork Evening Post, 24 Apr 1777). It is not clear if this secondhand stock was exclusively for sale in his bookshop, or if some titles were available for lending. Anthony Edwards operated his circulating library from his bookshop at Castle Street, where in 1787 he advertised 6,000 volumes from London and Dublin (Hibernian Chronicle, 12 Apr 1787). London editions were likely to have been prized among readers as they represented the very latest in fashionable reading, and booksellers specifically advertised them. For example, in October 1792 Vincent Dowling's Apollo library in Dublin advertised 1,000 new volumes just arrived from London, they included multi-volume novels, travel, memoirs and biographies (Freeman's Journal, 20 Oct 1792). A year later, with a move to a more extensive premises on Suffolk Street, Dowling promised 'every new work of merit constantly added to the collection, with all the London and Dublin magazines and reviews' (Freeman's Journal, 1 Oct 1793). John Connor's circulating library at 17 Castle Street, Cork, contained 'upwards of 4,000 volumes' in 1794 and he offered to hire out every new publication (Holland 1794). He published an advertisement for his circulating library and bookshop in 1795, listing some of his new novels imported from London, with 'upwards of two thousand volumes of the most approved books, in addition to his library, a catalogue of which will be published in a few days' (Cork Gazette, 5 Sep 1795). His importation of new novels from London ensured that he carried the most up-to-date stock (Cork Gazette, 5 Sep 1795. Cork Advertiser, 3 May 1800). His own printing output was strong on novels, plays and poetry, as well as political pamphlets and trials.
While a number of Dublin booksellers, such as Luke White, John Archer, William Wilson and Richard Edward Mercier, specialized in the sale of foreign language books in the 1780s and 1790s some libraries also lent French and Italian books: Thomas Jackson's Universal circulating library in Dublin in 1784, lending French books, Gerna's Cabinet littéraire in Dublin in 1790, stocking French and Italian books and periodicals, and Jacotin's French and Italian circulating library in Cork by 1803. Their target audience was obviously more limited than that for most commercial libraries and their stock was broader. In August 1790 Antoine Gerna, bookseller at 31 College Green, Dublin, announced the establishment of his Cabinet littéraire 'ou l'on pourra lire les Gazettes etrangères et d'autres imprimés utiles et agréables' (Dublin Chronicle, 17 Aug 1790). The plan was to give the cabinet a broad appeal, stocking 'every political Pamphlet, Magazine, Atlas, Globes, Spheres and Maps of Merit, with a Variety of historical, geographical, and commercial Books, to which will be added the best Military new Publications, and also those relative to the Gentlemen of the Faculty' (Dublin Chronicle, 1 Jan 1791; 29 Jan 1791; 16 Feb 1792). It may not have been possible to borrow books from Gerna's cabinet; newspapers, magazines and books may have had to be consulted in situ. The reading room was open from seven in the morning until eleven at night, and 'had a constant fire and attendance', Subscription was high, at two guineas per annum. Gerna issued a Catalogue des livres françois, italien, &c. in 1793 for his bookshop stock (Gerna 1793). A similar Cabinet littéraire was established in Edinburgh by 1796. It was a circulating library for French books run by bookseller Walter Berry, and the catalogue of 589 titles cost sixpence. Library subscribers paid one guinea per annum, or 7s. per quarter, and they were allowed to borrow two books at a time, or one book of new stock (Cabinet littéraire 1796). Books were ordered by number from the catalogue, and readers were requested to provide several numbers in order of preference, in case books were already on loan. Dominick Jacotin (sometimes Jacquottin) established the English, French and Italian circulating library and bookshop in Patrick Street, Cork before 1803. He imported stock from London and Paris and issued a catalogue in 1803 (Jacotin 1803). Only a fragment of this catalogue survives, listing just the English language titles. Jacotin was also a teacher of French and Italian in Cork from at least 1794 to 1828, teaching French and Italian in schools and running his own evening academy while his wife conducted the library and bookshop (Cork Advertiser, 2 Aug 1800; 21 Jun 1803; 25 Jun 1814; Connor's Cork directory 1826; 1828).
John Connor (1790-1831):
The most successful circulating library in Cork was conducted by John Connor, printer, bookseller, stationer and bookbinder, it was substantial in size and included a large percentage of works printed by Connor, either reprints of bestselling titles, or original works. He established his circulating library at 17, Castle Street, the corner of Corn Market, in the early 1790s (Cork Gazette, 17 Apr 1793; 20 Apr 1793), later moving to Chatterton's Buildings, Grand Parade, by 1798. He moved from the Grand Parade to nearby Tuckey Street in the 1820s, and finally to Great George's Street, within two doors of the Arcade in 1830 and 1831. In 1815 he was declared bankrupt, but he recovered his fortunes and continued his printing and bookselling business, however the library may have ceased operations (Dublin Gazette, 20 Jun 1815). He lost his two sons as young men, John Connor in 1810, aged 15, and Cornelius Connor in 1814, aged 22, ensuring that he had no successor in business (Cork Mercantile Chronicle, 23 May 1810; 6 May 1814; Cork Advertiser, 7 May 1814).
John Rocque, Map of Cork city, 1759, detail showing Castle Street and Corn Market. Dublin Gazette, 20 Jun 1815, notice of bankruptcy.
Connor ran an active printing business, printing newspapers, trial reports and political pamphlets, directories, Catholic religious works, plays, poetry, reprints of best selling novels, and original titles. In January 1793 he printed and published the short lived Cork Packet newspaper for the unnamed proprietor, from his bookshop at no. 17, Castle Street, corner of Corn Market. It was advertised as being issued three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, priced at 2½d., but only the first issue has survived (New Cork Evening Post, 31 Dec 1792; Cork Packet, 13 Jan 1793; ESTC P3315; Madden 1867, ii, pp 182-3; Ó Casaide n.d., p. 47). In 1798 he printed The Cork Herald: or, Munster Advertiser for proprietor Edward Henry Morgan, at the Cork Herald Office in Duncan Street, later at Caroline Street, opposite the Post-Office (Madden, ii, pp 186-9; ESTC P6189; National Archives of Ireland, Rebellion Papers 620/35/85). The new title supported 'King and country' and was to be 'a vehicle for political opinion'. It was published twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at a cost of one guinea per annum to subscribers, or 4d. per issue. Subscriptions were taken by Connor, booksellers Thomas White, Michael Harris, Anthony Edwards and James Haly, and at the bar of each coffee house. In the final years of the century the rebellion of 1798 and the debates concerning the proposed union between Great Britain and Ireland occasioned a large amount of print in pamphlet form. Connor, alone, or with groups of other Cork booksellers, issued reports of trials for high treason and arguments for and against the union, reprinted from Dublin editions. Connor lent new pamphlets at the library, as advertised in his undated printing of an abridged version of The surprising adventures of the renowned Baron Munchausen.
Cork Herald, printed notice.
Connor reprinted two popular Irish language religious texts using Roman typeface. An Irish typeface had been cut for use in Charlotte Brooke's Reliques of Irish poetry, published in Dublin in 1787 (McGuinne 2010), but it was not in general use, and the acquisition of a set of this type would have been a substantial expense for Connor, for which he would have had limited use. In 1795 he printed by subscription Paolo Segneri, True wisdom; or, considerations for every day of the week, in Irish and English dual text, issuing a reprint in 1813 (Fenning 1996; Sharpe and Hoyne 2020). In 1817 he printed the sixth edition of Tadhg Gaelach Ó Suilleabháin's (Timothy O'Sullivan) Pious miscellany, with text in Irish and English. He issued the seventh edition in 1821, and the tenth edition in 1829. Connor printed a series of annual Catholic directories for the Irish Dominicans, Directorium sive ordo, for the years 1807, 1808, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1815, 1816 and 1817. He also issued his own trade directories from about 1812 to 1828, Connor's Cork directory, an alphabetical list of merchants and traders, bankers, legal and medical professionals, priced at 1s.3d..
Connor's literary output was especially significant, publishing at least twenty-seven literary titles in the twenty year period from 1794, more than half of which were original works, many of them by women (Loeber 1998). As well as his bookshop stock, the circulating library required a wide range of new publications and the most fashionable reading matter for its success. Connor regularly advertised new novels lately published in Dublin and London for sale and for lending (Cork Gazette, 5 Sep 1795). He also issued free catalogues of library holdings (Cork Gazette 17 Apr 1793; 20 Apr 1793. Cork Herald, 10 Feb 1798. Cork Advertiser, 16 Aug 1800). In 1798 he announced new publications, magazines and plays for circulation (Cork Herald, 10 Feb 1798). As well as importing stock for the library from London, he reprinted best selling titles first published in London, and also published original poetry and new novels by Irish authors. Connor's reprints conformed to the tried and tested method employed by Irish printers in the eighteenth century, before the Copyright Act came into force in 1801. Irish editions were produced in smaller formats, often reducing three volume works to two or even one volume, and selling them cheaper. Issuing titles sewed in blue or marble paper instead of being bound in calf also reduced the cost. Booksellers often pointed to the correctness of the text, the quality of the type and the fine quality of the paper compared with original editions, but this was not always borne out.
Connor worked as a solo printer, or with a combination of Cork booksellers, including William Flyn, Thomas White, James Haly, Anthony Edwards and Michael Harris, in the reprinting and sale of popular works of fiction ('Michael Harris, Cork bookseller (1794-1802)', mairekennedybooks.wordpress.com). On one occasion the sale of two prints of the naval engagement with the French, engraved in London, was sold by John Milliken in Dublin, and Edwards, White, Connor and Harris in Cork (Cork Advertiser, 7 Mar 1799). Many of Connor's titles were aimed at women and young persons, in 1794 he reprinted Evenings at home; or, The juvenile budget opened. Consisting of a variety of miscellaneous pieces, for the instruction and amusement of young persons, by Mrs. Barbauld and Dr. Aiken, for 3s.3d. bound (Cork Courier, 23 Aug 1794), and Margaret Moncrieffe's Memoirs of Mrs. Coghlan, (daughter of the Late Major Moncrieffe,) Written by herself, and dedicated to the British nation; being interspersed with anecdotes of the late American and present French war, with remarks moral and political. In 1795 he printed The cavern of death, a moral tale, in its third edition. First printed serially in The True Briton newspaper in London in 1794, it was reprinted in Dublin and Cork. Connor's edition contained a final advertisement leaf, listing novels by local author Anna Milliken, and a variety of two and three volume novels by Mrs Radcliffe, Mrs Bennett, Miss Gunning and Charlotte Smith.
Cork Gazette, 3 Sep 1796, advertisement. Cork Courier, 23 Aug 1794, advertisement.
One best selling work of fiction was Camilla, or a picture of youth, by the author of Evelina and Cecilia (Fanny Burney), first published in London in 1796, with reprints in Dublin and Cork in the same year. This best selling title by such a popular author reputedly sold 'above ten thousand copies at half a guinea a set' in London (Dublin Evening Post, 8 Sep 1796). Connor printed the Cork edition in two volumes duodecimo, 'this day published, and for sale at Connor's Circulating Library, Castle Street, and may be had at Mr White's, Mr Haly's and Mr Harris's' (Cork Gazette, 3 Sep 1796). It was advertised as printed on a new type and very fine paper. Volume one was available in September for 3s.3d., a reduction in price from when it was originally advertised at 4s.4d., those who had already purchased the volume at the higher price would get the second volume for 2s.2d. (Cork Gazette, 14 Sep 1796).Connor's printing was compared favourably with the three volume Dublin edition, published for a group of 30 booksellers and selling for 3s.3d. per volume, sewed in marble paper: 'we are happy to find that the exertions of Mr Connor, of Castle Street, has met with merited success, in bringing out a cheap, correct, and exceedingly well printed edition of this work; as we are informed that the orders he has received for this publication have so far exceeded his expectations, that in printing the second volume, he has been obliged to strike off more than double the number he had first intended – nor can we see under what pretence such a mighty bookseller can have the presumption to charge 3s.3d. more for his Dublin edition, than the Cork edition is sold for, without it should be for the scrap of marble paper that covers them, in preference to blue paper' (Cork Gazette, 14 Sep 1796).
Cork Herald, 10 Feb 1798, advertisement. A. Kendall, Derwent priory (Cork, 1799), advertisements.
The best selling three volume novel by Francis Lathom, The midnight bell, a German story, founded on incidents in real life was published in Cork by J. Haly, M. Harris, and J. Connor in 1798 (Cork General Advertiser, 6 Oct 1798). The Cork duodecimo edition was printed as three volumes in one, for the cost of 3s.3d. in blue paper, or 4s.4d. bound (Cork Herald, 6 Oct 1798). Their advertising noted the popularity of the book 'so great has been the demand for this new novel in England, that the first edition of one thousand copies, was sold in a few days' (Cork Herald, 6 Oct 1798). Connor and Harris collaborated on The children of the abbey, a tale, by Waterford born Regina Maria Roche, first published in London in 1796 and in its third edition in 1798 when reprinted in Cork. In 1798 Connor, as sole printer, reprinted Grasville Abbey, a romance, in two volumes, by Irish author George Moore, barrister at law. First published in London in three volumes in 1797, the Cork edition was issued in two volumes selling for 5s.5d. (Cork Herald, 10 Feb 1798). The following year, 1799, Connor and Harris printed a one volume reprint of A. Kendall, Derwent priory; or, memoirs of an orphan. In a series of letters. By the author of "the castle on the rock". This title was first published in London in two volumes the previous year. The Cork edition contained three final advertisement pages for Connor's publications. They reprinted Auguste Heinrich Julius Lafontaine, Saint Julien. In two volumes. From the German. With additional notes, historical and explanatory from the London edition of the same year (1799). In 1799 Joseph Fox's Santa-Maria, or the mysterious pregnancy. A romance, in two volumes, was reprinted from the London edition of 1791. It was undertaken by the group with newcomer, William Henry Creagh, bookseller and stationer on the Grand Parade, and was one of the titles advertised in Derwent Priory. Mrs Jane West, A gossip's story, and a legendary tale. By the author of Advantages of education, the fourth edition, was printed by Connor and Harris in 1799. In 1800 Connor was the sole printer on Family secrets, literary and domestic. By Mr. Pratt, a three volume novel advertised at a half guinea sewed (Cork Advertiser, 14 Oct 1800), The libertines: or monkish mysteries! a romance and Christian Heinrich Spiess, The mountain cottager: or wonder upon wonders, a tale. A popular history, Oliver Goldsmith's The Roman history, from the foundation of the city of Rome, to the destruction of the western empire, was printed by Connor in two volumes in 1800.
Connor's circulating library was stocked with entertaining literary works published in London and Dublin as well as his reprints of some of more popular titles. An advertisement in Edward Holland's A poetical miscellany pointed to a collection of 'upwards of 4,000 volumes, with every new publication', to be hired out from his library (Holland 1794). In September 1795 he advertised new novels and 2,000 volumes 'of the most approved books' arrived from London, for which he issued a catalogue (Cork Gazette, 5 Sep 1795). The following year he advertised his new additions to the library, comprising two, three and four volume novels and 'a great variety of useful books for children' (Cork Gazette, 31 Aug 1796). He also offered to give the highest price for libraries or parcels of books, broadening his stock with secondhand material (Cork Gazette, 3 Aug 1796). In 1797 he reprinted The gay companion; or, wit at a venture. A choice collection of bon-mots, repartees, funny jests, &c. Selected from the most esteemed authors, enriched by conviviality, mirth and good-humour, a slim volume of 64 pages in octavo format. He published a series of popular plays, first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, or Drury Lane, London, at the end of the century. Plays made entertaining reading matter, readers attended the theatre in Cork and plays were read and performed in family settings. He was sole printer in 1797 of Thomas Morton's A cure for the heartache, a comedy in five acts, performed in Cork in 1793, and Mrs Elizabeth Inchbald's Wives as they were, and maids as they are, a comedy in five acts, performed in Cork the following year in 1798. With Michael Harris, Anthony Edwards and James Haly, he issued two plays by August von Kotzebue in 1798 and 1799, The stranger: a comedy, the third edition, in 1798, and Lovers' vows, a play, in 1799, performed in Cork in August of that year (Clark 1965). As sole printer he issued August von Kotzebue's Count Benyowsky; or a conspiracy of Kamtschatka. A tragic-comedy. In five acts, the third edition, and Samuel Birch, The adopted child, a musical drama in 1799. In 1800, with Haly, Harris and Creagh, he issued the fourth edition of Thomas Morton's Speed the plough: a comedy, in five acts, selling at 1s.1d. (Cork advertiser, 19 Jun 1800; 8 Jul 1800)
A notable innovation for Connor was the publication of original works. As well as reprinting best selling authors, he also published new work by local authors for which he was able to cultivate a market. Many of these works were published by subscription, thus guaranteeing enough sales to make the venture viable. In addition, the possibility of lending these books widened the potential audience. In 1793 proposals were issued for publishing by subscription The travels of Dean Mahomet. Through several parts of the Eastern territory by Dean Mahomet, a native of India who had settled in Cork ten years earlier (Roberts 2009). Subscriptions for the two volumes duodecimo, adorned with plates, were taken by booksellers Thomas White, William Flyn, John Connor, Jones & Co., and Mr Field, hair-dresser on the Grand Parade (Cork Gazette, 9 Mar 1793). The price to subscribers was 5s.5d. sewed, a British half crown (2s.8½d. Irish) to be paid on subscribing, and another on delivery of the books; the cost would rise to 6s.6d. for non subscribers. Connor printed the work and he subscribed to 20 sets. The following year, in 1794, he printed by subscription A poetical miscellany, by Edward Holland of Kanturk, County Cork, the cost was a British half crown, one shilling to be paid on subscribing (New Cork Evening Post, 11 Nov 1793). The final leaf carried a list of eleven titles of new books, including Connor's own publication of Dean Mahomet. The same year he printed by subscription Poems, consisting of lyrick pieces, tales, elegies, &c. byCork native Joseph Hillary.
Cork Gazette, 3 Aug 1796; 6 Aug 1796, advertisements.
In 1795 and 1796 respectively he published by subscription Cork authors Anna Millikin's Eva, an old Irish story, and Mrs Creech's Mary or, the uses of diversity in two volumes, taking 100 copies of each himself for sale and for the library. Anna Millikin from Castlemartyr, County Cork, published her novels and other writings in Cork from the 1790s ('Women authors and their readers in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Cork', mairekennedybooks.wordpress.com). She and her brother Richard, lawyer and poet, founded the Casket, or Hesperian magazine, a literary periodical, in 1797, which lasted until the eve of the rebellion in 1798. In duodecimo format, it was printed for the proprietors by Anthony Edwards in Castle Street. It contained serialized fiction, short stories, biography and poetry. Her first novel, Corfe Castle, was published by subscription by James Haly in 1793, and three later novels, Eva (1795), Plantagenet; or secrets of the House of Anjou (1802), and The rival chiefs; or, the battle of Mere (1804) were published by John Connor. Eva, an old Irish tale, in one volume duodecimo, selling at 3s.3d. sewed, attracted 171 subscribers for 464 copies of the book. In her 'Advertisement' in a preliminary page, she thanks the subscription gatherers: 'her most grateful acknowledgments to those friends, who have so kindly exerted themselves in her favour, as to enable her to produce the following List, without having recourse to the public Prints'. Connor advertised it in The cavern of death, and in turn Connor used the final leaf of Eva to advertise new books likely to appeal to this readership, which included novels by Mrs Bennett, Mrs Radcliffe, Miss Gunning and Charlotte Smith. Millikin's novels attracted a popular audience and appealed to booksellers as a sure seller. Connor subscribed to 100 copies of Eva, as did Dublin bookseller Patrick Wogan. John Millikin, bookseller in Dublin, took 50 copies, while the booksellers James Johnson in Youghal and Thomas White in Cork took twelve each, Anthony Edwards advertised copies of Eva for sale at his bookshop in Castle Street (Cork Courier, 31 Jan 1795). As a teacher in the English academy for females in Cork, she also wrote textbooks, such as An epitome of ancient history 'for the use of her pupils', advertised by Connor in 1804, but copies of this edition have not survived, and a second edition was printed by Edwards and Savage in Cork in 1808 (Loeber 2006; Millikin 1808).
The cavern of death (Cork, 1795), advertisement page. Anna Millikin, Eva (Cork, 1795), advertisement page. Mrs Creech, Mary (Cork, 1796), title page.
Mrs Creech, ran a school for young ladies in Cook Street, Cork, in the 1790s. She advertised her forthcoming novel, Mary, or the uses of adversity in August 1795, and it was published the following year (Cork Gazette, 5 Sept 1795). Connor printed her novel in two volumes duodecimo, priced at five British shillings (5s.5d. Irish) sewed, and he subscribed to 100 copies. The two volumes were ready for collection at the library or at Mrs Creech's school in May 1796 (Cork Gazette, 4 May 1796). By July he had printed a second edition also selling for 5s.5d. sewed (Cork Gazette, 30 Jul 1796). Hugh Warrin of the Belfast Circulating Library, advertised Mary, a new novel, by Mrs Creech, in two volumes, among the new items added to his library in July (Belfast News Letter, 11 Jul 1796).
Published anonymously in 1797 The history of Julia and Cecilia de Valmont is attributed to Sophia Briscoe, a young woman who died young, having written the novel at the age of 17, and the preface was written by one of her relatives. The subscription was advertised in August 1796, and it was published in Cork in two volumes duodecimo by John Connor in 1797, selling for 6s.6d. sewed (Cork Gazette, 3 Aug 1796). An extract from the novel was published in the literary periodical the Casket in May 1797 (Loeber 2006). The subscription list shows support for the book in Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford, the composition of the list points to its being supported by Anna Millikin's circle, and publication in the Casket further emphasises this. Six sets were taken by Vincent Dowling, for the Apollo Circulating Library at Suffolk Street, Dublin. Connor took the opportunity of advertising new books available at his circulating library, which included eight novels.
Conclusion:
Readers benefited greatly from the ability to borrow books from commercial libraries. Borrowing was a major feature of reading practice, but it was from family and friends, which gave limited choice, while the commercial libraries, for a modest fee, allowed access to the newest and most popular titles. The role of circulating libraries in promoting literature, especially novels, was immense.
Circulating libraries helped to create and satisfy the need for novel reading, with every new publication published in Cork, Dublin and London available as soon as published. Locally-produced novels were published with the expectation of good sales and a place on the shelves of circulating libraries. Circulating libraries appealed to those readers who were not wealthy, the quarterly fee amounting to no more than the cost of one three volume work. The reading of novels was not always encouraged, older readers fearing a detrimental affect on young minds. However, novels were widely available either for purchase or for borrowing from a circulating library.
Contemporary literature points to the extensive use of circulating libraries by women, most notably in Sheridan's The rivals. London was the arbiter of culture for the Anglophone reading public, and books imported from London were held in high esteem. The most popular titles were reprinted in Dublin or Cork from London editions. Foreign language titles were translated into English during the century, especially French, Italian and German, and printed in Great Britain and Ireland. By the last quarter of the century French and Italian titles were widely available in their original languages, imported from Paris, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and some were reprinted in London and Dublin. Most foreign language books were offered for sale, but specialist libraries also allowed them to be consulted or borrowed by members or subscribers.
In Cork a noticeable degree of co-operation is evident among booksellers in the production and sale of popular titles. John Connor, William Flyn, Thomas White, James Haly, Anthony Edwards, Michael Harris and William Henry Creagh worked together in different groupings during the 1790s. With a relatively small audience for printed materials these booksellers maximised their share of the market by working in combination to spread the costs of production. As each bookshop advertised a new publication an excitement and interest was created among readers, who could then purchase or borrow the latest novelty.
References:
Cabinet littéraire 1796. Cabinet littéraire: or, a catalogue of a circulating library, consisting of French books only, at W. Berry's, bookseller and stationer, no. 39, South Bridge, Edinburgh, 1796.
Clark, William Smith, 1965. The Irish stage in the county towns 1720 to 1800 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965).
Cole, Richard Cargill, 1974. 'Community lending libraries in 18th-century Ireland', Library Quarterly, 44 (1974), pp 111-23.
Connor, John, 1817. Connor's Cork directory for the year 1817 (Cork, printed by John Connor, 1817).
De la Cour, James, 1770. A prospect of poetry, 5th edition (Cork, printed for T. Lord, 1770).
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Pigot, J. and Co., 1824. Pigot and Co's city of Dublin and Hibernian provincial directory (London, J. Pigot and Co., 1824).
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Roberts, Daniel Sanjiv, 2009. 'In the service of the Honourable East India Company': politics and identity in Dean Mahomet's travels (1794), Eighteenth-Century Ireland, 24 (2009), pp 115-34.
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Townsend, Horace, 1811. Observations on Dr Copinger's letter to the Dublin Society (Cork, printed for Evory and Odell, 1811), pp 61-4.
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