Readings on Audience and Textual Materiality
01.07.2011
An important new collection of essays was recently launched at the School of English, UCC. Readings on Audience and Textual Materiality, is published in Pickering and Chatto's History of the Book series and edited by Professor Graham Allen, Dr Carrie Griffin and Dr Mary O'Connell. Containing twelve essays on the material impact that texts and books have on readers and reception, the volume, launched by Professor Tom Dunne and introduced by Professor Patricia Coughlan, is set to make a significant contribution to scholarship in this field. It showcases, along with international scholars such as Nora Crook, Alistair McCleery and John Thompson, new research coming out of Ireland and Irish studies. UCC contributors include Graham Allen, Alex Davis, Carrie Griffin, Liam Lenihan, Órla Murphy, and graduate Ruth Connolly.

The contributions are varied and cross-period, and are of interest to historians, literary and cultural students, and librarians and archivists, as well as to the general reader, and include: McCleery's essay on the publication of the 1969 edition of Ulysses; Allen and Crook on the impact of editing on the work of the Shelleys; Davis on Yeats, his books, and material modernism (of interest in the context of the Cantwell collection in the Boole Library); Griffin and O'Connell on an eccentric nineteenth-century printer; Lenihan on the writings of James Barry (the Boole has acquired Barry's commonplace book) and Connolly on Herrick's manuscripts and printed works.

In his launch of the book Professor Tom Dunne remarked that the volume highlights the value of collaborative effort, and the potential of scholarly work to be open, accessible and enjoyable. He also praised the editors for their efforts in ensuring the book reached a wide scholarly community through publication as part of Pickering & Chatto's prestigious History of the Book series. Professor Graham Allen (who has recently published a revised second edition of his work Intertextuality [Palgrave, 2011]) responded by thanking the contributors and all those who had attended the launch.

Readings on Audience and Textual Materiality is available direct from Pickering & Chatto as well as the usual outlets.

Picture L-R: Dr Carrie Griffin, Professor Graham Allen, Dr Mary O’Connell, School of English, UCC

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