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The Library of Trinity College Dublin

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Classical Literature

Titlepage of Plato’s Septem Selecti Dialogi, Dublin University Press, 1738. TT.kk.14

Titlepage of Plato’s Septem Selecti Dialogi, Dublin University Press, 1738. TT.kk.14.

The study of classical texts was a staple of university education for centuries. The Library’s holdings reflect a rich tradition of scholarship. The progress of the study of classical antiquities is abundantly illustrated in the collection.

Incunabula include:

  • Virgil’s Opus, Venice, 1470 and Plutarch’s Vitae virorum illustrium, Venice, 1478. Both are printed on vellum
  • Editions of Cicero, L-Annaeus Florius, Horace, Livy and Pliny

Also of interest are:

  • Dozens of editions of texts published by Aldus Manutius, Plantin, and members of the Estienne family
  • The elegant typography evident in works published by the Imprimerie Royal in Paris in the 17th century and by Baskerville in Birmingham in the18th century
  • Works by Plato and Horace produced by the Dublin University Press in the 1730s and 1740s. These are among its earliest productions