The Image of Irelande, with a Discoverie of Woodkarne

Summary

The Image of Irelande, with a Discoverie of Woodkarne is a 1581 book by John Derricke.

A scene showing a feast hosted by an Irish chieftain, probably the most famous scene from The Image of Ireland.

The book is dedicated to Philip Sidney. It praises the deputyship of Philip's father Henry Sidney and English victories over the Irish.[1] The work opens with a poetic history of Ireland and its conflicts with the English, presenting reasons for English rule. This proceeds to a set of twelve woodcut illustrations interspersed with verse narration, describing Henry Sidney's victories against Irish rebels and denigrating Irish culture. The book ends with the surrender of Turlough Luineach Ó Neill, king of Tyrone, in 1578.[2] Critics, such as James A. Knapp, have deemed the illustrations to be of far greater interest than the unremarkable verse.[3]

There is only one complete version extant, at the Edinburgh University Library. A copy was produced and edited by the university librarian in 1883.[4]

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Highley, Christopher (1997). Shakespeare, Spenser, and the crisis in Ireland (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9780521581998.
  2. ^ "Image of Irelande, pl 3". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. ^ Knapp, James A. (2000). "That most barbarous Nacion': John Derricke's 'Image of Ireland' and the 'delight of the well disposed reader'". Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts. 42: 416.
  4. ^ "The Image of Irelande, by John Derrick". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 1 August 2013.

References edit

  • Andrew Hadfield, "Derricke, John (fl. 1578–1581)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004, accessed 27 July 2010
  • James A. Knapp, "'That moste barbarous Nacion': John Derricke's Image of Ireland and the 'delight of the well disposed reader'", findarticles.com, 2000
  • Anthony M. McCormack and Terry Clavin, "Derricke, John", Dictionary of Irish Biography, (Eds.) James Mcguire and James Quinn, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

External links edit

  • Woodcuts from The Image of Irelande, Edinburgh University Library
  • The Image of Irelande, 1883 reprint with introduction and notes, downloadable in multiple formats from Archive.org
  • Richard Marsh's explanation of plate 3