IRISH.
The first fount of this character was that presented by Queen Elizabeth to O’Kearney in 1571, and used to print the Catechism, which appeared in that year in Dublin, at the press of Franckton. The fount, which is on English body, is only partially Irish, many of the letters being ordinary Roman or Italic. Its general appearance is, however, neat. It was used in several works during the early years of the seventeenth century, notably in the Daniel’s New Testament, printed by Franckton in 1602, and the Common Prayer, issued from the same press in 1608. This interesting fount was stated by some to have been secured by the Jesuits, and transferred by them to one of their seminaries abroad; but there appears to be no foundation for such a statement. As late as 1652 it was used in Godfrey Daniels’ Christian Doctrine, printed in Dublin; and still later occasional words mark its gradual extinction. The Irish seminaries abroad, meanwhile, were better supplied with Irish type than our countrymen. At Antwerp, in 1611, O’Hussey’s Catechism was printed in an Irish fount, which subsequently reappeared in 1616 at Louvain, and was afterwards used to print a number of works published by the Irish College in that place. In 1645 a second and larger Irish fount appeared at Louvain, in Colgan’s Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ. In 1676 the press of the Propaganda at Rome published Molloy’s Lucerna Fidelium in a handsome and bold character, Great Primer in body, which was used again in the following year in Molloy’s Grammar, and in 1707 for the Catechism of O’Hussey. Previous to this, however, Irish printing had revived in England, and Moxon, in 1680, had cut the curious fount of Small Pica Irish,148 used in Boyle’s New Testament, printed by Robert Everingham in 1681, followed by Bedell’s Old Testament in 1685, and in several further publications from the same press. Until the year 1800 this fount was the only Irish in this country. Abroad, a new fount appeared at Paris in 1732, where it was used in McCuirtin’s Dictionary, and in 1742 in Donlevey’s Catechism, printed by Jas. Guerin. The matrices for this fount appear to have been held, if not prepared, by Fournier, as in the Manuale Typographique (ii, p. 196), issued by him in 1766, a specimen of it appears among the foreign founts of his foundry. The fate of this fount is a matter of uncertainty. After 1742 a general cessation of Irish typography at home and abroad took place; and the few Irish works which appeared between that date and 1800 were for the most part in Roman type (like O’Brien’s Dictionary, Paris, 1768), or with the Irish {76} characters in copperplate (like Vallancey’s Grammar). In 1804, however, a revival took place, beginning in Paris, where Marcel, being at that time in possession of several of the founts belonging to the press of the Propaganda, which Napoleon had impounded for the use of the press of the Republic, repaired and re-cast the Irish founts of the Lucerna Fidelium, and issued a short sketch of the character and language, illustrated with readings in this type. In his beautiful Oratio Dominica, printed in 1805 in presence of Napoleon, the same type is used. “Strikes” of these founts were retained in Paris, and the letter has reappeared in specimens issued in 1819 and 1840. The matrices probably remain part of the stock of the Imprimerie Nationale to this day. The revival in our kingdom was more rapid. Moxon’s fount, which had passed through the hands of Robert Andrews, came in 1733 into the foundry of Thomas James, at the sale of which, in 1782, the punches and matrices were purchased in a somewhat defective condition by Dr. Fry. A specimen was shown in Dr. Fry’s specimen of 1794, and in his Pantographia, 1799, after which the fount occasionally reappeared until 1820, when it was last seen in O’Reilly’s Catalogue of Irish Writers, printed in Dublin in that year. By this time, however, there were some six new founts in the country. Neilson’s Grammar, printed at Dublin in 1808, appeared in a type apparently privately cut, as it is not found in the specimens of any of the British founders. Vincent Figgins cut an elegant fount after the copperplate models in Vallancey’s Grammar; Dr. Fry, under the inspection of Thaddeus Conellan, cut a Long Primer, Small Pica, and Pica, and Watts shortly afterwards added three others.