Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Early days: 1592–1640
- 2 Ussher, Kells and Durrow: 1641–1665
- 3 Alexander, Bath and the Jacobites: 1666–1708
- 4 A new building: 1709–1737
- 5 Stearne, Gilbert and Lyon: 1738–1749
- 6 The Library in 1750
- 7 Leland to Barrett: 1751–1800
- 8 Fagel: 1798–1809
- 9 Barrett: 1801–1821
- 10 Sadleir, Wall and Todd: 1822–1851
- 11 The Library in 1850
- 12 Todd as Librarian: 1852–1869
- 13 Malet and Ingram: 1869–1886
- 14 Abbott: 1887–1913
- 15 Smyly: 1914–1948
- 16 The Library in 1950
- 17 Parke: 1949–1965
- 18 Professional management: 1965–1983
- 19 Epilogue: 1984–2003
- Appendix 1 Librarians, Assistant Librarians and Deputy Librarians1
- Appendix 2 Growth of the collection
- Appendix 3 The Library oath and declaration
- Sources and select bibliography
- Index of Trinity College Dublin manuscripts
- General index
- Plate Section
- References
12 - Todd as Librarian: 1852–1869
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Early days: 1592–1640
- 2 Ussher, Kells and Durrow: 1641–1665
- 3 Alexander, Bath and the Jacobites: 1666–1708
- 4 A new building: 1709–1737
- 5 Stearne, Gilbert and Lyon: 1738–1749
- 6 The Library in 1750
- 7 Leland to Barrett: 1751–1800
- 8 Fagel: 1798–1809
- 9 Barrett: 1801–1821
- 10 Sadleir, Wall and Todd: 1822–1851
- 11 The Library in 1850
- 12 Todd as Librarian: 1852–1869
- 13 Malet and Ingram: 1869–1886
- 14 Abbott: 1887–1913
- 15 Smyly: 1914–1948
- 16 The Library in 1950
- 17 Parke: 1949–1965
- 18 Professional management: 1965–1983
- 19 Epilogue: 1984–2003
- Appendix 1 Librarians, Assistant Librarians and Deputy Librarians1
- Appendix 2 Growth of the collection
- Appendix 3 The Library oath and declaration
- Sources and select bibliography
- Index of Trinity College Dublin manuscripts
- General index
- Plate Section
- References
Summary
On 7 February 1852, Wall resigned as Librarian, though he was allowed to retain a set of Library keys and have exclusive use of the Librarian's Room for a further 5 years. He remained a Senior Fellow and, until his death 10 years later, continued as Vice-Provost, an office he had held simultaneously with that of Librarian since 1847. There could be only one successor – the man who had effectively run the Library for the previous 20 years. James Henthorn Todd, elected Librarian for an initial period of 5 years from the date of Wall's resignation, was then 47 and the Professor of Hebrew and Senior Lecturer at Trinity, as well as Secretary of the Royal Irish Academy and a founder of both St Columba's College, Dublin, and the Irish Archaeological Society. (See Figure 11.)
Though the Library had been without Todd's involvement for only 2 years, it was already showing signs of a lack of direction, and the report that he produced for the Board during his second year in office was a depressing one. The books in the gallery were ‘in very great disorder’; there was a substantial backlog of cataloguing (though the appointment of an additional Library clerk had already started to reduce this); the shelf-lists were not properly written up and contained ‘perplexing irregularities’; one of the Library clerks had been dismissed for neglect of duty; one of the cleaners had stolen some books; and, finally, a ‘want of room’ was being felt, because the carpenters had been slow in installing bookcases in the gallery – and even when those were completed they would provide space for only about a further 4 years’ intake. Cataloguing and space were to dominate Todd's tenure of office.
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- Trinity College Library DublinA History, pp. 190 - 209Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014