Fiction in English
The Library did not concentrate on collecting fiction in any serious way until the 1960s. Despite this there is now a substantial amount of 18th- and 19th-century published fiction. This page should be read in conjunction with Modern Literary Manuscripts in English.
Particular attention is given to the acquisition of works by Irish authors and of Irish printed editions. The Department now keeps the legal deposit copies of modern Anglo-Irish fiction.
There are particular strengths in the editions of J. Swift, Gulliver’s travels and O. Goldsmith, The vicar of Wakefield.
Other authors who are well represented are:
- Maria Edgeworth
- Sir Walter Scott
- Lady Morgan
Popular fiction is collected and there are good holdings of works published in such series as the Parlour Library, the Tauchnitz Collection, and Bentley’s Standard Novels.