Morning visit to the Chester Beatty Library. Eclectic and impressive; a treasure trove!
This is how its collections are described on the Library official website: Chester Beatty’s library has been
described as the finest collection of manuscripts and books made by a private
collector in the 20th century. It includes representative samples of the
world’s heritage (artistic, religious and secular) from about 2700 BC to the
present century.
The
Western treasures of the Library include some of the earliest sources on
papyrus for the bible and a great library of Manichean texts. The Biblical
Papyri, dating from the second to the fourth century AD, consist of the
earliest known copies of the four gospels and Acts of the Apostles, the Letters
of St Paul, the Book of Revelation and various very early Old Testament
fragments. Armenian and Western European manuscripts from medieval, Renaissance
and modern times, prints, early and fine books and bindings complete a
remarkable conspectus of the arts of manuscript production and printing from
many cultures and periods.
Over 6,000
individual items, mainly manuscripts and single-page paintings and
calligraphies, make up the Islamic Collections. This includes more than 260
complete and fragmentary Qur’ans, some dating from the late eighth and ninth
centuries and including the work of the leading calligraphers of the Islamic
world.
The East
Asian Collections include a fine series of albums and scrolls from China, the
largest collection of jade books from the Imperial Court outside China and a
large collection of textiles and decorative objects. The Japanese holdings
contain many superb painted scrolls from the 17th and 18th century, woodblock
prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai and many others as well as decorative art
objects.
Then the site goes on to describe in more detail each
collection. Struck by the story of Chester Beatty himself, the American
millionaire miner turned collector, sharing his time eventually between London
and more Southern places in the winter (Cairo, Southern France, etc.), great
traveller (Japan, China, Egypt, etc.) to finally make his home of Dublin in
1950! Interesting to note as well the competition that existed among rich
American tycoons, à la Pierpont Morgan, in collecting books and other
artifacts; among themselves and very often the very museums (the British
Museum, La Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, the NY Metropolitan Museum, etc.)
they on the one hand supported, but also extracted advice from in buying books
and other collectables (in what today would be considered as flagrant “conflicts
of interest”!)
Lunch at nearby French bistro “Chez Max” over “Croque Monsieur” and a glass of wine. Small place,
recommended, very French, very Paris, with tables so close to one another!
Crowned the day with the now classic Irish play “The Plough and the Stars”, written by
Sean O’Casey. It was first presented in 1926 at the no less classic Abbey Theatre (established by the poet
W.B. Yeats). This is the 56th
time the company, we learn, is staging this play! The last run in this city was
in 2010 (we are told that then 70% of those attending then were at their first
visit to the Abbey Theatre!), before it went to London, and returned back in
Dublin this year (it’s going on a tour of Ireland and the U.K. in the autumn).
It is set during “The Easter Rising” in 1916, the futile attempt by a bunch of
ill-prepared nationalist ideologues to free Ireland from the British on that
Easter weekend. The play is taking place amongst lower class people, totally
apolitical, but that is put to contribution in supplying themselves as
fighters. Women are portrait as the people’s conscience, survival and love,
against politics (the Irish Revolution, but WWI too)! It was seen as
anti-national at the time of its first production, and led to a very noisy
demonstration on one night (can we really call it “riots”, as it is referred to
sometimes?) by vexed nationalists! No wonder, because it is anti-Rising (there
was no need for pretext such as the so-called “tricolor flag in a tavern
blasphemy” for “rioting”!) And yet, O’Casey was no supporter of the link with
the British himself – au contraire! (Although he left Ireland after the play;
forever! And he went to England!)
We were very fortunate to catch the play. As I
said earlier, history is never far from the surface in Ireland! It is
interesting to note that the Rising, that is the set for the play, has actually
taken place only a few blocks away from where it is currently staged (the Grand
Post Office (the “GPO”): the risers’ operational HQ, and the Imperial Hotel are
only 2 streets away!)
Got diner at the nearby “101 Talbot” restaurant. Again, recommended. BEFORE the play, once
we realised we would not be able to get it AFTER the play, since it was going
to be more than 3-hour long! I say “nearby”, walking distance to the Abbey
Theatre, except that it is closed for renovation, and that the play instead is
performed at the OReilly Theatre, 5 minutes away by taxi! We made it in time,
barely!
