The Dun Emer Press (''fl.'' 1902–1908) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

private press Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, gra ...

founded in 1902 by

Evelyn Gleeson Evelyn Gleeson (15 May 1855 – 20 February 1944) was an England, English embroidery, carpet, and tapestry designer, who along with Elizabeth Yeats, Elizabeth and Lily Yeats established the Dun Emer Press. Early life and education Evelyn Gleeso ...

Elizabeth Yeats Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (11 March 1868 – 16 January 1940), known as Lolly, was an Anglo-Irish educator and publisher. She worked as an art teacher and published several books on art, and was a founder of Dun Emer Press which published several wor ...

and her brother

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

, part of the

Celtic Revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...

. It was named after the legendary

Emer Emer (), in modern Irish Eimhear or Éimhear (with variations including Eimer, Eimear and Éimear) and in Scottish Gaelic Eimhir, is the name of the daughter of Forgall Monach and the wife of the hero Cú Chulainn in the Ulster Cycle of Irish m ...

and evolved into the

Cuala Press The Cuala Press was an Irish private press set up in 1908 by Elizabeth Yeats with support from her brother William Butler Yeats that played an important role in the Celtic Revival of the early 20th century. Originally Dun Emer Press, from 1908 u ...

History

In 1902,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and her sister

Lily Yeats Susan Mary Yeats (; 25 August 1866 – 5 January 1949), known as Lily Yeats, was an embroiderer associated with the Celtic Revival. In 1908 she founded the embroidery department of Cuala Industries, with which she was involved until its dissolut ...

joined

in establishing a craft studio at Dundrum, near

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, called Dun Emer. This specialized in printing and other crafts, with Elizabeth Yeats in charge of the printing press. While living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Elizabeth Yeats had been part of the circle of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, and had been inspired by his printing work. Gleeson offered the Yeats sisters her large house in Dundrum, in which a crafts group providing training and work for young women, in the fields of bookbinding, printing, weaving, and embroidery, could live and work.Elizabeth Yeats
/ref> Bookbinding workshops were a later addition to the studio.
at ubc.ca The Dun Emer studio and press were named after

, daughter of Forgall Monach, wife of the hero Cúchulainn in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle ( ga, an Rúraíocht), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly coun ...

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...

, a figure famous for her artistic skills as well as her beauty. The title-page device of the Dun Emer Press was designed by Elinor Monsell and shows Emer standing underneath a tree. Monsell also created the symbol of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

, which depicts

Maeve Maeve, Maev or Maiv is a female given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish name ''Méabh'', which was spelt in early modern Irish (), or in Middle Irish, and in Old Irish (). It may derive from a word meaning "she who intoxicates", ...

with a wolfhound. The focus of the Press was on publishing literary work by Irish authors, and Elizabeth and Lily Yeats's younger brother, the artist

Jack Butler Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish art The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands ...

, did much of the illustration work. In 1904, the Dun Emer crafts studio was organized into two parts, the Dun Emer Guild under Gleeson and Dun Emer Industries under the Yeats sisters. The Dun Emer Press produced limited editions of books, printed by hand in the manner of William Morris's

Kelmscott Press The Kelmscott Press, founded by William Morris and Emery Walker, published fifty-three books in sixty-six volumes between 1891 and 1898. Each book was designed and ornamented by Morris and printed by hand in limited editions of around 300. Many ...

. The texts it published were written or selected by W. B. Yeats, who was the press's literary editor and who also subsidized its operations, which lacked profitability.Patrick Maume,
Dun Emer Press
' (from ''The Oxford Companion to Irish History'', 2007) at encyclopedia.com In its prospectus issued early in 1903, the press boasted of "a good eighteenth century fount of type" and "paper made of linen rags and without bleaching chemicals". As well as books, the Press also printed broadsheets designed by Jack Yeats, and hand-coloured

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays ...

s. In 1908, after the Press had produced eleven literary titles, the different elements of the Dun Emer studio separated completely, with Gleeson retaining the Dun Emer name. The Yeats sisters left Dundrum and took the new name Cuala for their operations, Elizabeth establishing the

Churchtown, Dublin Churchtown () is a largely residential suburb on the southside of Dublin, between Rathfarnham and Dundrum. Landmarks Ely's Arch Braemor Road is still marked by a triumphal arch from the 18th century, which originally led to Rathfarnham Cas ...

.Dun Emer Press
at encyclopedia.com

List of books published by the press

*W. B. Yeats, '' In the Seven Woods: being poems of the Irish heroic age'' (The Dun Emer press, 1903) DUN EMER & CUALA PRESS
at uflib.ufl.edu (

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

web site)Liam Miller, ''The Dun Emer Press'' (New York: The Typophiles, 1974) *

George William Russell George William Russell (10 April 1867 – 17 July 1935), who wrote with the pseudonym Æ (often written AE or A.E.), was an Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, painter and Irish nationalist. He was also a writer on mysticism, and a centra ...

, ''The Nuts of Knowledge, lyrical poems old and new'' (The Dun Emer press, 1903) *

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

, ''The Love Songs of Connacht, being the fourth chapter of the songs of Connacht, collected and translated by Douglas Hyde'' (Dun Emer press, 1904) *W. B. Yeats, ''Stories of Red Hanrahan'' (The Dun Emer press, 1904) * Lionel Pigot Johnson, ''Twenty one poems written by Lionel Johnson, selected by William Butler Yeats'' (The Dun Emer Press, 1904) *

William Kirkpatrick Magee William Kirkpatrick Magee (16 January 1868 – 9 May 1961), was an Irish author, editor, and librarian, who as an essayist and poet adopted the pen-name of John Eglinton. He became head librarian of the National Library of Ireland, after opposing t ...

, ''Some Essays and Passages by John Eglinton, selected by William Butler Yeats'' (Dun Emer Press, 1905) *

William Allingham William Allingham (19 March 1824 – 18 November 1889) was an Irish poet, diarist and editor. He wrote several volumes of lyric verse, and his poem "The Faeries" was much anthologised. But he is better known for his posthumously published ''Di ...

, ''Sixteen poems, by William Allingham, Selected by William Butler Yeats'' (The Dun Emer press, 1905) *

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...

, ''A Book of Saints and Wonders put down here by Lady Gregory according to the old writings and memory of the people of Ireland'' (The Dun Emer Press, 1906) *George William Russell, ''By Still Waters; lyrical poems old and new by A. E.'' (The Dun Emer Press, 1906) *

Katharine Tynan Katharine Tynan (23 January 1859 – 2 April 1931)Clarke, Frances (2013)"Hinkson (née Tynan), Katharine Tynan" in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). was an Irish writer, known mainly for her novels and p ...

, ''Twenty one poems; selected by W. B. Yeats'' (Dun Emer press, 1907) *W. B. Yeats, ''Discoveries; a volume of essays by William Butler Yeats'' (Dun Emer press, 1907)

References

External links

Dun Emer Press publications
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

(scanned books original editions)
Fifty Years of the Cuala Press by Ernest C. Mariner
Colby Library Quarterly, series 3, no.11, August 1953, p. 171-183. {{W. B. Yeats, state=collapsed Arts and Crafts movement Small press publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1902 Private press movement Companies based in Dublin (city) Publishing companies of Ireland