Dublin Illustrated — Complete 14-Page Supplement from The Graphic, 17 August 1878

A complete 14-page illustrated supplement on Dublin from The Graphic, the leading London illustrated weekly newspaper, dated 17 August 1878. Issued as a stitched self-contained section comprising pages 169 to 184, with the title "DUBLIN ILLUSTRATED" running across multiple double-page spreads.

This is a substantial Victorian-era documentary record of Dublin captured at a pivotal moment in its history — just before the major late 19th-century upheavals of the Land War, the Home Rule crisis, and the Gaelic Revival. Many of the buildings, statues and views depicted have since been altered, demolished, or destroyed, including Nelson's Pillar (blown up in 1966), the Old Parliament House (long since transformed into the Bank of Ireland headquarters), and the birthplace of Dean Swift at Hoey's Court (already noted as demolished in the 1878 captions).

Contents include:

• Cover page (p. 169) with elaborate engraved "DUBLIN" title block bearing the city motto Obedientia Civium Urbis Felicitas, a Howth Castle vignette, and a full view of the Custom House on the Liffey
• Architecture spread: Trinity College, Bank of Ireland, Christ Church Cathedral, St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Phoenix Park
• Interior views: St Patrick's nave, Old Parliament House, Trinity College Library, Chapel Royal, Christ Church crypt
• Full-page bird's-eye view from the summit of Nelson's Pillar showing the GPO, Sackville Street, the Four Courts, and the Wicklow Hills beyond
• Statues and Antiquities page (p. 184): birthplaces of Thomas Moore, Dean Swift (Hoey's Court, then already demolished), and the Duke of Wellington (Mornington House); statues of Edmund Burke, the Earl of Carlisle, Henry Grattan, William III, and the Prince Consort Memorial; the O'Connell Monument at Glasnevin; the Tombs of Strongbow and his son at Christ Church; St Michan's Church; and Burke's House on Arran Quay
• "Views in the City" spread: Sackville Street from Carlisle Bridge, Grafton Street, St Stephen's Green, Kingstown Pier, the new tunnel under Phoenix Park, the New Railway Bridge over the Liffey
• Multiple pages of accompanying letterpress on Dublin's history, public institutions, the College of Science, the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Dublin stage, and "The Character of the People" by George Wheeler

Artists and engravers: As was standard practice for The Graphic, the supplement is the work of multiple uncredited Special Artists and wood-engravers rather than a single hand. Most plates are unsigned, but at least two bear marks: the Howth Castle vignette on p. 169 carries an interlaced artist's monogram (resembling "AK") in the lower right of the riverbank, and the Prince Consort Memorial on p. 184 bears the cursive signature "H. Johnson sc." on the plinth — sc. (sculpsit, "engraved by") identifying H. Johnson as the wood-engraver. The Graphic in this period drew on a stable of illustrators that included Luke Fildes, Hubert Herkomer, Charles Green, Sydney P. Hall, and many others.

Format: Complete 14-page supplement, original wood-engraved illustrations and letterpress text

Date: 17 August 1878

Publication: The Graphic, London

Condition: Very good

Complete supplements with all leaves present are notably scarcer than individual plates, which have commonly been broken out and sold separately over the past century — particularly the Statues and Antiquities page and the Howth Castle / Custom House cover, which appear most often as detached single sheets.