Desmond Clarke

Life
1907-1979 [Desmond John; D. J. Clarke]; b. Co. Mayo; RDS Librarian and President of the Library Association of Ireland; issued The Ingenious Mr Edgeworth (1965), on R. L. Edgeworth; also Marie Louise O’Morphi (1979), on the mistress of Louis XV (Boucher’s “la Morphise”); continued Fr. Brown’s compilation on Irish fiction resulting in Ireland in Fiction, Part 2 (1985), publ. posthumously and running up to 1980 including - as his preface asserts - ‘all novels and stories dealing with Ireland from 1918 to 1960’; ed. Leabharlann, 1956-65; issued a life of Arthur Dobbs, the Governor of South Carolina born in Carrickfergus, and brother of Francis Dobbs; d. 25 May, Dublin. DIW DIL

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Works
Fiction
[as Desmond Clarke,] Three Stories (Dublin: Dolmen Press 1973), 64pp. [from Dublin Magazine, et al.]
Biographies
  • Thomas Prior, 1681-1751, Founder of the Royal Dublin Society (Dublin: Colm Ó Lochlainn for the Royal Dublin Society at the sign of the Three Candles 1951), 60pp.
  • Arthur Dobbs, Esquire, 1689-1765: Surveyor-general of Ireland, Prospector and Governor of North Carolina (London: Bodley Head 1958 [1957]), 232pp., port.
  • The Ingenious Mr Edgeworth (London: Oldbourne Press 1965), 256pp., ill. [pls, ports.; incls. ‘The writings of Richard Lovell Edgeworth’: pp.246-47].
  • Louison: The Life and Loves of Marie Louise O’Morphi (Belfast: Blackstaff 1979), vii, 120pp.
  • Pref. [on his life and times], to Charles Varley [or Varlo], 1725-95, The Unfortunate Husbandman: An Account of the Life and Travels of a Real Farmer in Ireland, Scotland, England and America [1768] (London: Oldbourne [1964]), 118pp., ill., facs.
Book studies
  • A Bibliography of the Publications of the Royal Dublin Society from Its Foundation in the Year 1731, together with a list of bibliographical material relative to the Society [2nd edn.] (Dublin: RDS 1953), 46pp.
  • Dublin Society’s Statistical Surveys (Athlone: [Printing Works] 1956), 8pp. [Paper read before the Bibliographical Society of Ireland, on the 30th [sic 29th] April, 1957]
  • with P. J. Madden, Paper-Making in Ireland (Dublin: An Leabharlann, Sept. 1954], 20pp. [off-print; cf. his Printing in Ireland (Dublin: Library Assoc. 1954), 20pp.]
  • with T. P. O’Neill, ‘Bookbinding in Ireland’ (Dublin: Library Association of Ireland 1955), 16pp. [off-print; An Leabharlann, March 1955).
  • with T. P. O’Neill, Libraries in Ireland: An Historical Outline (Library Assoc. of Ireland 1956) [off-print]
  • Dublin Society's Statistical Surveys: Paper read before the Bibliographical Society of Ireland on the 30th April 1957 (Dublin 1957), 8pp.
Bibliography
  • with Stephen Brown [i.e., successor to], Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances and Folklore, Vol. 2 (Cork: Royal Carbery 1985), 290pp., 20cm. pbk. [ie., a continuation of Brown, Ireland in Fiction, Maunsel 1919]*
Miscellaneous
  • The Changing Face of Literature: A Discussion and Evaluation of Developments over the Past Fifty Yeears [Proceedings of the 38th International P.E.N. Congress, Dublin, 12-18 Sept. 1971] (Dublin: PEN Center 1972), 148pp.
  • ed., Dublin: Test Record (London: Batsford 1977), x, 182pp., ill., [16]pp.pls., maps, ports.
  • ed., with edited James Meenan, RDS: The Royal Dublin Society 1731-1981 (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1981), 288pp., 1 map, facs. 1 plan & ports.
*Listings and remarks from both these volumes appear throughout this website.]

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Criticism
R. J. Casey [obituary], in Irish Booklore, 4, 2 (1980), pp.77-78.

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Notes
Namesake: Desmond M. Clarke, ed. of Discourse on method, and related writings of René Descartes, 1596-1650 (1999) and author of similar works; also author of Church and State: Essays in Political Philosophy (1985).

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