IRISH BINDING. Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoseon Libri XV EARL OF GRANVILLE’S COPY IN A FINE DUBLIN RED MOROCCO BINDING LATER OWNED BY THE EARL OF CLARENDON]

Interpretatione & Notis Illustravit Daniel Chrispinus Helvetius ad Usum Serenissimi Delphini. Huic Editioni accedunt Annotationes, ex Jac. Constantii Fanensis, Hen. Loritii Glareani, Jac. Micylli, Herc. Ciofani, Daniel. Heinsii, Petr. Burmanni, aliorumque Virorum eruditorum Commentariis Excerptae. Dublinii: Ex officinâ Georgii Grierson, 1729. Quarto [19 x 25cm]. pp. [10], 475, [172], 45, [1]. Titlepage printed in red and black. Bound in contemporary full red morocco, covers ruled in gilt with a fleuron-and-leaf border roll. Spine divided into six compartments by five raised bands, title in gilt on blue morocco letterpiece in the second, the remainder tooled in gilt to a centre-and-corner design; fore-edges gilt; cream endpapers; green and gold double endbands. Ex. Libris John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, Baron Carteret of Hawnes. Also from the library of William O’Brien Milltown Park Trust, with bookplate, labels and stamp. Small nick to

spine ends, upper joint starting but very firm. All edges gilt. A fine copy. ESTC T171338. WorldCat 3.

George Grierson (1680?-1753), a native of Scotland, arrived in Ireland c.1703. Admitted to the stationers’ guild, his premises were in Essex Street at the sign of the “Two Bibles” and from here he carried on the business of printing and publishing works of the Latin authors - Horace, Virgil, Terence, Justinian, Juvenal, Ovid and Tacitus. In many instances he was assisted by his wife Constantia Grierson whom he married in 1726. She was regarded as one of the most learned scholars of her age; nothing much is known about her early life.

In addition to the classics, Grierson published a second edition of Sir William Petty’s Hiberniae Delineatio in 1732. This edition was dedicated by Grierson to Henry, Earl of Shelburne, who supplied the original plates “by whose munificence the original copper plates of Sir William Petty’s Survey of Ireland were freely communicated for the public good.” This copy of Ovid with Henry’s bookplate, may well have been presented by the publisher to him.

George Grierson obtained from Lord Carteret a patent as King’s Printer in Ireland; it was suggested at the time that this was due to Carteret’s admiration of Constantia’s attainments. His publishing output was ‘large by Dublin standards’ and the quality of his printing ‘consistently good’ (Pollard). Grierson had a house, ground and possibly a printing office at Drumcondra, to the north of Dublin. He

died there 27 October 1753 aged 73.
Provenance: Early bookplate of John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, Baron Carteret of Hawnes, (1690- 1763) English statesman and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a vigorous opponent of Robert Walpole (who was chief minister from 1721 to 1742). A leading minister from 1742 to 1744, Carteret directed England’s involvement against France in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48). The son of George, 1st Baron Carteret, and Lady Grace Granville (created Countess Granville in 1715), he succeeded his father as Lord Carteret in 1695 at the age of five and entered the House of Lords in 1711. He was appointed secretary of state in 1722, but, because he voiced opposition to Walpole, he was sent away from London in 1724 to serve as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Upon his return in 1730 he became one of Walpole’s most eloquent and prominent critics in the House of Lords, attacking in particular Walpole’s policy of accommodation with Spain.