by Bernadette Cunningham
The story of the publication of John O’Donovan’s edition of the Annals of the Four Masters is a fascinating one. It could be said to begin at the sale of Austin Cooper’s books in 1831, when George Petrie bought the original autograph manuscript of the second part of the Annals, the section conveying the years 1171 to 1616. He paid £53 for the manuscript, and then he sold it to the Royal Irish Academy for the price he paid for it. At the time of purchase the manuscript was described as being a damp roll, and the considerable sum that Petrie was prepared to pay was an indication of the special regard in which this work was held. On Petrie’s initiative, the manuscript was conserved and bound in two volumes (RIA 23 P 6 – 23 P 7), by George Mullen of Dublin, in 1837.
From the time he purchased the manuscript for the Academy, Petrie was anxious that it should be published.
