| Collection Description | The Cuala Press was founded in Churchtown, Co. Dublin by the Yeats sisters, Elizabeth and Susan, in 1908.
The Cuala Press began its life as the Dun Emer Press and was part of Dun Emer Industries, established by
Evelyn Gleeson (1855-1944) and Susan and Elizabeth Yeats in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, in 1902. Their aim was to
employ and train local Irish girls and young women in 'the making of beautiful things'. Elizabeth Corbet Yeats
(1868-1940) trained two people at a time on a printing press, and they gained knowledge of composition,
typography, type setting, and ink rolling; they were also involved in the hand painting of the prints and the other
material. Susan Yeats (1866-1949) ran the embroidery section and taught embroidery herself.
These photoengraved prints were amassed as a collection in the mid-20th century and donated to the Library in
2017 by Vin Ryan. They were made using the Albion hand press and were then hand painted by the employees
of the Press; they had been commissioned in 1906 while Elizabeth and Susan Yeats were still at Dun Emer. In
1908, when they established the Cuala Press in Churchtown they continued to produce books but increased
their production of other printed material especially hand coloured prints and greeting cards.. These products
were extremely important for the Press as they were consistently profitable and easy to reproduce using the
same blocks. In a letter from Elizabeth Corbett Yeats to Mr Albert Ehrman dated 15 May 1931, Yeats states that
without the hand coloured prints, greeting cards and Christmas cards she "could not make the press pay"
(Miller, pg. 87, Dun Emer Press, Later the Cuala Press). In February 1925 the Cuala Press leased a shop and
workroom at 133 Lower Baggot Street where they could showcase and sell their books, prints, cards and
embroideries directly to the public. Elizabeth Corbet Yeats died on the 16th January 1940 and Georgie Hyde-
Lees, wife of W.B Yeats ,along with F.R Higgins as editor, ran the press until her death in 1968. [Trinity College
Dublin] |
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