History
The library began with the founding of Trinity College in 1592. In 1661, Henry Jones presented it with the Book of Kells, its most famous manuscript. James Ussher (1625–56), Archbishop of Armagh, whose most important works were "Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge", published in 1632, and "Brittanicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates", which appeared in 1639, left his valuable library, comprising several thousand printed books and manuscripts, to Trinity College, Dublin, and his complete works were published by that institution in twenty-four volumes.
The main chamber of the old library, the Long Room, was built between 1712 and 1732 and houses the library's oldest books. By the 1850's the room needed to be expanded as the shelves were filled, and so the roof was raised to accommodate an upper gallery.
In 1801, the library was given legal deposit rights, making it the only Irish library to have such rights for the United Kingdom.
Read more about this topic: Trinity College Library
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