Robinson Collection of Caricatures

The Robinson Collection of Caricatures was presented to the Library of Trinity College Dublin in 1996 by Nicholas Kenneth Robinson (1946- ), an alumnus of Trinity College Dublin, author, historian, solicitor, and political cartoonist whose published works include Edmund Burke: a life in caricatures (Yale, 1996), and Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland (Irish Architectural Archive, 1988). He spent 30 years curating the collection, which is comprised of 1335 political and social caricatures relating to Ireland for the period 1780-1891. It includes numerous works by notable cartoonists James Gillray (1765-1868), John Doyle (1797-1868), and William Mecham (1853-1902, working under the pen name Tom Merry), for the St. Stephen’s Review.

In 2004 the Library was fortunate to add a further 762 caricatures to its holdings as a result of financial support from Lewis and Loretta Glucksman. Many of these caricatures have Napoleon as their subject. These additional caricatures are variously dated between the years 1694 and 1879.

See also the Library's online exhibition featuring images from the collection.