The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad

In celebration of the American launch of The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad, NYU Glucksman Ireland House and La Maison Française NYU are co-sponsoring an evening with two of the co-editors.

A collection of 125 letters taken from a captured Irish ship on its return to Dublin from France during the Seven Years’ War and left unopened until 2011 is the basis for this book and a major exhibition by GIH at NYU’s Bobst Library.

The themes are universal: There are students asking their parents for money, and fathers chastising their children for being disobedient or lazy. There are love letters, letters filled with petty gossip, and letters expressing the frustrations of Irish prisoners of war languishing in French jails. The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters “reinforce a common humanity across time — the people we see in these letters are no different from people we know today… so once you get beyond the handwriting, 250 years just melts away,” remarks Professor Tom Truxes. Professor Truxes and Professor John Shovelin of NYU will present a behind-the-scenes look at the Bordeaux-Dublin Letters.

Click here for more information on the exhibit, open through April 2014.

Photo ID required to enter the library.