The FNCI donated €5,000 to the RIA towards the purchase from de Burca Rare Books, Dublin, of a particularly rare book. It is the script of the stage representation, with specially commissioned music, of Thomas Moore’s famous poem Lalla Rookh at the Royal Palace, Berlin, on the occasion of the state visit on 27th January, 1822 of Archduke (later Czar) Nicholas of Russia and his wife to the King of Prussia.
Thomas Moore (1779-1852), “Ireland’s National Bard” and author of ‘Moore’s Melodies’, composed the long oriental poem Lalla Rookh in 1817. It had an enormous success, was translated into many languages and was set to music by several composers including Robert Schumann. The volume contains the script of the Berlin performance along with the names of the royal courtiers who took parts in it as well as 23 superb colour plates showing the fantastic oriental costumes worn by the actors. Only six other copies have survived in public collections (2 in Berlin, 3 in the USA and one in the British Library). The present volume is especially important because it was Moore’s own copy and carries his inscription. It had been part of his extensive library, which was donated to the RIA by his widow, less a number of items, including this one, which she kept for herself. Now it has returned to its rightful place in his library.
