This month the Oireachtas Library is displaying a copy of Nolan’s Illustrated History of the War Against Russia, which was published in the 1850s.
New technologies had a significant impact on media coverage of the Crimean War. Where previously it took weeks and months for reports to arrive from abroad, developments in telegraph communications meant that news could reach Britain within days, or even hours. The war was also the first to feature the new technology of photography, most notably the work of British photographer Roger Fenton (1819-1869). Fenton’s photographs were used for illustrations in Nolan’s book.
The book is from the Oireachtas Library’s FitzGerald Collection, purchased in auction in the 1920s from Carrigoran House, Co. Clare.
Image: Photographs by William Howard Fenton / Source: Wikimedia Commons
To find out more, visit the digital exhibition of the documents in the display case.