Dix — A very rare Kilkenny -jyrinted Proclamation. 211 



Bourke's name again ; but William Smith moved from Kilkenny to Cork, 

 where we find his name in the imprint of a few works, between the years 

 1657-90. Of course, William Smith is such a common name, it is possible 

 that the William Smith of Cork might have been another person, a son or 

 relative perhaps, or even a stranger, at least in the later years. On the 

 whole, however, and judging also from what I have seen of his printing, I 

 believe him to have been the same individual, or at least that his press was 

 the same. The items so printed by him or at his press in Cork I will 

 mention shortly. They are as follows : — 



1657. Agreement of the Associated Ministers. 4to. Copy of which, from 

 my own library, I exhibit here. 



1660. History of Charles II, by James Davies. 



1662. A Sermon by the Eev. John Butler. 



1679. Usher's " Prophecies," in the National Library. 



1690. Pedigree of Viscount Mountcashel, by Dermot MacCarthy, m the 

 Dublin Municipal Library. 



All these are of the greatest rarity. There are a couple of works extant 

 printed in Cork, which may have been from Smith's press ; but as I have 

 seen neither of them, I cannot express any opinion. In a volume, however, 

 of "Poems for Church Festivals," by Eoger Boyle, issued in 1671, copies of 

 which are to be found in Trinity College, Dublin, and elsewhere, it is distinctly 

 clear that the body of this work was printed by William Smith of Cork, and 

 that only the title-page and one or two of the first leaves were printed in 

 London.^ 



I have searched in vain for any trace of Smith's death or will. I do not 

 know whether any Cork parochial register goes back to the seventeenth 

 century ; and certainly I do not find his name either amongst the wills of any 

 of the Cork Dioceses or in the Prerogative Court. The early printers, I 

 think, deserve to have more notice taken of them, and any facts about 

 their life should be recorded. The Bibliographical Society of London has 

 been and is still systematically providing for the publication of particulars of 

 the English, Scotch, and Irish booksellers, as well as printers, from the 

 earliest date of printing down to 1667 ; and if any person searching amongst 

 the early records here comes across any reference to our early printers, I 

 wish they would note such information and communicate it to me. 



I should add that there is a reference in Mr. Henry K. Plomer's 

 " Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers who were at work in England, 



' I am indebted for this fact to Mr. W. Caiew Hazlitt, who personally drew my attention to it. 



