Publications and Research
Document Type
Book Chapter or Section
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
This chapter argues that the twelve illustrative plates in John Derricke's Image of Ireland (1581) were the author's primary focus, aimed at readers who practiced the kinds of ‘laudable exercises’ demanded of committed Protestants: a kind of reading that was recursive, studious, and dynamic. This essay contextualises Derricke’s Image in relation to printer John Day’s output in the late sixteenth century as well as to contemporary illustrated texts from which Derricke may have drawn inspiration as a reader and woodcarver. I focus on the seven plates containing small alphabetical keys and their impact on how and in what order we are meant to read the verse captions.The multimodal structure of these plates showcases Derricke’s keen understanding of John Day’s target audiences and Derricke’s knowledge of continental trends in woodcut illustrations.
Whereas the preceding prose text may often seem obscure and metaphorical, the plates lay bare Derricke’s argument: that the Irish ‘kern’ are an insidious threat both to English rule and to Protestant values. Derricke’s ‘laudable exercises’ arm his readers with the interpretative power to fight this threat through the act of visual navigation, so that decoding the images becomes itself an act of Protestant militancy.
Comments
This work was originally published in "John Derricke’s The Image of Irelande: with a Discoverie of Woodkarne,"edited by Thomas Herron , Denna J. Iammarino , and Maryclaire Moroney.