W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats, (1865 – 1939) is considered by many the greatest Irish poet, dramatist, and prose writer, one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
Yeats was born in Sandymount, Ireland, and educated there and in London. He spent childhood holidays in County Sligo and studied poetry from an early age, when he became fascinated by Irish legends and the occult. From 1900, his poetry grew more physical and realistic. His brother Jack is considered Ireland’s greatest contemporary artist, while his sisters Anne and Elizabeth operated the Dun Emer Press, later to be called the Cuala Press located in Dundrum, Dublin. Yeats’s father, John Butler Yeats, was a barrister who eventually became a portrait painter.
He largely renounced the transcendental beliefs of his youth, though he remained preoccupied with physical and spiritual masks. In 1923, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Some of his most famous works include – The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, Irish Fairy Tales, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, The Celtic Twilight, Cathleen Ní Houlihan, The Hour-Glass, The Wild Swans at Coole, The Wild Swans at Coole, The Second Coming, Later Poems, The Trembling of the Veil, Stories of Red Hanrahan, The Secret Rose,The Tower, The Winding Stair and Other Poems, On the Boiler. It is belived that the love of Yeats life was Maude Gonne and in 1891 he visited her in Ireland to proposed marriage, but was rejected. She later married the Irish nationalist Major John MacBride. In 1896, Yeats was introduced to Lady Gregory, together they up The Abbey Theather.
He died in 1939 Menton, France at the age of 73. and buried at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.
William Butler Yeats ‘If I die, bury me up there [at Roquebrune] and then in a year’s time when the newspapers have forgotten me, dig me up and plant me in Sligo’.”[91]
In September 1948, Yeats’s body was moved to St Columba’s Church, County Sligo. The person in charge of this operation for the Irish Government was Seán MacBride, son of Maud Gonne MacBride, and then Minister of External Affairs.
In 1989 Rowan Gillespie commemorated Yeats in Sligo town with a statue outside the Ulster Bank, beside Markievicz Road. Yeats had remarked on receiving his Nobel Prize that the Royal Palace in Stockholm “resembled the Ulster Bank in Sligo”. Across the river is the Yeats Memorial Building, home to the Sligo Yeats Society. In Dublin there is a W. B. Yeats Memorial Garden located at St Stephen’s Green.
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 | KERNOFF, Harry. Woodcut Portrait of W. B. Yeats. Signed and captioned by the artist. Single leaf, 180 x 250mm. Circa 1950. Framed and glazed [330 x 395mm.] In very good condition. Rare W.B. Yeats woodcut. Harry Kernoff (1900-1974), artist, was born in London, son of a Russian father and Spanish mother. In 1914 the family moved to Dublin, where he studied at the Metropolitan School of Art and won the Taylor Scholarship in 1923. […] €675.00 |
 | YEATS, W. B: A Full Moon in March YEATS, W.B. A Full Moon in March. London: Macmillan, 1935. First edition. pp. vii, 70. Dark green cloth, title in gilt on spine. From the library of Denis Johnston, with his bookplate. A fine copy in fine dust jacket with a few nicks. “Wade 182. Contains the plays: A Full Moon in March; The King […] €385.00 |
 | YEATS, W. B. Irish Fairy and Folk Tales. (First edition) Selected and edited, with an introduction, by W. B. Yeats. Twelve illustrations by James Torrance. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd.; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, [1895]. First American illustrated edition. Crown 8vo. pp. xviii, 326, with twelve full-page illustrations by James Torrance. Original cream pictorial cloth, elaborately blocked in red and gilt, with […] €575.00 |
 | YEATS, W. B., & JOHNSON, Lionel. Poetry and Ireland: Essays. FIRST BOOK PRODUCED UNDER CUALA IMPRINT Dundrum: The Cuala Press, 1908. First edition, first impression, one of 250 copies. Octavo. Lady Emer and Tree publisher’s device on title page. Text printed in red and black. Original quarter linen, blue paper boards, front cover lettered in black, blue endpapers, edges untrimmed, partially unopened. Spine and board edges lightly browned, contents clean. Ex […] €325.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B: The Hour Glass YEATS, W.B. ‘The Hour-Glass’ and Other Plays. Being volume two of plays for an Irish theatre. ‘The Hour Glass’; ‘Cathleen Ní Hoolihan’; ‘A Pot of Broth’. 80 LIMITED EDITION OF 100 COPIES New York, Macmillan, 1904. Edition limited to 100 copies on Japanese vellum. pp. vii, 113. Fine in paper parchment in d.j. Wade 52 […] €585.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. & GREGORY, Lady. The Unicorn from the Stars and Other Plays by William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory. New York: Macmillan Company, 1908. First edition. Octavo. Blue cloth stamped in gold with elaborate gilt decoration on spine, top edge gilt. Wade 73, listing no equivalent English edition. 1200 copies printed. It is believed that Lady Gregory made substantial contributions to the writing of many of W.B. Yeats’ plays, but this is the only […] €425.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. & OTHERS. Coinage of Saorstát Éireann 1928. Profusely illustrated. Dublin: Stationary Office, 1928. Small quarto. pp. 65, XI (plates). Original buckram, titled in gilt. Previous owner’s signature on front free endpaper. A near fine copy. The poet W.B. Yeats was Chairman of the Committee set up by the Irish Government to select and design coinage for the Free State. He was assisted […] €875.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Autobiographies: Reveries over Childhood and Youth and The Trembling of the Veil. [SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF YEATS’S MEMOIRS] New York: Macmillan Company, 1927. First American edition. Octavo. Original quarter blue cloth on brown paper boards, printed paper labels to spine and front cover, edges untrimmed. Number 144 of 250 copies signed and numbered by the author. Engraved frontispiece portrait of the author after John Butler Yeats, with tissue guard, and four plates. Two small areas of faint […] €2,250.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Eight Poems by W.B. Yeats. Transcribed by Edward Pay [LIMITED TO 122 COPIES ONLY] London: Published by “Form” at The Morland Press, January 1916. Quarto. pp. [24]. Printed in red and black. Cream card printed in black. Covers browned and lightly foxed as usual, some edge wear. Limited edition of 122 copies on Italian hand-made paper [No. 76] of an overall edition of 200 copies. Printed errata slip laid […] €1,650.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Essays. 1931 to 1936. With illustration on title page. Dublin: Printed and Published by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats at the Cuala Press, 1937. Demy octavo. First edition. pp. iv, 132. Limited to 300 copies. Quarter buff linen on sugar bag blue paper boards, printed paper label on spine. Edition limited to 300 copies only. Previous owner’s neat bookplate. Small scattering […] €475.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Pages From a Diary Written in Nineteen Hundred and Thirty. [ELIZABETH RIVERS’ COPY] Woodcut of Giraldus by Edmund Dulac on titlepage. Dublin: Cuala Press, 1944. First edition. pp. iv, 58. Quarter buff linen on yellow paper boards, title in black on upper cover and on printed label on spine. Edition limited to 280 copies [No 239], of which 250 copies for sale. Elizabeth Rivers’ copy with her signature […] €575.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Plays for an Irish Theatre. [From the library of Siegfried Sassoon] Comprising: Deirdre; The Green Helmet; On Baile’s Strand; The King’s Threshold; The Shadowy Waters; The Hour-Glass; Cathleen Ni Houlihan. With designs by Gordon Craig. London: Bullen, 1911. First Edition. First Impression. Medium octavo. pp. xiv, 224. Yellow linen spine on brown paper boards, white label printed in black on spine, white endpapers. All edges untrimmed. […] €1,250.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Poems London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd., [1920]. 8vo. pp. [xvi], 314, with mounted portrait frontispiece after a drawing by John Butler Yeats. Finely bound in full dark green morocco, covers elaborately decorated in blind with Celtic-inspired interlacing and ornamental tooling, spine richly lettered and decorated in gilt with Art Nouveau motifs. Top edge gilt. pp. 314. […] €375.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Poems. [Limited Edition] London: Published by Fisher Unwin, Paternoster Buildings, 1895. First edition. pp. xi, 285, [2]. Publisher’s light brown cloth, with elaborate gilt design by H. Granville Fell, lettering in gilt; off-white endpapers; all edges untrimmed. Cloth toned. A very good copy. Very rare. Wade 15. This edition was limited to 750 copies only. The preface is […] €2,850.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Poems. Engraved frontispiece of Yeats by his father John B. Yeats. London: T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd. Adelphi Terrace, 1908. Revised edition. Large post octavo. pp. xiv, [8], 9-301, [1]. Title printed in red and black. Blue green cloth, with gilt-stamped design by Althea Gyles on upper cover and spine and gilt rose to lower cover. A very good copy. A beautiful early twentieth century edition of […] €575.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Poems. Frontispiece of Yeats by his father John Butler Yeats. London: Fisher Unwin, 1908. Octavo. pp. xiii, [1], 302. Blue cloth, decorated in gilt to a design by Althea Gyles on spine and covers. Label of Henry Young, Bookseller, Liverpool, on front pastedown. Inscription on front endpaper. A very good copy in an attractive binding. Wade 20. Dedicated to Maud Gonne. Includes revised versions of […] €575.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Poems. RARE COLLECTION OF POEMS Frontispiece portrait of Yeats by his father John Butler Yeats. London: Fisher Unwin, 1920. Octavo. pp. xv, 314. Title in red and black. Blue cloth, decorated in gilt to a design by Althea Gyles on spine and in blind on covers. Inscription on front endpaper. A very good copy. Wade 100 states that this and […] €475.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Celtic Twilight. Men and Women, Dhouls and Faeries (First edition) With frontispiece ‘The Last Gleeman’ by John B. Yeats facing title. London, Lawrence and Bullen, 1893. First edition, second issue. pp. xii, 212. Olive-green ribbed cloth, title author and publisher in gilt on spine. Lacks one page of works by the author. Minor wear to extremities. Text fresh and clean. A very good copy. Wade […] €575.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Celtic Twilight. Men and Women, Dhouls and Faeries. With frontispiece ‘The Last Gleeman’ by John B. Yeats facing title. London, Lawrence and Bullen, 1893. 12mo. First edition. pp. xii, 212. Recent full dark brown morocco, covers blind-stamped to a panel design with fleurons; spine divided into six panels by five gilt raised bands, title, author and year in gilt direct in the second, […] €1,650.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Cutting of an Agate (First edition) London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1919. First edition. Octavo. pp. vii, 223. Original dark blue cloth, upper cover and spine elaborately blocked in gilt with a stylised Art Nouveau design by Althea Gyles, title in gilt on spine. pp. vii, 223. A very good copy with light fading to spine, occasional minor spotting and a […] €295.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Land of Heart’s Desire. Signature of Alfred Hayes. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1894. First edition. Octavo. pp. 48. Title printed on right-hand side, on the left-hand side is a reproduction of Aubrey Beardsley’s design for the Avenue Theatre poster. Purple-pink faded paper wrappers over endpapers, lettered in black on front cover, and with Beardsley’s design on left-hand side. A printed slip stating: This Book is published at […] €1,250.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Land of Heart’s Desire. Portland Maine: Mosher, 1903. Second edition. Foolscap octavo. pp. 35. Grey paper boards, title on printed label on upper cover and spine. Edition limited to 950 copies on Van Gelder hand-made paper. A very nice copy. Wade 13. First American edition in book form of the revised text. One of 950 ordinary copies on Van […] €225.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Poetical Works. Volume I – Lyrical Poems. Volume II – Dramitical Works (A superb set) THE FINEST COPIES EVER OFFERED FOR SALE IN SUPERB CONDITION BY THE EXOTICALLY CELTIC POET New York: The Macmillan Company, 1906-07. Octavo. Publisher’s blue cloth, smooth spines densely decorated in gilt in a Symbolist-style design. Front free endpaper or flyleaf of each volume inscribed in ink: “Evelyn R. Poole / from Clarence / Christmas, 1907. […] €1,650.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Shadowy Waters. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1901. Second edition. Quarto. pp. 57, [3]. Original blue vertical-grain cloth over bevelled boards, title in gilt to spine, gilt floral motif with dropped petal to upper board. Top edge gilt. A fine copy. Wade 30 ??. €750.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. The Wind Among the Reeds. [RARE FIRST EDITION] London: Elkin Mathews, 1899. Crown octavo. pp. vii, [1], 108. First edition. Original publisher’s blue cloth with elaborate gilt design across upper and lower covers by Althea Gyles, spine lettered in gilt. The earliest issues did not contain the errata slip. Wade 27. Yeats’ famous ‘book of short lyrics Irish & personal’, published initially to […] €3,850.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Three Things [Limited Edition of 100, Signed by Yeats] Illustrated with colophon and a coloured drawing by Gilbert Spencer. London: Faber & Faber, 1929. pp.11. Large paper edition, signed by W.B. Yeats, limited to 500 copies (No. 456). Light blue paper boards. From the library of Thomas P. Johnson with his decorative bookplate. Spine expertly rebacked. A very good copy. Wade 133. This work […] €1,450.00 |
 | YEATS, W.B. Yeats Centenary Service at Drumcliffe Parish Church (Rector: Rev. S.D. Hamilton, B.A.) Trinity Sunday, June 13th , 1965 at 11-30am. (Broadcast by Radio Eireann).on the Occasion of the Centenary of the Birth of William Butler Yeats by the Bishop of Limerick The Right Reverend Robert Wyse Jackson 12 June 1965. Sermon by the Lord Bishop of Limerick, The Right Reverend Robert Wyse Jackson. Sligo: S.S.D., Ltd. 1965. Four pages octavo, printed on all sides. Creased […] €275.00 |
 | YEATS, William Butler. On the Boiler. Dublin: The Cuala Press, [1939]. Crown quarto. Original grey green wrappers, titles to cover in black, design by Jack B. Yeats in black of McCoy, the mad ship’s carpenter, leaf of publisher’s advertisements at back. First trade edition, following the unprocurable privately printed edition published a year earlier in Dundrum. Browning to cover, small nick […] €200.00 |
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