Poetry

Our Poetry section houses rare books for sale from authors such as Seamus Heaney, W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Douglas Hyde, Thomas Kinsella, George Montague, Thomas Moore, Paul Muldoon, Frank O’Connor, J.M. Synge and old books from many more.

Our books are sorted in these categories:


	THE DUBLINERS. Revolution (Signed first Irish pressing by Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly) Dublin: Tribune Records, 1970. First Irish pressing. Long-playing 12-inch vinyl record, catalogue number TRLP 1015, in original pictorial sleeve, illustrated with a colour photograph of the five members of The Dubliners standing and seated outside a Georgian doorway. Signed in ink on the front cover by Ronnie Drew and Luke… €750.00
	SCOTT, Walter. The Vision of Don Roderick; A Poem. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne for John Ballantyne, 1811. Quarto. First edition, second state. Bound by Mullen of Dublin in full polished calf, covers with blind acanthus roll; spine divided into five panels by four gilt raised bands, armorial badge in gilt on first panel, title in gilt direct in… €675.00
	BEATTIE, James. The Minstrel [EDWARDS OF HALIFAX FINE ETRUSCAN BINDING] In two books. With some other poems. By James Beattie, LL.D. To which are now added, Miscellanies. By James Hay Beattie, with an account of his life and character. London: Printed by T. Gillet, Salisbury Square, for C. Dilly, in the Poultry; and sold by A. Brown, Aberdeen, 1799. Post… €1,450.00
	MORRISSEY. Autobiography. (Signed by The Smiths lead singer) London: Penguin Books, 2013. First paperback edition. 457pp. Original pictorial card wrappers with a photographic portrait of Morrissey. Signed boldly by Morrissey in black ink on the half-title, his unusually large signature occupying much of the page. A very good copy. Morrissey’s Autobiography was unusually published directly as a Penguin… €450.00
	COHEN, Leonard. Book of Longing (Signed first edition with Order of the Unified Heart stamped) Toronto: McClelland & Stewart / Ecco, 2006. First edition, first printing. 8vo. 231pp. Original white cloth, spine lettered in blue, in pictorial dust jacket featuring Cohen’s own artwork. Fine copy in near fine dust jacket, retaining the publisher’s “Autographed Copy” sticker. Signed by Leonard Cohen on the title-page. A fine… €650.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. Station Island (Signed first edition) New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985. First American edition, first printing. 8vo. pp. 123. Original quarter green cloth over cream paper-covered boards, spine lettered in gilt, in the original illustrated dust jacket. Inscribed and dated by the author on the title page: “Seamus Heaney, 26.xi.’87.” One of the Nobel… €450.00
	YEATS, Jack B. Life in the West of Ireland. Drawn and Painted by Jack B. Yeats. (Limited edition) Dublin and London: Maunsel and Company Ltd., 1912. First edition. Limited issue, one of 150 copies. Royal 8vo, 111pp. Out of series copy. Illustrated with eight tipped-in colour plates, including the frontispiece The Red Pony, 32 full-page line drawings and 16 tipped-in monochrome reproductions from paintings. Original dark blue cloth… €975.00
	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… €575.00
	DERRICKE, John. The Image of Irelande with a Discoverie of Woodkarne. With an introduction, translation and glossary by David B. Quin. Preface by Liam Miller and foreword by John A. Gamble. With twelve folding woodcut illustrations. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1985. Quarto. pp. xxx, 220, 1 (2 plates). Quarter vellum on blue boards. Limited to 286 copies for sale [145]. From the library of John Bradley with his bookplate. Fine copy in slipcase. Scarce. The author of this historical poem John Derricke was a follower of Sir… €375.00
	MONTAGUE, John. The Pear Is Ripe. A Memoir. (Signed limited edition) Dublin: Liberties Press, 2007. First edition. 8vo. pp. 240. Original blue cloth, title and author lettered in gilt on spine, with illustrated dust jacket and publisher’s slipcase. A fine copy. Number 182 of a signed limited edition of 200 copies, signed by John Montague on the limitation page. An important… €150.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. Miracle. (Signed limited edition, issued as a Christmas card by the poet for 2006) Loughcrew, County Meath: privately published for the author by Peter Fallon/The Gallery Press, 2006. One of 300 copies. Single folded card, printed in green, red and black, with holly decoration to upper cover. Signed by Seamus Heaney beneath the poem. Heaney’s Christmas card for 2006, privately printed in a small… €750.00
	BYRNE, David. Bicycle Diaries. (Signed first edition) New York: Viking, 2009. First edition. 8vo. pp. 297. Illustrated. Publisher’s orange cloth with contrasting red cloth spine, titles and bicycle design in yellow and black. A few small marks to the rear board, otherwise a very good copy. Signed by David Byrne in blue ink on the title-page, with… €250.00
	LYNOTT, Philip. A Collected Works of Philip Lynott (Rare limited edition) [London: Pippin the Friendly Ranger, 1979]. First edition. 4to. pp. 104. Illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings. Original black cloth, lettered in white on upper cover and spine. A very good, clean copy. An early and increasingly scarce collection of the writings and lyrics of Philip Lynott (1949–1986), frontman and… €575.00
	HEANEY, Seamus: Beowulf A Verse Translation. Illustrated by Becca Thorne. [The Folio Society] London: The Folio Society, 2010. pp. 218. Quarter maroon morocco on dark red cloth with gilt interlacing decorative desigh, title and author in gilt on spine; maroon endpapers and endbands. Top edge gilt. A fine copy in slipcase. “The great relic of English literature is the epic ‘Beowulf’. The poem… €450.00
	WILDE, Oscar. The Poetical Works of Oscar Wilde (Limited edition in fine binding) Including Poems in Prose with Notes, Bibliographical Introduction, Index and Facsimiles of Title-Pages. Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher, 1908. First Mosher edition. Limited to 750 copies printed on Van Gelder hand-made paper. 8vo, pp. xxiv, 394, [2], with portrait frontispiece and seven leaves of plates, including facsimiles. Finely bound in… €875.00
	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… €575.00
	UA DUINNÍN, Athair Pádraig. Srartha as an Soiscéal i bhFilidheacht. Gospel Narratives in Verse. Áth Cliath: Ar n-a chur amach do M.H. Gill agus a Mhac, 1911. Crown octavo. pp. [vi], 106. Maroon ribbed cloth, title in gilt on upper cover. A near fine copy. Scarce. [L3 3C] €75.00
	UA DUINNÍN, Athair Pádraig. Cill Áirne. Trácht ar spéar-radharcaibh Locha Léin agus ná tíre ‘na thimhcheall. Illustrated. Átha Cliath: Connradh na Gaedhilge, 1902. Crown octavo. pp. vi, [2], 89, [2 (Publisher’s List)]. Red ribbed cloth, title and badge of Connradh in gilt on upper cover. A near fine copy. Scarce. [L3 3C] €75.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. Selected Poems 1966–1987. (Signed limited edition) New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990. Limited signed edition, one of 200 numbered copies signed by Seamus Heaney on the limitation leaf, this being copy no. 46. 8vo. pp. [8], 273. Original publisher’s brown cloth, upper cover blocked in blind with Heaney’s monogram, black morocco-backed spine with gilt lettering… €950.00
	The Irish Christmas. Illustrated by Sadb Trinnseach. Dublin: The Candle Press, 158 Rathgar Road, 1918. Octavo. Second edition. pp. 16. Printed stitched wrappers. A very good copy. Selected Poems in Irish, English and Scottish, expressive of the spirit of the Gaelic Christmas, with contributions by Tomas O Ceallaigh, Lionel Johnson, Susan Mitchell, Joseph Campbell. [File I] €195.00
	BECKETT, Samuel. Signed Photograph. Original black-and-white photographic portrait (90 v 145mm) of Samuel Beckett, boldly signed in blue ink across the lower white margin. A striking head-and-shoulders image of the Nobel Prize-winning Irish playwright, novelist and poet, whose sparse, existential works, including Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Krapp’s Last Tape, transformed twentieth-century literature and… €875.00
	HEANEY, Seamus: District and Circle. [SIGNED] London: Faber and Faber, 2006. First edition. Green paper boards. Signed by Seamus Heaney on titlepage. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. Seamus Heaney was born near Castledawson, County Derry, and grew up on his father’s small farm. He was the eldest in a Catholic family of nine children… €575.00
	A.E. The National Being. Some Thoughts on an Irish Polity. Dublin and London: Maunsel, 1918. Popular edition. pp. [vi], 176. Printed wrappers. A very good copy. Scarce. First published in 1916, The National Being presents Russell’s vision of an independent Ireland founded not upon political nationalism alone, but upon economic self-sufficiency, rural co-operation, and the moral renewal of society. Drawing… €75.00
	A.E. [George Russell] Thoughts for a Convention. Memorandum on the State of Ireland. Dublin and London: Maunsel, 1917. First edition. Crown octavo. pp. 32. Printed wrappers. A very good copy. Lloyd George’s attempt to secure a final settlement of the demand for Home Rule brought about The Irish Convention (July 1917 – August 1918). As the discussions progressed, the southern unionists and a… €185.00
	A.E. [George Russell] Deirdre. A Drama in Three Acts, by A.E. Being Number Four of the Tower Press Booklets … Second Series. Dublin: Maunsel & Co., 1907. First edition. Small quarto. pp. 53. Very good in pictorial wrappers. Scarce. One of the earliest dramatic treatments of the Deirdre legend produced during the Irish Literary Revival, A.E.’s Deirdre reflects the movement’s fascination with the heroic literature of ancient Ireland and its… €365.00
	DERRICKE, John. The Image of Irelande with a Discoverie of Woodkerne (Limited edition) With the notes of Sir Walter Scott. Edited, with introduction, by John Small. With twelve folding woodcut illustrations. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles, 1883. Quarto. pp. xxiv, 144. Limited to 286 copies. Original quarter roan on marbled boards, title and author in gilt direct on spine. From the library of Lord… €1,250.00
	MCDONAGH, John (ed.). A Fine Statement: An Irish Poets’ Anthology (signed and dated by Seamus Heaney) Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 2008. First edition. 8vo. pp. xiii, 305. Original blue cloth, titles gilt to spine, blue silk marker ribbon. Presentation copy, signed and dated by Seamus Heaney on the front free endpaper: “Seamus Heaney / 6 April 2012. ”A fine copy. A particularly attractive anthology of contemporary Irish… €250.00
	MANGAN, James Clarence. Irish and Other Poems. With a Selection from his Translations. Dublin: The O’Connell Press, M. H. Gill and Son, 1886. Small 8vo. pp. [2], 144. Original publisher’s olive-green printed cloth, upper cover and spine lettered in black. A very good copy with a little light spotting to the endpapers and occasional foxing throughout, the… €275.00
	RYAN, John. Remembering How We Stood. Bohemian Dublin at the Mid-Century With a foreword by J.P. Donleavy. Illustrated. Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1987. Demy octavo. pp. xiv, 168. Maroon papered boards, titled in gilt. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. Scarce. John Ryan (1925-1992), broadcaster, critic, painter, publican, editor and publisher. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College and the National… €125.00
	JOYCE, P.W. Irish Peasant Songs in the English Language. The Words set to the proper Old Irish Airs. London: Longmans & Dublin: Gill, 1906. Second edition. Octavo. pp. 16, [4 (Joyce’s works)]. Stitched printed wrappers. Very good copy. The rarest of all P.W. Joyce’s works. In his preface Joyce tells us: “I now publish this little Collection, different from both, the Title of which explains itself. Like the… €185.00
	MacGILL, Patrick. Songs of the Dead End. IN RARE DUST JACKET London: Deane, 1923. Crown octavo. pp. x, 167, 3 (Author’s works). Blue cloth, lettered in black, blind-stamped decoration on upper cover (a pick and shovel) design. Top edge gilt. A very good copy in the rare pictorial dust jacket featuring a portrait of the author. Scarce… €145.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. Autograph Letter Signed to “Andy & Michele”. Dated 7 April 1998. Mentioning Beowulf, Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and James Joyce. Two pages quarto (300 x 210mm). Written in black ink on personal headed paper: 191 Strand Road, Dublin 4, Ireland. Signed “Seamus”. Folded as posted. Fine condition overall, with expected fold lines and light creasing from handling. A warm, highly personal and unpublished autograph letter by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney… €3,500.00
	O’NEILL, Capt. Francis. O’Neill’s Irish Music. 400 choice selections arranged for piano or violin. Airs, jigs, reels, hornpipes, long dances, etc. Most of them rare; Many of them Unpublished. Collected and edited by Capt. Francis O’Neill (Ret. Gen. Supt. of Police). Arranged by Selena O’Neill. Chicago: Lyon & Healy [1915]. Quarto. Enlarged edition. pp. 192. Light green paper boards, printed in green with a Celtic border. Spine repaired slight fraying to foredge. A very good copy. Very rare. Francis O’Neill (1848-1936) was the Cork-born Chicago police officer, often styled “Captain” though… €375.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. Beowulf. (Signed limited edition) London: Faber and Faber, 1999. pp. ix, 106. Quarter russet cloth on cream boards, title in gilt on black morocco label on spine. Green paper-covered slipcase. Edition limited to 325 copies only, O/S (Out of Series), signed by Seamus Heaney. A fine copy in the original slipcase, the binding fresh… €1,250.00
	CLARE, Sister Mary Francis [Cusack] Cloister Songs and Hymns for Children (First edition) London: Burns & Co., & Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1881. First edition. Crown octavo. pp. 181. Original bright blue cloth, covers blocked in blind with decorative panel borders, upper cover lettered and ornamented in gilt with Celtic-inspired initials and interlaced design, spine lettered in gilt. Decorative bookplate of A.T… €375.00
	Bush, Kate. How To Be Invisible (Signed first edition) London: Faber & Faber, 2018. First edition, first printing, the number line ending in “1”. Square 8vo. pp. xxix, 192. Publisher’s original black cloth boards lettered in silver and bronze to upper cover and spine. A fine copy. An exceptional signed first edition of Kate Bush’s celebrated collection of lyrics… €950.00
	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… €375.00
	KINSELLA, Thomas (translator). The Sons of Usnech: The Exile of the Sons of Usnech & The Exile of Fergus & The Death of the Sons of Usnech & Deirdre. Dublin: Dolmen Press, 1960. Reprint edition. Small octavo. Original pale green cloth, upper cover blocked in green with the Dolmen Press illustration of Deirdre, in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Louis le Brocquy. Printed in red and black at the Dolmen Press. pp. [32]. Very good copy in… €75.00
	KINSELLA, Thomas & Louis Le BROCQUY. The Tain. Brush Drawings by Louis le Brocquy, Translated and signed by Thomas Kinsella from the Irish Táin Bó Cuailgne Dublin: Dolmen, 1969. Imperial octavo. First edition. pp. vi, [2], 294, [2]. Black buckram with an illustration of a bull in white by Le Brocquy on upper cover, title in white on spine. Signed by Thomas Kinsella. Limited edition of 1750 of which 750 were for sale in the USA… €1,850.00
	LENNON, John. In His Own Write (First edition) London: Jonathan Cape, 1964. First edition, fourth impression (June 1964). Small quarto. pp. 96. Original blue boards, upper cover lettered in silver with photographic portrait of Lennon by Robert Freeman. A very good copy, the binding bright and clean, with only light wear and minor toning to the text block… €150.00
	LENNON, John. A Spaniard in the Works (First edition) London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. First edition. Small quarto. pp. 109. Original pictorial boards designed from a photograph by Robert Freeman. A very good copy, the boards showing light rubbing and minor wear to extremities. Internally clean and bright throughout. The second book of prose, verse, drawings and absurdist humour by… €250.00
	WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol with an Introduction by Burton Rascoe and Lithographs by Zhenya Gay. New York: The Heritage Press, New York, [1937]. Imperial octavo. pp. xii, [2], 42, [1]. Decorative embossed sheepskin binding resembling gaol cell, lettered in gilt along spine. All edges red. A fine copy in fine slipcase. Before he fled to Paris, Oscar Wilde had spent some time in Reading Gaol… €250.00
	MOORE, Thomas. Lalla Rookh, An Oriental Romance. Illustrated with Engravings from Drawings by Eminent Artists. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1853. Octavo. pp. [xii], 392. Finely bound in full dark blue morocco by a skilled nineteenth-century binder, boards elaborately tooled in gilt and blind with an intricate geometric central panel highlighted in green, raised bands, title lettered in gilt on spine, all edges gilt… €575.00
	BYRON, George Noel Gordon, Baron. Mazeppa (First edition) London: John Murray, 1819. First edition, later issue. pp. [4], [4], 6-69, [1], with terminal leaf of adverts. Later full calf, spine divided into six compartments by five gilt raised bands, title and author in gilt on burgundy morocco labels in the second and third, the remainder lavishly tooled in… €385.00
	GOGARTY, Oliver St. John. Elbow Room (First edition) Dublin: The Cuala Press, 1939. First edition. pp. [iv], 32. Original quarter linen over blue paper-covered boards, title printed in black on upper cover and spine label. A fine copy. One of the last books issued by the Cuala Press before the outbreak of the Second World War, Elbow Room… €225.00
	ROLLLESTON, T. W. (translator). WAGNER, Richard. Tannhäuser. A Dramatic Poem. Presented by Willy Pogany. London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1911. First edition thus. Quarto. pp. [unpaginated]. Original decorated olive cloth, upper cover and spine elaborately blocked in gilt, blue and black with a striking Art Nouveau design by Willy Pogany. Colour pictorial endpapers. Illustrated throughout with mounted colour plates, monochrome plates, ornamental borders… €375.00
	KAVANAGH, Patrick. Ed. by. Kavanagh’s Weekly. A Journal of Literature and Politics. Vol. 1.; No. 1. Saturday, April 12, 1952. First issue. To. Vol. 1. No. 12. Saturday, June 28, 1952. Twelve issues. Together with a facsimile of the 13th and final issue. 153 Dublin: Printed for the publisher, Peter Kavanagh, 62 Pembroke Road, Dublin, by The Fleet Printing Co., Ltd., 6 Eccles Place, 1952. Large quarto. Exceedingly rare. Occasional mild foxing. In very good condition. Extremely rare. Founded and edited… €3,500.00
	KINSELLA, Thomas. Fifteen Dead. One and Other Poems. SIGNED LIMITED EDITIONS WIDGERY’S BETRAYAL OF THE BOGDSIDE Two volumes. Dublin: The Dolmen Press in association with Peppercanister, 1979. First editions. Octavo. pp. 75, 71. Quarter vellum parchment on green paper boards, title in gilt along spine, Peppercanister in gilt on upper covers and slipcase. Special edition of Fifteen Dead issued uniformly with One and other Poems, limited… €750.00
	SAINT ULTAN. Leabhar Ultáin. The Book of Saint Ultan. For the Children of Dublin’s Poor Illustrated by Jack B. Yeats & Others A collection of pictures and poems by Irish artists and writers, compiled and arranged by Katherine MacCormack with numerous illustrations. Dublin: The Candle Press, and Sold for the Benefit of Saint Ultan’s Hospital by Martin Lester, Ltd., 78 Harcourt Street, 1920. Quarto. pp. 32, 8 (plates). Brown stiff wrappers. A… €475.00
	HEANEY, Seamus. The Spirit Level (Signed limited edition) London: Faber and Faber, 1996. First edition, limited issue. .pp. 70. Special edition, one of 350 copies signed by the author, this being number 307. Finely bound in original grey paper-covered boards with black cloth spine and printed spine label. A fine copy. A handsome limited edition of one of… €850.00