KEANE, John, B. Self-Portrait (Inscribed copy of John B Keane’s autobiography)

Cork: The Mercier Press, 1964. Illustrated. First edition. pp. 106. Brown cloth, title in gilt on spine. In original pictorial dust jacket. A little edge-worn, but overall very good. A fine association copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper:

“To David & Una, / Thanks for raising my price. Every good wish to the two of you / Your friend / John B. Keane / 4/9/2000.”

Keane’s frank and witty autobiography, issued only two years after the triumph of Sive, offers a colourful account of his Kerry upbringing, struggles, and literary rise. The dedication is to his lifelong friend Dickeen Roche, a local Listowel character who inspired figures in Keane’s plays. This copy is of particular interest: inscribed by Keane in the year of his death (2002), it displays his characteristic humour and warmth, mingling personal friendship with the comic self-awareness that made him a national treasure. A rare survival in jacket, much more so inscribed. Copies of the first edition of Self-Portrait are already scarce; association copies signed in Keane’s final years are of considerable rarity and significance.

An excellent signed first edition, with a warm personal inscription by one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights.

[L3 8D]