D’ALTON, Rev. E. A. History of Ireland. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day. With coloured frontispiece to each volume and numerous maps and illustrations throughout.

THE RARE COMPLETE EIGHT-VOLUME SET

Eight volumes, complete. London: The Gresham Publishing Company, 1911–1925. Small 4to. Original green cloth, attractively decorated and lettered in gilt and blind, top edges gilt. Some minor signs of use, otherwise a very good and particularly attractive set. The complete eight-volume issue is exceedingly scarce and very seldom appears on the market.

A particularly desirable complete set of Edward Alfred D’Alton’s substantial History of Ireland, noteworthy for comprising the full eight volumes. The work presents a bibliographical trap which has led to considerable confusion in both the trade and library catalogues. Sets consisting of six volumes are encountered with comparative frequency and are very often described and sold as complete. The concluding two volumes, bringing D’Alton’s history forward into the modern period, are markedly scarcer, with the consequence that the complete eight-volume work is now surprisingly difficult to obtain.

Indeed, the predominance of six-volume sets in the marketplace has created the widespread impression that D’Alton’s History was issued as a six-volume work. It was not: the present eight volumes constitute the complete extended edition. The discrepancy arose in large part from the publication history of the work. The earlier volumes appeared first, while the continuation was issued subsequently, the complete revised and enlarged undertaking eventually extending to eight volumes and concluding in 1925. Many purchasers evidently never acquired the later volumes, while subsequent dispersal of sets has further contributed to their scarcity.

Consequently, although individual volumes and six-volume groups of D’Alton are by no means uncommon, a genuinely complete eight-volume set is a very different proposition and appears only infrequently in commerce. The distinction is important when assessing both the bibliographical completeness and desirability of the present set.

Edward Alfred D’Alton (1859–1941), historian and Roman Catholic priest, was born at Lavallyroe, near Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, the son of John and Ellen (Reynolds) D’Alton. Educated at St Jarlath’s College, Tuam, and St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, he was ordained in 1887. After serving as curate in several parishes, he became parish priest of Ballinrobe in 1911, subsequently becoming a canon, vicar forane and domestic prelate. In 1930 he was appointed Dean and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Tuam.

A serious and prolific historical scholar, D’Alton contributed studies of the Cromwellian and Restoration periods to the Dublin Review and wrote a number of articles for the Catholic Encyclopedia. He also produced an important History of the Archdiocese of Tuam. His reputation, however, rests principally upon his History of Ireland, an ambitious attempt to provide a continuous narrative of Irish history from its earliest origins to the political upheavals of his own lifetime.

D’Alton's historical writing was notable, particularly for its period, for its generally measured approach to controversial questions. Although writing as a Catholic priest during an era of profound political and historiographical division, his earlier scholarship was characterised by a willingness to examine competing evidence and by an avoidance of some of the more polemical interpretations prevalent in Irish historical writing of the period.

The extended edition is also an attractive production, illustrated throughout with portraits, views and maps and with a coloured frontispiece to each volume. The uniform green cloth bindings, extensively decorated and lettered in gilt and blind, give the complete work considerable shelf presence.

A notably scarce opportunity to acquire D’Alton's monumental history in its complete eight-volume form. The familiar six-volume group is regularly encountered and frequently, but incorrectly, assumed to constitute the complete work; the additional volumes necessary to form the present eight-volume set are considerably more elusive. Complete sets such as this appear very seldom in the marketplace.

[CAT 164]