GIBSON, Rev. C.B. The History of the County and City of Cork. Two volumes. With map.

London: Thomas C. Newby, 1861. Octavo. pp. (1) viii, 424, (2) x, 540. Bound in publisher’s blind-stamped cloth by Guy Bros., Academy Street, Cork with their label on front pastedown, gilt armorial device on upper cover, replicated in gilt on lower, tile in gilt on spine. From the library of Thomas Justly Green Chatterton with his armorial bookplate on front pastedowns. A near fine set.

The first volume begins with an account of the rivalry of the MacCarthy and O’Brien Gaelic clans, the 12th century Norman conquest and the creation ofthe Earldom of Desmond, centuries of Gaelic rebellion and the defeat of the Gaelic Irish at the Battle of Kinsale. The second volume covers the 17th century Civil War, the Cromwellian invasion, the Williamite Wars and the 1798 rebellion. The remainder of the second volume describes the government of the county Cork , its baronies and parishes, their histories, notable family dynasties and residences.