HYDE, Douglas. Beside the Fire [LIMITED EDITION]

With a new introduction by Liam Mac Mathúna. Dublin: De Búrca, 2023. New edition. Octavo. pp. xix, lvii, 203, [1]. Quarter maroon arlen on beige cloth boards, titled in gilt. ‘An Chraoibhín Aoibin’ and ‘Douglas Hyde’ in gilt on upper and lower cover. Red and gold endbands. Edition limited to 25 copies only. Signed by Liam Mac Mathúna and Will de Búrca. In matching cloth slipcase.

“In many ways Beside the Fire, which was edited, translated and annotated by Hyde, was a ground-breaking work. Hyde himself grasped the originality of the project he was undertaking and set out his stall in a wide-ranging preface, in which he placed himself apart from his predecessors. While conceding that the books published by earlier collectors such as Crofton Croker, Patrick Kennedy, Lady Wilde and Jeremiah Curtin were interesting from a literary point of view, he believed that they were not successful from a scientific one. The principal weakness of these collectors, he argued, was their lack of knowledge of Irish, and their consequent dependence on the interpretations of others ... ”. Introduction by Liam Mac Mathúna.