MAXWELL, W.H. The Dark Lady of Doona THE PARLOUR NOVELIST SERIES

Belfast: Simms and M’Intyre; London: W. S. Orr, 1846. First edition. 12mo. pp. 384 (including 8 pages of adverts at end). Contemporary half calf on marbled boards, title in gilt on maroon morocco label on gilt decorated spine. A very good copy. Very rare.
JISC with 4 locations only. Sadleir, M. 3754. Loeber 332.
First edition in The Parlour Novelist series of Maxwell’s romantic and historical tale set in the Erris peninsula, inspired by the notorious Gráinne Ní Mháille (Grace O’Malley), the Dark Lady of Doona - chieftain, seafarer, and scourge of English authority on the western seaboard. The Dark Lady of Doona blends adventure, local legend, and political intrigue, and is one of the author’s most evocative Irish novels. The story opens in 1601, but also treats the early part of her life. Hugh O’Neill, Sir Richard Bingham and the Geraldines feature in this tale of love and wild vengeance.
William Hamilton Maxwell (1792-1850), born in Newry, was a prolific novelist and historian whose vivid military and historical tales, such as Stories of Waterloo and Wild Sports of the West, made him one of the foremost chroniclers of nineteenth-century Irish life and character.
Issued as part of Simms and M’Intyre’s Parlour Novelist series, designed to make quality fiction accessible to a broad readership at an affordable price. Early issues from this Belfast press are now very rare.

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