PHILLIPS, Charles. BOUND BY WILLIAM DONNELLAN OF DUBLIN. The Emerald Isle: A Poem.

London: Printed for J.J. Stockdale, 1818. Sixth edition. Octavo. pp. 228, [4]. Bound by William Donnellan, with his circular engraved label (Bound by / Wm. Donnellan / Book Binder, / 4 Lr. Jervis Str. / Dublin), on front pastedown. Contemporary full red morocco, covers framed by a gilt floral roll. Flat spine, professionally rebacked preserving original backstrip, divided into six panels by quadruple gilt fillets, title in gilt direct in the second, the remainder tooled in gilt to a floral pattern. Red and green endbands; green endpapers. Premium prize awarded to Thomas Fogarty, inscribed in ink on front free endpaper, dated 1821. Occasional light foxing to margins, some browning to pages. Small ink stain affecting the margins of last five leaves. All edges gilt. A most attractive binding from this relatively unknown Dublin Book Binder.  [TVR 4A]

Ramsden 233.

Charles Phillips (1786-1859), the celebrated writer and lawyer, friend of O’Connell and an ardent campaigner for Catholic Emancipation, was born in Stephen Street, Sligo. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he  distinguished himself as an orator, and won the College Historical Society medal for oratory. Phillips was called to the Irish Bar in 1812 and nine years later to the English Bar. Lord Brougham appointed him a bankruptcy judge at Liverpool, and in 1835 he was promoted to Commissioner of Bankruptcy. His florid eloquence ensured his success as a criminal lawyer and for many years he was the leading counsel at the Old Bailey. He established a reputation there, but, due to his over-elaborate style of oration, was soon nicknamed ‘Counsellor O’Garnish’. Alongside his legal career he wrote legal speeches, political tracts, prose and  poetry, including the present work. In the preface he recalls the pungent feelings he experienced on leaving his native land “my most poignant  emotions were ... love for my native land and regret at leaving it.”