COLLINS, Michael. Michael Collins’ Own Story. Told to Hayden Talbot (DE LUXE DE BÚRCA EDITION LIMITED TO 60 COPIES ONLY)

With a preface by Éamonn de Búrca. Dublin: De Búrca, April, 2012. pp. 256, plus index. Full red morocco, title and medallion portrait of Collins in gilt on spine and upper cover. Edition limited to 60 copies only, signed and numbered by the publisher, Éamonn de Búrca. A fine handsome copy in fine slipcase.
The American journalist, Hayden Talbot first met Michael Collins at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin,
shortly after he had signed the Treaty with England. He states that in nine months of intimate association Collins was “the finest character it had ever been his good fortune to know”, and a friendship that Talbot valued more than any other he had ever made. This work contains an invaluable insight into Collins’ thinking and actions during this epic period of Irish history. It deals at length with Easter Week, The Black and Tans, The Murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, the Treaty negotiations and his vision for the resurgent nation. Originally published in 1923, our edition is illustrated, with a preface and an index which was not in the first edition. Contents includes: Easter Week (1916) and its aftermath; Black and Tan War; The murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington; The Treaty negotiations and Collins’ rationale for acceptance; His projected programme for a resurgent Irish state (finance, administration, defence, and reconciliation). First issued in 1923, Talbot’s text quickly became a touchstone for contemporaries and later historians; the original lacked an index. The present 2012 De Búrca edition furnishes a preface that re-situates the work for modern readers and a new index enhancing its utility as a primary source.

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