CROSS, Eric. The Tailor and Ansty (CROSS FAMILY COPY OF BANNED BOOK)

With an introduction by Frank O’Connor. Frontispiece. London: Chapman & Hall, 1942. Demy octavo. First edition, first printing. pp. 203. Brown cloth, title in gilt on spine. Occasional spotting and light handling internally. In original unclipped dust jacket, somewhat age-toned with minor wear. An exceptional associative copy, enhanced with unique archival material not found in any other recorded example.

This Cross family copy is extensively supplemented with original photographs, newspaper cuttings, and theatre ephemera, offering rare insight into the reception, suppression, and later revival of one of the defining texts of modern Irish social literature: ownership signature of R. E. Cross on front pastedown; original photographs of Timothy (“Tailor”) and Anastasia (“Ansty”) Buckley and of Eric Cross; contemporary newspaper cuttings relating to the book and its reception; and programme and admittance material for a stage performance at the New Theatre, Dublin. An exceptional associative example preserving the living afterlife of the work.
A true first edition of one of the most controversial and culturally significant books of twentieth-century Irish literature. The Tailor and Ansty records the storytelling life of the West Cork tailor Timothy Buckley and his wife Anastasia (née McCarthy), whose earthy wit and unfiltered speech challenged prevailing moral and clerical authority. On publication the book provoked public outrage and ecclesiastical condemnation, and was effectively banned in Ireland until the cultural thaw of the 1960s.
Frank O’Connor’s introduction situates the Buckleys within the deep oral tradition of Irish rural life, recognising in their speech and humour a vanishing folk culture. The survival here of family provenance material, photographs, press responses, and theatrical ephemera gives this copy unusual documentary value, tracing the book’s journey from censorship to canonisation, and from page to stage. An important Irish literary first edition, enhanced by unique archival material that firmly anchors the book in its social, cultural, and theatrical history.

[CAT 163]