Rare Book & Collectors' Sale June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026

13 Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 50. Heaney (Seamus) Selected Poems, 1965- 1975, 8vo L. (Faber & Faber) 1980 tipped in signature on t.p. (dated May 2nd, 1989), blue cloth, pictorial d.j.; Human Chain, 8vo L. 2010, First Edn., maroon boards, d.j.; Electric Light, 8vo L. 2001, First Edn., navy cloth, d.j. (3) €180 - €240 51. Fowles (John) The Aristos, a Self Portrait in Ideas, 8vo L. (J. Capel 1965) First Edn., (Ex. Libris Copy), blue cloth, d.j.; Flanagan (Richard) The Narrow Road to the Deep North, 8vo L. 2014, First Edn., Signed by the Author, red boards, d.j. Clean Copy. (2) €120 - €180 52. Signed by John le Carre le Carre (John) The Naive and Sentimental Lover, 8vo L. (Hodder & Stoughton) 1971, First U.K., Signed on card on f.e.p., black cloth (gilt lettering) d.j., good copy; The Looking Glass War, 8vo L. (Heinemann) 1965, First Signed and Dedicated on f.e.p. (card) to Alex Worrall, black cloth, d.j. Good copy. (1) €600 - €800 53. Spencer (Ed.) Travels in the Western Caucasus, 2 vols. Lond. 1838. First Edn., 2 engd. frontis, vignette titles, cont. hf. tan calf, tooled gilt spine in panels, mor. labels. Good. (2) Provenance : De Veres of Curragh Chase and O'Briens of Dromoland Castle. €180 - €250 54. With Attractive Hand Coloured Plates [Combe (Wm.)] The Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, A Poem, roy 8vo Lond. (Ackermann) 1815. Sixth Edn., hd. cold. portrait frontis, cold. title, & 29 New hand coloured plts, t.e.g., fine crushed crimson levant mor., gilt spine. V. good copy. (1) €200 - €300 55. I.A.S.: Tracts Relating to Ireland, 2 vols. sm. 4to D. 1841 - 1843. First Edn., recent hf. green mor. V. good. (2) €130 - €180 56. Garnett (David) A Terrible Day, 8vo, L. (Wm. Jackson Books Ltd.) 1932, Signed Limited Edn., No. 180 (500) Copies, frontis, oatmeal cloth, gilt lettering, spine stained; Crawford (Robert) Nine Tales from the Contes Drolatiques of Honore de Balzac, 8vo L. (T. Werner Laurie Ltd.) 1921, Signed Ltd. Edn. No. 221 (600) copies, frontis, uncut, paper backed boards, ptd. label. (2) €70 - €90 57. Merriman (Brian) The Midnight Court, roy 8vo D. & C. (Mercier Press) 1982. Signed Limited Illustrated Edition No. 112 of 500 Copies, Signed by Artist and Translator, illus. pict. d.w.; Mannin (Ethel) Connemara Journal, Lond. 1947. First Edn., illus. by Elizabeth Rivers, pict. d.w. V. good. (2) €140 - €200 58. Cuala Press: O’Connor (Frank) A Picture Book, Illustrated by Elizabeth Rivers. Dubin 1943. First Limited Edition, No. 4 of 480 Copies, illus. orig. cloth backed pict. boards. Good. (1) €160 - €240 59. Dedicated to Brendan Bracken Gibbings (Robert) Coming Down the Wye, 8vo L. (J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.) 1942, Signed ‘ To Brendan Bracken from Robert Gibbings, Dec. 1942, (with bookplate for ‘The Viscount Bracken of Christ Church P.C.,) blue cloth d.j. Nice Association. (1) Note: Bracken was Winston Churchill’s closest confidante. In Evelyn Waugh’s 1945 novel, Brideshead Revisited, Bracken served as a model for the character of Rex Mottram. It has been suggested that Bracken may have been the inspiration for Big Brother and / or O’Brien in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, as George Orwell worked at the Ministry of Information under Bracken’s term as Minister of Information. When Neville Chamberlain prepared to resign in May 1940, the candidates to succeed him were Churchill or Lord Halifax. The political issue at stake at the time was which potential successor would the Labour Party accept in the formation of a National Government. Churchill’s view was that the Labour Party would not support him and so agreed with Chamberlain to nominate Halifax. When Bracken became aware of Churchill’s agreement to nominate Halifax, he convinced Churchill that the Labour Party would indeed support him as Chamberlain’s successor and Lord Halifax’s appointment would hand certain victory to Hitler. Bracken advised Churchill tactically to say nothing when the three met to arrange the succession. After a deafening silence when Churchill was expected to nominate Halifax, the latter obligingly ruled himself out, and Churchill was put forward as Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, having avoided any appearance of disloyalty to Chamberlain. €250 - €320 52 54 59