Purcell Auctioneers: Book Auction of c. 580 Lots to include Antiquarian Books incl. Books from Three Private Libraries, Rare - Signed - Limited Editions, Local Histories, Republican Interest Books, GAA etc, 51326, Birr

Auction Details

Auction Report
Auction Date
May 13, 2026 - May 13, 2026
Page Size: 556 items in 23 pages
Auction Lot Books
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Place Printed Year Published Estimate Actual Price
1 Robert Malcomson

The Carlow Parliamentary Roll with Genealogical Notes

Dublin 1872 GBP 75.00 - 100.00 GBP 93.75
2 Rev. W. Miller; Edward O’Toole

The Barrow Valley and its History from coming of Normans to end of Tudor Period; Place Names of County Carlow

Carlow; Rathvilly circa 1900; 1937 GBP 60.00 - 100.00 GBP 212.50
3 David Connolly

Brady’s of Killeshandra (A family history over five generations)

Ireland 2019 GBP 40.00 - 60.00 GBP 81.25
4 E.K. Tratman

The Caves of North-West Clare

1969 GBP 60.00 - 90.00 GBP 50.00
5 John J Silke; Rev Andrew C Robinson

N Books, including: Kibsale- The Spanish Intervention in Ireland at the End of the Elizabethan Wars

Cork 1970; 1897 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
6 Dan Harvey; Gerry White; Diarmuid O Drisceoil; Donal O Drisceoil

N Books, including: Cork: The Barracks- A History of Victoria/Collins Barracks

1997; 1997 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 125.00
7 Benedict Kiely

All the Way to Bantry Bay and Other Irish Journeys

1978 GBP 60.00 - 100.00 GBP 37.50
8 Peter Somerville-Large; Dan White; David Lawrence; Ann Wilson

N Books, including: Cork: The Coast of West Cork

1972; 2001; 2006 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
9 Harry Percival Swan

Romantic Inishowen

Dublin 1947 GBP 100.00 - 120.00 GBP 125.00
10 Prionnsias O Gallchobhair

History of Landlordism in Donegal

1962 GBP 40.00 - 60.00 GBP 75.00
11 Annr Haverty; Cathal O'Neill

N Books, including: Dublin: Elegant Times - Brown Thomas, a Dublin Story

1995; 1998 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 100.00
12 H.A. Hinkson

Dublin Verses by Members of Trinity College Dublin

Dublin 1895 GBP 70.00 - 140.00 GBP 100.00
13 Brendan Lynch; J Anthony Gaughan; Ulick O'Connor

N Books, including: Dublin: Parsons Bookshop- At the Heart of Bohemian Dublin 1949-1986

2006; 1997 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 87.50
14 Derek Paine

N Books, including: Dublin Greystones: A Pictorial and Written History of Greystones 1846-1986

1998; 1993; 1994; 1996 GBP 60.00 - 80.00 GBP 75.00
15 Seamus De Burca

The Queen's Royal Theatre Dublin 1829-1969

Dublin 1983 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 Not Sold
16 Simington; McCabe; de Buitleir; Black & Barry

N Books, including: The Civil Survey 1654-1656 Vol VII County of Dublin

1945; 2011; 2013; 2015 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 37.50
17 Briam Mac Aongusa; John Bradley

N Books, including: Dublin Interest: The Harcourt Street Line -Back on Track

2003 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 62.50
18 Kevin Bright; J. Anthony Gaughan; Peter Costello

N Books, including: Flora of County Dublin

1998; 2004; 2012; 1999 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
19 Sir C A Cameron; Ruth McManus; Lisa-Marie Griffith

N Books, including: Report upon the State of Public Health in the City of Dublin for the Year 1904

1904; 2013 GBP 60.00 - 100.00 GBP 106.25
20 Peter Pearson; Tony O'Shea

N Books, including: Dublin: The Herart of Dublin

2000; 1990 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 GBP 125.00
21

The Illustrated Dublin Journal … Complete in One Volume. No. 1 Saturday, September 7, 1861 – No. 30, Saturday, march 29, 1862

1861-1862 GBP 80.00 - 120.00 GBP 87.50
22 Cornelius F Smith; Bernard Share; Peter Somerville-Large

Whigs on the Green- The Stephen's Green Club 1840-1990; Dublin - The Fair City; Guide To St. Jame's Gate Brewery

1990; 1996; 1928 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 62.50
23 Pollard; L.M. Cullen; O’Doherty; Joan Ussher Sharkey; Michael O’Brien

N Books, including: Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade 1550-1800

2000; 1989; 2011; 2002; 1973 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 112.50
24 L. Parsons

Observations on the Bequest of Henry Flood

Dublin 1795 GBP 80.00 - 160.00 GBP 75.00
25 Pat Liddy; Mirjam M Foot

Dublin, Stolen From Time; The Phoenix Park Dublin, Management Plan; The Decorated Bindings in Marsh's Library, Dublin

1990; 1986; 2004 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 56.25
  • Sotheby’s
    Shelf Life: Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper from the Library of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone
    25 June – July 7
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Ludwig van Beethoven. Autograph sketches for the overture "Die Weihe des Hauses", op.124, [1822], UNPUBLISHED. £150,000 to £200,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice, 1813, first edition, 3 volumes, contemporary half calf. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, 1855, first edition, first issue, original green cloth, the Doheny copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: Binding—Sangorski & Sutcliffe—Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat, London, 1872, third edition, in a magnificent jewelled Peacock binding. £15,000 to £20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 7: George Eliot. Middlemarch, Edinburgh and London, 1871, first edition in the original parts. £20,000 to £30,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Hassall (Joan) A large collection of over 300 original woodblocks of engravings for various books, v.d., with Hassall's engraver's glass water-globe (Qty) - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Eragny Press.- [Bradley (Katherine Harris) & Edith Emma Cooper], "Michael Field." Whym Chow, Flame of Love, one of only 27 copies, inscribed by Bradley, the rarest book from the press, 1914. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: [Moore (Thomas Sturge)] [Wood Engravings], 71 wood-engravings printed by David Chambers from the original blocks, the only set on Japanese Hosho paper, from an edition of 5 sets, [1970]. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: La Fontaine (Jean de) Contes et Nouvelles en vers, 2 vol., engraved plates after Eisen, fine early 19th century blue morocco, gilt, by Bradel l'ainé, Amsterdam [Paris], 1762. - Est. £2,000-3,000
    Forum, July 9: Erotica.- Prostitution.- Pretty Women of Paris (The); Their Names and Addresses, Qualities and Faults..., [Paris], privately printed at the Press of the Prefecture de Police, 1883. - Est. £3,000-4,000
    Forum, July 9: Vale Press.- Ricketts (Charles) & Lucien Pissarro. De la Typographie et de l'Harmonie de la Page Imprimée…, [one of 216 copies], bound in dark blue morocco tooled in gilt, by Sarah T.Prideaux, 1898. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Martin (John) Illustrations of the Bible, complete set of 20 mezzotints, good impressions, rarely found in early states, [c.1831-1835]. - Est. £1,000-1,500
    Forum, July 9: Golden Cockerel Press.- Four Gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ (The), one of 500 copies, Mary Gill's copy, Waltham St. Lawrence, 1931 with a signed proof of engraving on japon numbered 10/10 (2) - Est. £5,000-7,000
    Forum, July 9: Boccaccio (Giovanni) The Decameron, 3 vol., vol.1 extra-illustrated by John Buckland Wright with c.150 erotic original drawings in pen & ink and pencil, 1886 [extra-illustrated c.1940]. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum Auctions
    The Private Library:
    Fine Printing & Private Press books, the collection of the late David Chambers
    July 9, 2026
    Forum, July 9: Cox (Morris) Collection of Gogmagog Press Books, 35 vol., rare complete collection of printed books issued by the press, limited editions, most signed by Cox, 1957-83. - Est. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 9: Wynkyn de Worde.- [Terentius Afer (Publius)] [Comedie...], [Paris, Josse Badius: sold in London by Wynkyn de Worde, & others], [15 July 1504]. - Est. £4,000-6,000
    Forum, July 9: Mosley (James) Ornamented Types. Twenty-Three Alphabets from the Foundry of Louis John Pouchée, 2 vol., one of 10 copies for presentation, from an edition of 210, 1992-93. - Est. £1,000-2,000
  • Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000
    Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000
    Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000
    Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000
    Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000
    Forum Auctions
    The 10th Anniversary Sale
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    July 16, 2026
    Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000
    Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000
    Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000