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
250 Desmond Guinness

The Georgian Society Records of Eighteenth century Domestic Architecture and Decoration in Ireland

1912; 1969 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 GBP 50.00
251 Desmond Guinness

The Georgian Society Records of Eighteenth century Domestic Architecture and Decoration in Ireland

1912; 1969 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 Not Sold
252 Desmond Guinness

The Georgian Society Records of Eighteenth century Domestic Architecture and Decoration in Ireland

1913; 1969 GBP 60.00 - 100.00 Not Sold
253 Bram Stoker; Arthur Conan Doyle

Dracula; The Hounds of the Baskervilles

2008 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 162.50
254 Charles Dickens; Harper Lee

Great Expectations; To Kill a Mockingbird

1996 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 150.00
255 James Joyce; Oscar Wilde

Dubliners; The Picture of Dorian Gray

2003; 2009 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 162.50
256 Erskine Childers; Thomas Hardy

The Riddle of The Sands; Far From The Madding Crowd

1992; 1985 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 150.00
257 Conor Cruise O'Brien; E M Forster

Reflections on the Revolution in France; Howards End

2010; 1973 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 GBP 150.00
258 George Orwell; Iris Murdoch

Nineteen Eight-Four; The Sea, The Sea

2001; 2009 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 125.00
259 Bertrand Russell; A.C. Grayling

History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

London 2004 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 GBP 81.25
260 Samuel Lewis

Topographical Dictionary of Ireland

London 1837 GBP 120.00 - 240.00 GBP 175.00
261 James McConnell

Christ Church Rathgar, Illumination, 1883: Address to the Rev. S Robson on his being awarded The Degree of Doctor of Divinity

Dublin 1883 GBP 80.00 - 120.00 GBP 100.00
262 T J Westropp; Margaret Stokes

Notes on the High Crosses of Moone, Drumcliff, Termonfechin and Killamery

1901 GBP 40.00 - 60.00 Not Sold
263 Douglas Bennett

Irish Georgian Silver

1972 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 106.25
264 Maurice Craig

Irish Bookbindings 1600-1800

London 1954 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 68.75
265 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Louth

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 237.50
266 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Clare

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 87.50
267 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Meath

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
268 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Westmeath

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 125.00
269 Bernard Scale

Map of King's County

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 56.25
270 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Kildare

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 68.75
271 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Dublin

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 325.00
272 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Longford

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 50.00
273 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Kilkenny

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
274 Bernard Scale

Map of County of Sligo

London 1798 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 50.00
  • 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