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
200

Notes of a Journey in the North of Ireland, in the summer of 1827 : to which is added, a brief account of the siege of Londonderry, in 1689

1828 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 175.00
201 John Morly

Oliver Cromwell

1901 GBP 80.00 - 100.00 GBP 137.50
202 Thomas Wright

The History of Ireland from the earliest period of the Irish Annals to the Present Time

ND (1853) GBP 120.00 - 240.00 GBP 200.00
203 Wright G. N.

Scenes in Ireland with Historical Illustrations, Legends, and Biographical Notices

London; Dublin 1834 GBP 80.00 - 120.00 GBP 106.25
204 Kiberd; Foster; Larkin

5 Books, including: Inventing Ireland the literature of Modern Ireland

N/A GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 62.50
205 Michael J F McCarthy; Eoin Mac Neill

5 Books, including: Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin established for the investigation and revival of Ancient Irish Literature , Vol 1

Dublin 1808; 1901; 1921 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
206 John McGahern; Neil Kevin; Moirin Cheavasa

11 Books, including: The Leavetaking

1976; 1944; 1940 GBP 50.00 - 100.00 GBP 62.50
207 Robert Parker

Memoirs of the Most Remarkable Military Transactions from the Year 1683, to 1718. Containing a More Particular Account, ... of the Several Battles, ... and Flanders, ...Published by His Son.

1747 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 200.00
208 Katharine Tynan; W M Letts; Harold Speakman

8 Books, including: Peeps At Many Lands Ireland

1927; 1947; 1925 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 37.50
209

Poor Law Commissioner's Report 1847

1847 GBP 600.00 - 900.00 GBP 2,750.00
210 Isabel Grubb; Spenser; Davies; Moryson; Morley; Hull; De Blacam

6 Books, including: My Irish Journal 1669-1670

1952; 1890; 1905; 1903; 1938; 1881 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 62.50
211 T. F. O’Sullivan; Hayden; Noonan; A. M. Sullivan; Montgomery Hitchcock

4 Books, including: The Young Irelanders

Tralee 1945; 1921; 1909; c. 1890 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 62.50
212 T S Eliot; Charles Villiers Stanford; Ceil Forsyth; Denis Johnston; Mary Lavin; Thomas Bodkin

8 Books, including: Murder in the Cathedral

1935; 1950; 1935; 1971; 1920 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
213 J W Seigne; W P O'Brien; Sir James Perrott; George Sigerson

7 Books, including: Irish Bogs- Sport and Country Life in the Irish Free State

1928; 1896; 1933; 1897 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 137.50
214 Cecil Woodham-Smith; Robert Kee

9 Books, including: The Gresat Hunger

1962; 1980 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 GBP 37.50
215 T. O. Russell; Paul-Dubois; Dunlop; Lockington; de Blacam

5 Books, including: Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland, beautiful scenery and an archaeologists’ manual

London; Cambridge 1897; 1908; 1905; 1905; 1935 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 75.00
216 Colin Williams; Martin Bourke

4 Books, including: Limerick Grand Prix. The Limerick "Round the Houses" Races of 1935, 1936 & 1938

2011 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 Not Sold
217

The Catholic Bulletin

1916; 1937 GBP 60.00 - 80.00 GBP 50.00
218 Richard Stanyhurst; Liam Miller

Holingshed’s Irish Chronicle of 1579

1979 GBP 150.00 - 250.00 GBP 275.00
219 Tim Healy

Stolen Waters - A Page in the Conquest of Ulster

1913 GBP 60.00 - 120.00 Not Sold
220 W. Steuart Trench

Realities of Irish Life

1866 GBP 40.00 - 60.00 GBP 62.50
221 William McGrath; T S F Battersby; John J O'Meara; John William Carleton

N Books, including: The Law of Parliamentary Elections in Ireland

1918; 1892; 1890; 1856; 1930; 1923 GBP 50.00 - 80.00 GBP 81.25
222

Post Office Guide- Eolai an Phoist-1950

1950; 1960; 955 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 GBP 43.75
223 W A Maguire; Desmond Bowen; Micheal O Siochru; Aidan Clarke

N Books, including: Kings in Conflict- The Revolutionary War in Ireland 1689-1750

1990; 1970; 1999; 1966 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 GBP 68.75
224 Horace Reynolds

A Providence Episode in the Irish Literary Renaissance

Providence 1929 GBP 40.00 - 80.00 GBP 37.50
  • 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