Softcover. San Rafael CA, Coracle Press, reprint, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 330 pages, b&w frontis. A new printing of the journal and letters of Stephen Mackenna (1872-1934), a vivid and representative thinker whose life intersected with many of the leading figures of his day, and especially those of the Irish literary renaissance. The editor, E. R. Dodds, writes: Stephen MacKenna's working life was divided among three countries, and was further broken by two complete changes of occupation and by continual changes of residence. When he died, he left behind him no wife, child or lifelong friend; . . . and with the exception of the 1907-9 Journal no papers of any considerable biographical value. He left instead a legend. In the Memoir which follows I have endeavored to recover and present the facts underlying the legend. Best known for what AE (George William Russell) called his 'noble translation of Plotinus', MacKenna nonetheless harbored views that collided with those of Plotinus, and so speaks to us as an authentic forerunner of the 'modern' human being, by which is meant those who, once their individual inner light is lit-and no matter how it may gutter in the wind of uncertain freedoms-must, even while hallowing earlier and magisterial records of paths of spiritual ascent, accept the need for a complete 'descent' (without which the whole engine of creation will have had no final purpose), with all the provisional darkness this may entail, so that the final ascent may be made in personal love and freedom. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. London, England, Collins, 1st UK Edition, 1962, 352 pages. Hardcover. Includes appendices, bibliography & index. B/w illustrations throughout. Dust jacket unclipped, has some agewear (see image). Cover boards bound in red cloth, gilt title on spine. Tanning to pages and edges from age, otherwise pages clean and unmarked. Binding tight, spine straight. In great shape. Before Columbus, before the Vikings, did Ireland's St. Brendan make a North Atlantic crossing?
Softcover. NY, Stone Street Press, 1st , 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, black paper wrappers with illustrated label on front. SIGNED BY MCCORMICK on (C) page Lino cut Illustrations, calligraphy & translation by McCormick. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. London, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Very clean, unmarked copy still in publishers shrink-wrap. Since the invention of photography, Ireland has been a magnet for photographers, but this book is unique in bringing together the work done by the unrivaled talents of the members of Magnum. From Ireland's first attempts to forge a modern identity in the 1950s to the confident country of the twenty-first century, here is a stunning survey of a beautiful and complex place and people, through times of peace as well as troub
Hardcover. New York , Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 256 pages, illustrated throughout in color and b&w. Light edgewear to dust jacket. Faint foxing to top edge, otherwise a clean, tight copy.
Softcover. Kilmallock IR, Abey Printing Works, 1st, 1940, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, stapled green wrappers, 28 pages. A local history of the picturesque village. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2nd printing, 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 73 pages. Third book in the Poets' Theatre Series. Dark blue cloth covers, white titles to spine dust jacket with b&w illustration. Slight soiling to dust jacket, clean boards, pages crisp and unmarked; a very clean, tight copy.
Softcover. Bloomington IN, Indiana University Press, reprint, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 852 pages. The life and art, the folklore, history, and common work of a rural community in Northern Ireland-through the eyes and pen of gifted folklorist Henry Glassie. Glassie regards the people of Ballymenone with respect and affection, allowing them to describe their ideas, life-ways, and values on their own terms, not his. Recognizing that theirs is a mindset and lifestyle that must be seen as an integrated whole, Glassie studies everything about Ballymenone from traditional songs to entertainment to religious beliefs to architecture, liberally quoting from the people who welcomed him into their homes over his extended stays. Some of his insights are pure brilliance, such as recognizing the way the poets and storytellers of a rural Irish district have adapted ancient Gaelic metrics to the English they use today. You will learn more about Ireland and its people in this one book than in a host of others. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Syracuse University Press , 1st, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 493 pages. Remainder line and foxing to top edge, light edgewear to dust jacket, else a clean, tight copy.
Hardcover. Syracuse NY, Syracuse University, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 64 pages, b&w photos by Oppersdorff taken in County Kerry. Depicts the people living along country lanes in tents and barrel-top wagons, travellers - or tinkers, as they often are called. He took most of the images in the late 1960s at Puck Fair. Unread in a bright dust jacket.
Softcover. Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, First Thus, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 344 pages. Softcover. Black & white illustrations throughout including maps, photographs. Bright front cover, sunfade to rear cover. Clean, unmarked copy.
Hardcover. NY, Greenwillow Books, 1st, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in glossy pictorial boards, 64 pages illustrated in b&w by Rachel Isadora. Two folktales, one from Ireland and one from Cornwall, about Tom and his encounters with a leprechaun and piskies, which convince him that they are real. "The visual balance of text and illustration completes the elegance of the book." --Booklist. Reissue of a title first published in 1979. Clean and bright.
Hardcover. London, Secker & Warburg, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 115 pages, illustrated throughout in b&w. Light edgewear to dust jacket with small closed tear to upper edge. Clean, tight copy. John Minihan was raised in Athy, Co. Kildare and has been photographing his home town and its people for over thirty years. The collection forms a portrait of an ordinary Irish county town which is gradually feeling the incursions of industry, comparative wealth and modernity. At the centre of the book is the wake of Katy Tyrrell, which Minihan photographed for two nights and three days. These photographs have been exhibited throughout the world. Here, they are accompanied by an introduction by Eugene McCabe, one of Ireland's finest writers. The collaboration between these two artists results in a timeless and moving portrait of a small Irish town. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.
Hardcover. NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1st US, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. Stated First American edition. A handsome volume containing the revised text of Sweeney Astray by Heaney with 34 photographs by Rachel Giese. SIGNED BY HEANEY on title page and dated 2005 on occasion of his visit to The Breadloaf Writer's Conference in Vermont. There is a previous owner's signature on the front fly leaf.
New York, Harcourt Brace, 1st, 1939, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardbound, light blue cloth stamped in black. 155 pages. Top front cover with slight bend. Black & white illustrations by Reginald Birch. Dust jacket fair only with fading, chipping, tears. Brodart cover. The story of an Irish lad and his tin whistle that makes an old cow dance, complete with a Fairy Queen, Celtic humor and a happy ending. No markings.
Hardcover. London, J. M. Dent, 1st UK, 1953, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Poor, Hardcover in poor dust jacket with pieces missing. 180 pages, b&w drawings. 12 authentic tales from Ireland. Book is tight and clean.
Hardcover. Wake Forest University Press, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Introduction by Ciaran Carson. A collection of 70 duotone photographs that transforms the visually dramatic landscape of Donegal into a dramatic visual narrative of its places & people. Clean copy.
NY, Lincoln MacVeagh. Dial Press, 1st US, 1924, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth with gilt lettering on spine and vignette on front cover, 290 pages. A Story of Northern Ireland before the Revolution. Rich in humor and humanity, it was one of the six novels chosen, out of thousands by Harrap, the English publisher for a cash prize. The green cloth has discoloration, washed out splotches mostly to rear cover and part of spine. The interior is clean, binding tight.
Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn and chipped dust jacket, 496 + maps. Chunk of dj gone from rear panel at top. A clean, tight copy.
Softcover. NY, Stone Street Press, 1st , 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, green paper wrappers with illustrated label on front. SIGNED BY MCCORMICK on (C) page Lino cut Illustrations, calligraphy & translation by McCormick. Clean, bright copy.
Softcover. London, Caliban Books, reprint, 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 308 pages. The Rat Pit is a novel written by Patrick Macgill and published in 1915. The story is set in the slums of Glasgow, Scotland, during the early 20th century, and follows the life of a young woman named Norah Ryan. Norah is a poor Irish immigrant who has come to Glasgow in search of work and a better life. However, she soon finds herself trapped in a world of poverty, violence, and despair. Norah's struggles are compounded by her relationship with a violent and abusive man named Larry Meath. Larry is a member of a local gang, and his criminal activities often put Norah in danger. Despite her fear and desperation, Norah refuses to give up hope and continues to fight for a better life. The Rat Pit is a powerful and gritty portrayal of life in the slums of Glasgow. Through Norah's story, Macgill explores themes of poverty, violence, and the struggle for survival in a harsh and unforgiving world. The novel is a classic of early 20th-Century literature and remains a powerful and relevant work today. Clean copy.
Softcover. Dublin IR, The Lilliput Press, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 266 pages, b&w illustrations. INSCRIBED BY SANDS on the front fly leaf. 'With a Fenian fiddle in one ear and an Orange drum in the other', singer Tommy Sands was reared in the foothills of the Mourne mountains, where he still lives. As a child, he was immersed in folk music - his father played the fiddle, his mother the accordion. The kitchen was where Protestant and Catholic farmers alike would gather for songs and storytelling at the end of a day's harvesting. During the sixties and seventies Tommy was chief songwriter for The Sands Family, who played wherever they were welcome, from local wakes and weddings to New York's Carnegie Hall; his songs have been recorded by Joan Baez, Dolores Keane, Dick Gaughan and The Dubliners. He tells of his family's traditional way of life; of the turbulent days of the civil rights movement; The Bothy Band brawling in Brittany; encounters with Alan Stivell, Mary O'Hara and Pete Seeger; Ian Paisley on his radio show Country Ceili; and a 'defining moment' during the Good Friday Agreement talks, when he organized an impromptu performance with children and Lambeg drummers. The Songman is a memoir replete with warmth and wit.
NY, Henry Holt, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Four traditional Irish tales are woven throughout this touching story of Donal O'Donnell, who has kept his heart closely guarded since the death of his son, as he is unexpectedly captivated by the stories of three peddlers, which are filled with hope, healing, and magic. Color illustrations by Loren Long.
 "Journals and Letters of Stephen Mackenna by: Stephen Mackenna / E. R. Dodds /Padraic Colum (Editor)")
 "Land to the West: St. Brendan's Voyage to America by: Ashe, Geoffrey")
 "Love of Irish Women, The - Medieval Irish Love Poetry (SIGNED COPY) by: Malachi McCormick")
 "Magnum Ireland by: Banville, John")
 "Magnum Ireland by: Banville, John")
 "Notes on the History of Adare by: Captain the Honable Vaalentine Wyndham-Quin")
 "Passages from Finnegan's Wake: A Free Adaptation for the Theater by: Joyce, James and Mary Manning (ed.)")
 "Passing the Time in Ballymenone by: Henry Glassie")
 "Patrick Kavanagh: A Critical Study (Irish Studies) by: Quinn, Antoinette")
 "People of the Road : The Irish Travellers by: Oppersdorff, Mathias")
 "Peoples of Ireland, The - From Prehistory to Modern Times by: de Paor, Liam")
 "Seeing Is Believing by: Elizabeth C. Shub/ Rachel Isadora")
 "Shadows from the Pale: Portrait of an Irish Town by: Minihan, John")
 "Sweeney's Flight; With The Complete Revised Text Of \"Sweeney Astray\" (SIGNED BY HEANEY) by: Heaney, Seamus With Photographs By Rachel Giese")
 "Terrence O'Hara by: Burns/Reginald Birch, Thomas")
 "The Bold Heroes of Hungry Hill and Other Irish Folk Tales by: Seumas MacManus")
 "The Donegal Pictures by: Giese, Rachel")
 "The Loughsiders by: Bullock, Shan F.")
 "The Making of Modern Ireland 1603-1923 by: Beckett, J. C.")
 "The Pleasures of Irish Nature Poetry 9th C.-18thC. (SIGNED COPY) by: Malachi McCormick")
 "The Rat-Pit by: Patrick MacGill")
 "The Songman: A Journey in Irish Music (SIGNED COPY) by: Tommy Sands")
 "The Wonders of Donal O'Donnell: A Folktale of Ireland by: Gary Schmidt/Loren Long")