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bookplate of Mary Henrietta Balfour, Townley Hall, Co Louth,
in each volume and the signature “M. I. Balfour / Townley Hall
/ from K. B. 1885” on each half-title.
A seminal work. O’Grady developed an interest in ancient Irish
literature after discovering O’Halloran’s History in a country house
library. He produced two vols of a history of Ireland (1878 and 1880),
centred on a politically and sexually bowdlerised retelling of the Ulster
cycle. These were not commercially successful, but they popularised Cú
Chulainn. They had a profound influence on W. B. Yeats and George
Russell; Yeats called O’Grady ‘father of the Irish literary revival’. At
intervals throughout his career, O’Grady produced revised editions of
the same material. He was hailed by the literary revival as a father
figure and is portrayed respectfully, selectively and sometimes drunkenly
by such memoirists as Yeats and Moore. He was ambivalent about the
new movement and criticised theatrical dramatisations of the heroic
tales as demeaning. His appeal extended to physical-force nationalists.
Arthur Griffith praised him as an honest Unionist (a handy stick with
which to beat other Unionists). Eoin MacNeill blamed O’Grady for
infecting P. H. Pearse with an unhistorical and pagan imagery of self-
regarding Celtic heroism. The work was, as O’Grady himself confessed,
one of imagination. He knew no Irish, and did not try to learn it until
1899, and then with little success. He misspelt the name of his hero
(using the form ‘Cu Culain’) and never bothered correcting his mistake;
as late as 1933 this misspelling was repeated on the English title-page of
a translation of The Coming of Cuculain, published by the Gaelic
League. But the importance of the History lay in its impact upon
leading figures of the Irish literary revival. O’Grady’s belief that Ireland
had a continuous ‘race history’, and that this was centred in the
imagination, the ‘legends’ which nations ‘make for themselves … that
dim twilight region, where day meets night’, appealed to Yeats, who
included no fewer than six of O’Grady’s books in a list of the ‘thirty
best Irish books’ in 1895. Yeats declared that it was after reading
O’Grady that ‘I turned my back on foreign themes, decided that the race
was more important than the individual, and began my “Wanderings of
Oisin”’(CDIBB & ODNB).
(2)
€250-€350 (£200-£280 approx.)
1155. O’KELLY DE AGHRIM (Sir Wm. D.). Philosophia
aulica, juxta veterum, ac recentiorum philosophorum placita.
Compendiose, ac methodo parisiensi pertractata, et
illustrioribus superioris aevi inventis, et experimentis
illustrata, et quatuor in partes, amputata prolixitate, divisa in
gratiam studiosae nobilitatis, aut vulgarem philosophiam
fastidientis, aut scholarum taedium non ferentis, aut denique
rerum curiosarum avidae.
Neo-Pragae, typis Hampelianis
impressit Joannes Georgius Hofaeker,
1701
FIRST EDITION, with additional engraved title-page and
pages (3), 120; 80; 232; 60, (12), 4to, some light browning but
otherwise a very good to nice copy in contemporary stiff
vellum, the spine lettered in ink in a contemporary hand.
A notably rare work: COPAC hast L, C and O and WorldCat adds
Michigan only. Not on-line in either D or Dt. “One semi-
philosophical treatise published in Prague in 1701 by an Irish exile
is noteworthy for its wide erudition and its practical purpose –
Philosophia Aulica, by William O’Kelly of Aughrim. As its title,
Court Philosophy, and its description on the title-page imply,
O’Kelly intended it for the use of ‘the studious nobility who either
despised the common (vulgarem) philosophy or else could not bear
the tediousness of the schools, or at any rate had an appetite for
curious things” (rerum curiosarum avidae). It has much to say about
the history of ancient philosophy, quotes many classical texts, and
includes two lengthy Latin elegiac poems and lively introductions by
the author himself. It would be pleasant to know what the studious
nobility of Bohemia thought of it. ” – Stanford, Ireland and the
Classical Tradition, 194.
€1,000-€1,200 (£800-£960 approx.)
1156
.
O’REILLY (Edw.).
An Irish-English dictionary,
containing upwards of twenty thousand words that never
appeared in any former Irish lexicon: with copious quotations
from the most esteemed ancient and modern writers, to
elucidate the meaning of obscure words and numerous
comparisons of the Irish words, with those of similar
orthography, sense, or sound, in the Welch and Hebrew
languages. In their proper places in the dictionary, are inserted,
the Irish names of our indigenous plants, with the names by
which they are commonly known in English and Latin. The
Irish words are first given in the original letter, and again in
italic, for the accommodation of those who do not read the
language in its original character. To which is annexed a
compendious Irish grammar. By Edward O’Reilly.
Dublin:
Printed, for the Author, by A. O’Neil, at the Minerva Printing-Office,
Chancery-Lane,
1821
Pages (10, including a 2-pp subscriber list),28, iii, (1, blank),
(550), 4to, contemporary half calf, gilt ruled and lettered spine:
cracks in joints but binding strong, otherwise very good.
At head of title “A New Edition. “ O’Reilly (c. 1770-1829) received
Haliday’s extensive lexicographic collections. Combining these with
materials of his own, he arranged the whole to form the first Irish-
language dictionary. He initially met with little encouragement, but
eventually succeeded in raising enough subscriptions to enable him to
print the work in Dublin in 1817, entitling it Sanas Gaoidhilge/sags-
bhéarl. It contained more than 20,000 words that had never before
appeared in any Irish lexicon, along with illustrative quotations from a
wide variety of ancient and modern writers, and numerous comparisons
of the Irish words with those of similar orthography, sense, or sound in
Welsh and Hebrew. It was something of a tour de force, also containing
a concise Irish grammar and the Irish names of various indigenous
plants alongside their English and Latin names. It was reissued in
1821, and again in 1864 with a supplement by John O’Donovan
(ODNB).
€100-€120 (£80-£96 approx.)
1157
.
OGLE (George).
Of legacy-hunting. The fifth satire of
the second book of Horace imitated. A dialogue between Sir
Walter Raleigh, and Merlin the prophet.
Dublin: Printed by R.
Reilly, for G. Risk, bookseller in Dame-street,
1737
FIRST IRISH EDITION,20-pages, 12mo, recent paper wrapper:
a very good copy.
ESTC locates three copies: L, Di, O. First published at London earlier
the same year, without the author’s name, but there can be no doubt
that the Dublin title-page correctly assigns it to Ogle. Foxon O102.
O’Donoghue, 353 (this edition only). NCBEL II,559.
€120-€180 (£96-£144 approx.)
1158
.
OLIVER (Wm.).
A collection of local songs, poems, &c.
&c.
Newcastle: Printed by Edward Walker,
1829
FIRST EDITION, pages 70 and leaf of imprint, without the
half-title, 8vo, old cloth-backed boards: a very good copy
Johnson 669. Forty-three pieces mainly of north-west England interest,
but included are two short poems of a broader interest, “The Duelist”,
and, “The Negro Slave”.
ALSO WITH THIS LOT: (1)
[SMITH (Horatio & James)].
Rejected Addresses: or the new Theatrum Poetarum. Twentieth
edition, carefully revised, with an original preface and notes by
the Authors.
John Murray,
1841. With engraved portrait
frontispiece and 6 text illustrations after George Cruikshank, pp
(2), xxviii, 170, with the half-title, small 8vo, original cloth-
backed boards, with printed paper spine label: the label
discoloured and lightly chipped and with light staining of the
front endleaves: a good to very god copy in original state.
Parodies of contemporary poets including Byron, Moore, Coleridge,
280