WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR Saturday 6 May 2017 at 10am

THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR · 6 MAY 2017 AT 10AM

The Time Traveller Collection

714

Knox, William. Extra Official State Papers. Ex-Libris Leonard Macnally, co-founder of the United

Irishmen and British spy.

Addressed to The Right Hon. Lord Rawdon and the Other Members of the Two House of Parliament,

Associated for the Preservation of the Constitution and Promoting the Prosperity of the British Empire. By

a Late Under Secretary of State. J. Debrett, London, 1789. Volume one of two, 8vo, 49, [1], 14, [2], 174 [2]

pages plus Errata-leaf, contemporary Irish calf gilt with edges stained green.

This thoughtful work on Irish politics and history was written by an Irish-born government official, and

subsequently owned by two significant figures in Irish history, both of whom have left their mark on

it. The first was the British spy, Leonard Macnally, who has signed and annotated the text, followed by

Warner WilliamWestenra second Baron Rossmore who has left his notes and jottings on the Act of Union.

The title page bears the ownership signature of Leonard Macnally who signs himself ‘Leo: MacNally’ with

the name of the anonymous author ‘[William] Knox’ written in his hand below. Macnally, a barrister and

playwright, is now remembered as a notorious spy for the British government, exploiting his status as

a co-founder of the United Irishmen to betray friends and republican clients such as Wolfe Tone even

as he purported to defend them in the court cases that followed the rebellion of 1798. In addition

to his ownership signature MacNally has lightly annotated Knox’s Appendix which contains a ‘Paper

delivered to Lord Frederick Campbell, when appointed Secretary to Ireland, 1767’ in which the author

addresses the ‘tyranny’ of aristocratic government in Ireland, lamenting the ‘wretched... ancient condition

of Ireland... in respect to property’ ownership. MacNally’s interest seems to lie in Knox’s reading of the

history of Irish land tenure with five inked annotations setting out the legal justification for Knox’s

historical analysis, frequently by reference to Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England.

The bookplate of the Barons Rossmore appears on the front pastedown, almost certainly Warner William

Westenra (1765-1842) the second Baron who was briefly a member of the Irish Parliament before losing

his seat in the Act of Union, returning to spearhead a campaign to reform the representative peerage in

Ireland, finally serving as Lord Lieutenant of Monaghan. On the penultimate blank endpaper, Westenra

wrestles with the implications of Union with the UK, apparently writing before the act: ‘The question

now before the public is shall we have an Union?... Shall the people of Ireland consent to an Union of

Legislature... The voice of thousands cry out no - that is the voice of thousands exclaim - let material

pride trample upon national interest.’ Alluding to one of the perennial features of Irish history, Rossmore

acknowledges: ‘Literary men of genius will go to England’, but resignedly continues, ‘Is that not the case

now - Sheridan &c’

Estimate €700-€1000 (approx £595-£850)