An "eclectic collector" auction to be held in Whyte's auctioneers, Marlborough Street, Dublin, tomorrow includes some significant historical material.
One lot comprises the bottom half of an original 1916 Proclamation estimated at £7,000£8,000 (€8,888-10,157), regarded by Whyte's as "the single most desirable document of modern Irish history".
According to Mr Peter Geofroy, director of Whyte's, the printers could only set up one half of the Proclamation at a time. British soldiers found the lower half frame of type when they gained possession of Liberty Hall on April 28th and ran off rare souvenir copies of the Proclamation.
The half of the Proclamation in the auction is "underinked" - suggesting it was done by amateurs, namely British soldiers. Of 1,000 full originals, fewer than 30 are believed to exist today. Of the halves, only two are recorded, one of which is in Kilmainham Jail, he says.
Two other highly interesting lots are a detailed Sinn Fein executive committee minute book for north Co Dublin from October 1919 to May 1922 (estimate: £1,200-£1,500), and a 1921-1922 archive of 50 Cumann na mBan documents (estimate: £1,500-£2,000).
The Sinn Fein minute book traces the political development of Sinn Fein and IRA activity in the War of Independence. It refers to elections, harassment and arrests and, on December 31st, the split over the Treaty.
The Cumann na mBan archive includes a list of all members in the Fingal area, letters from members who were imprisoned by the Free State government and other pamphlets, leaflets and song sheets.
A rare copy of The Irish Times from April 25th, 1916, is included in the auction with a full page of reports on the Rising, which started the previous day. The leader is headed "The Outbreak", while a printed label affixed to the front page reads: "Permission to issue this paper was withdrawn at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, 25th April, 1916. The paper subsequently issued to the public on that day was considerably reduced in size. The Manager."
The edition was subsequently distributed as a souvenir copy. The lot includes the replacement copy in which the page of reports on the Rising has been removed, as has the leader. The lot includes the April 26th and April 27th editions, with the only mention of the Rising being a proclamation by the government. (Estimate: £250-£300).
The auction includes British railway company posters with pictures by Paul Henry advertising Donegal, Connemara, Lough Derg and the Dingle peninsula, each of which is expected to fetch £800-£1,000.
Postcards include a 1912 "We won't have Home Rule" pullout featuring portraits of unionist leaders which, together with three other postcards in good-to-finecondition, are expected to fetch £25£30.
Three early 20th century rugby football postcards include one of the 1906 Irish rugby team, posted on February 24th, 1906, to Dundalk, with the message: "Scotland won 14-6, it was very exciting". As Mr Geoffroy says: "Nowadays it would be a phone call" and there would be no record of the exchange.
A rare and sought-after 1936 Ireland versus Germany soccer official programme for the international played at Dalymount Park on October 17th, complete with Irish and German Nazi flags is estimated at £300-£350.
A reproduction 1958 Manchester United jersey "Phoenix from the Flames" signed by survivors of the Munich air crash including Harry Gregg, Bill Foulkes, Bobby Charlton, and members of the 1968 team including George Best and Shay Brennan, mounted in a large frame, is estimated at £200-£250.
Flora Michell's Vanishing Dublin, published in Dublin in 1966, is expected to fetch £120-£140, while Francis Plowden's An Historical Review of the State of Ireland in three volumes, published in 1803, is expected to fetch £200£250.
The eclectic collector auction takes place tomorrow at 1 p.m., 30 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1. Telephone: 01 874 6161.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
