So much attention has been paid to the paintings of Jack B. Yeats over recent years that it will be interesting to observe how other material associated with the artist fares at auction next Thursday.
Included in a Sotheby's sale of English literature and history items in London are 21 lots that formerly belonged to Grace Butler Yeats, whose father, Thomas Edwin, was first cousin of John Butler Yeats [father of Jack and William]. Thomas Edwin emigrated to Canada around the turn of the century but he had already established close ties with Jack Yeats; these were maintained by Grace, who paid a number of visits to Ireland, where she met up with all her cousins. Among the most charming lots in this collection is number 138, an illustrated five-page letter written by Jack to Edwin, incorporating nine pen-and-ink sketches for a narrative sequence set in the 16th century. Dating from the 1880s, when Yeats was living with his Pollexfen grandparents in Sligo, this is expected to fetch £2,000-£3,000 sterling.
The following lot is an early pen-and-ink sketch called Going to the Derby, a complex melee of horses, carriages and human figures all jostling for space (£4,000-£6,000). As the sale catalogue notes, this interest in race meetings and equestrian events was a constant feature of Yeats's work for the rest of his career. It turns up again in lot 142 (£1,500-£2,000), a further series of pen-and-ink sketches featuring men on horseback in a variety of hunting and racing scenarios. Other lots feature more sketches of a similar kind and are indicative of a young artist beginning to discover his abilities.
Even envelopes were not immune to Jack Yeats's enthusiasm for sketching; lot 144 features two of them, in which the stamp has been incorporated into the artist's work. In one instance, it acts as a top hat for a walking figure; in the other, it is one cover of an open book (£800-£1,200). There are also several letters written by Jack Yeats, both to Edwin and Grace. To the latter, for example, he sent a note of condolence in February 1949 on the death of her father, recalling Edwin as "a jovial young man . . . When I had seen him some years ago, he was full of life" (lot 145, £400-£500).
In addition, this section of the Sotheby's sale contains a number of lots associated with Jack's brother, W.B. Yeats. Chief among these is a first edition of the writer's first book, Mosada, a dramatic poem published in Dublin in 1886. Included with this lot (number 150) is a letter written from Dublin by Grace to her mother in October 1925 commenting on the increase in value of this publication ("Tell Dad to hold on tight to his Mosada. The value is going up . . . one of it was sold recently in London for £30"). This copy is expected to fetch £40,000-£50,000.
Less valuable in monetary terms but of considerable interest to all Yeatsians is the collection of six unpublished letters from W.B. to John McGrath, Literary Editor of the United Ireland, between 1891 and 1902; they have a pre-sale value of £6,000-£7,000. Another letter (lot 159) from W.B. Yeats to the Fenian John O'Leary is valued at £2,000-£2,500, while a Yeats family Book of Common Prayer, which was printed in 1730 (lot 152), is expected to make £300-£400. In addition, the same group of lots contains collections of Yeats family photographs, oils, watercolours and sketches.
