Two rare volumes of poetry by William Butler Yeats signed by the author are included in an auction of rare books in Kells next Tuesday.
The Variorum Edition of Poems by Yeats was, printed in a limited edition and pre- signed by the poet before his death in 1939, but because of wartime paper restrictions was not published until the 1950s.
They are estimated to sell at €1,000-€1,200 each at Oliver Usher's auction rooms in Kells, Co Meath. They are part of the collection of a deceased barrister from Co Meath who collected legal and antiquarian books .
Other books of Irish interest include a first edition of Flann O'Brien's The Hard Life published in 1961, a copy of Dean Swift's Journal to Stella, a copy of the Book of Kells and a Collection of Georgian Public General Statutes published in Dublin in 1816.
Also of interest are several very early books of the Institute of the Laws of England by Edwardo Coke (illustrated above) which were printed in 1669 and 1684.
A copy of Mrs Beeton's cookery book dated 1915 is included with a collection of magazines from the 1940s with such titles as My Home and Mother & Home. There is also a large collection of children's books, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s including editions of Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm's Fairy Tales, Warnes Pleasure Books in separate volumes for boys and girls and a book of trains which would be of interest not just to boys but to anyone interested in old steam trains.