The Collection
Irish Historical Material
Original Irish photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, ephemera and books with documented Irish provenance. Each historical item is researched and catalogued individually.
View all available material →IRISH CATALOGUE · THE COMPLETE SELECTION
All Irish historical material
Books with Irish provenance, original photographs, letters, manuscripts and ephemera — presented together, each with its own catalogue record.
Thomas Moore — Irish Melodies, with Edmund Edmunds Family Inscription
Red cloth edition with an unusual 1950 family manuscript account of a performance before Thomas Moore.
At the Dublin Butcher’s Counter — Patrick Heron’s 93-Page Manuscript Account, 1951–1957
93 handwritten pages of original Dublin butcher’s accounts with numerous original Irish fiscal stamps and company receipt marks.
An Irish Landed Gentry Library — Silvio Pellico’s Le mie prigioni, 1845, from Richard Rothwell of Rockfield
1845 London edition of Pellico’s prison memoir, retaining the armorial ex libris of Richard Rothwell, High Sheriff of Meath (1839).
A Garden Postcard to Synolda Cholmondeley Clarke — Shankill, County Dublin
Raphael Tuck Oilette by Flora Pilkington, addressed to Synolda Cholmondeley Clarke at Clifton, Shankill, County Dublin; possible connection to the future Lady Dillon. Original message and postmark.
A Victorian Astronomer’s World — With an Irish Armorial Bookplate
The armorial ex libris of Simon Little of Cullentra, County Wexford, connects popular astronomy to an Irish private library.
Across Typhoons and Pirate Seas — An Irish School Prize
A nineteenth-century travel narrative retaining evidence of its Irish educational provenance.
Flyfishing in Ireland — Peter O’Reilly’s Signed First Edition
Signed first edition · Merlin Unwin Books, 2000
Mark Twain, 1897 — The Lucy Carr Shaw Association
An individual copy whose Irish literary association is central to its history.
Victorian Dublin Family Portrait — Lauder Bros. Studio, 1885–1892
Original studio photograph · Lower Sackville Street · c.1885–1892
Victorian Dublin Lady — Lauder Brothers, Westmoreland Street
Original cabinet portrait · 32 Westmoreland Street · Dublin
Sir James W. Mackey Ltd. — Dublin Seed Merchants Correspondence, 1957
Original Dublin seedsmen letterhead and postal ephemera
South Dublin Union — Victorian Poor’s Rate Receipt, Burlington Road, 1883
Original 1883 Poor’s Rate receipt · 6 Burlington Road, Donnybrook
Christmas in Edwardian Bray — Odlum Family Association, Letter to Vienna, 1912
Christmas correspondence from Bray to Vienna, December 1912, with possible Odlum family association, original envelope and decorative card.
An Edwardian Schoolgirl’s Letter — London Bridge Postcard to Dublin, c. 1903
Original Raphael Tuck London Bridge colour postcard with a handwritten schoolgirl’s letter to Miss Byrne, 12 Wellington Road, Dublin.
Dublin at the Turn of the Century — Lauder Bros. Studio Portrait
Original studio portrait · Westmoreland Street & Lower Sackville Street · c.1900–1910
Westmoreland Street Photography — Stanley’s Dublin Studio Portrait, c.1910
Original studio portrait · 22 Westmoreland Street · c.1910
Henry Street Before the Easter Rising — A Bobs Studio Portrait
Original photographic portrait · 16 Henry Street · c.1912–1916
School Life in Postwar Dublin — Synge Street Group Photograph, 1946
Original Dublin school group photograph · 1946
Dublin’s Historic Fine Art Trade — John Dooly & Sons, Dawson Street
Original fine art gallery trade label · Dawson Street, Dublin
An Irish Family’s Transatlantic Correspondence — New York to Blackrock, 1906–1907
Three New York–Blackrock postcards · 1906–1907
Dublin’s Short-Lived Torch Theatre — The Face at the Window Programme
Original Torch Theatre programme · Dublin, c.1935
Florence Austral at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre — Opera Programme, 1939
Gaiety Theatre programme · Florence Austral · 1939
Dublin Theatre in Wartime — The Strings Are False at the Olympia, 1942
Original Olympia Theatre programme · 1942
Inside Edwardian Dublin Medicine — Richard Atkinson Stoney’s Personal Diary, 1904
Original Dublin medical & surgical working diary · 1904
A Dublin Medical Community’s Appeal — Kathleen Bayne’s Letter, 1959
Original letter concerning the Cussen Education Fund · 1959
Round the World, 1890 — Ida Pfeiffer and a Surviving Dublin Bookseller’s Label
Illustrated 1890 travel book based on Ida Pfeiffer’s journeys, retaining an original Robert Stewart bookseller’s label from 2 Nassau Street, Dublin, and a vivid pictorial red cloth binding.
Victorian Dublin Before Joyce — Commercial Correspondence, 10 January 1853
An original letter on stationery of No. 9 Upper Ormond Quay, written in January 1853. The text concerns receipts and business matters. The premises were subsequently incorporated into the Ormond Hotel, later associated with the Sirens episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses. This is a subsequent location history only, not a direct Joyce association.
Victorian Dublin Before Joyce — A Financial Letter, 8 January 1853
Original manuscript correspondence from the commercial premises of No. 9 Upper Ormond Quay, including references to financial arrangements. The premises were subsequently incorporated into the Ormond Hotel, later associated with the Sirens episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses. This is a subsequent location history only, not a direct Joyce association.
Restoring a Forgotten Grave — A Dublin Solicitor’s Receipt from 1922
Original receipt issued on the stationery of Herbert D. Vaughan, solicitor, 11 Hume Street, Dublin, for two pounds paid toward rebuilding the headstone and side stones of Miss E. V. Sankey’s grave. Dated 13 October 1922, signed by William Barry. The reason for rebuilding and the location of the grave are unconfirmed.
Cricket at Sydney Parade — Pembroke Cricket Club Stationery, Dublin, c. 1930s
Original unused printed letterhead for Pembroke Cricket Club, founded 1868, bearing its historic Sydney Parade address and naming honorary officers F. H. C. Salmon and T. C. Fox. Date line printed 193-, uncompleted.
The Cornish Nightingale in Victorian Dublin — Madame Fanny Moody, Inscribed Operatic Portrait
Late-Victorian studio portrait of soprano Madame Fanny Moody (1866–1945), photographed by Chancellor at 55 Lower Sackville Street, Dublin. Prominent manuscript inscription on image, apparently including her married name Manners; autograph attribution has not been independently authenticated. Decorative royal patronage information to verso.
Two Gold Rings, One Lost Life — The Noel John Davies Memorial, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 1916
Two 9-carat gold mourning rings commemorating Second Lieutenant Noel John Davies, killed on the Western Front on 27 April 1916. Acquired separately from another dealer and reunited by Ten Bells; subsequently consigned by their present owner to Whyte’s, Dublin, in April 2026.
The Cure for Baldness — Capsuloids, Edwardian Hair Advertising and T. P. O’Connor’s Circle, c. 1903
Original double-sided salmon-pink hair-restoration advertisement, with photographic testimonials, a hair-follicle diagram and a 1903 endorsement attributed to the wife of Irish nationalist politician T. P. O’Connor.
Crime, Poison and the Medical Evidence — An Annotated 1906 Forensic Handbook with Dublin Bookseller Stamps
Brend’s first edition (1906), extensively marked by an unidentified reader; stamps of Fannin & Co., 41 Grafton Street, and Fred Hanna, 29 Nassau Street, Dublin.
Drunken Husbands and Victorian Poverty — The Domestic Habits of the People, with George Cruikshank Illustrations, 1852
First Thousand issue of an 1852 Victorian temperance and social-history pamphlet by “Common Sense”, issued with six illustrations attributed to George Cruikshank and a remarkable original Gutta Percha Company advertisement on the rear wrapper. Both printed wrappers are detached but retained; presence of all six plates requires checking.
Victorian Agricultural Commerce — Pedigree Breeding and Anglo-Irish Trade, 1895
Original signed agricultural trade letter documenting pedigree livestock commissions and a Dublin business visit.