Edited and Introduced by Peter Bander van Duren

A historical walk with the Prefect of the Pontifical Household through the treasures of papal heraldry
ISBN: 978-0-905715-25-4

24.8 x 18.8 cm.      285 pp.   + nearly 400 b/w illus. with the text and 24 pp. with 54 colour illus.
Captions to all illustrations are in English, Italian and German

In the late 1960s Cardinal Martin conceived the idea of having an authoritative heraldic guide for the Vatican where hundreds of coats of arms date back to Pope Eugene IV (1431-1447) the earliest armorial bearings of popes who resided in the Vatican. When Pope Paul VI had consecrated him Bishop of Neapolis in Palaestina during the papal visit to the Holy Land in 1964 and appointed him the first Prefect of the Pontifical Court, Monsignor Martin spent his free time writing profusely illustrated articles for the Holy See's Sunday newspaper L'Osservatore della Domenica on heraldry in the Vatican.

At that time he already had lived in the Vatican for over thirty years. When Pope John Paul II ascended the See of St. Peter in 1978 and, like his immediate predecessor, John Paul I, appointed him Prefect of the Papal Household and the Pontifical Court, Monsignor Martin had himself become a unique figure in the history of heraldry. He was the first Prelate of the Roman Church who was able to impale his personal coat of arms with that of the three Popes under whom he had served as Prefect of the Pontifical Court.

When Mons. Martin approached me in 1983 about the possibility of producing a book on heraldry in the Vatican, he had lived over fifty years in the Vatican. His knowledge about the Vatican and the people who had lived there was phenomenal. After the book had been published, several prominent members of the Roman Curia suggested that the book's title was in many respects a misnomer. All the Popes and other famous residents of the Apostolic Palace were profusely represented with their armorial bearings, but Monsignor Martin, who personally had served six Popes, added countless anecdotes and curiosities about people and places inside the Vatican. The book reminds one of the succinct and sometimes hilarious accounts in Aubrey's Brief Lives. For example, he recalls his first years in the Vatican when he worked in the Papal Secretariat of State of Pope Pius XI, under whom the present Vatican City State came into existence. Pope Pius XI checked the signatures of all the members in his Secretariat, and anybody whose signature he considered illegible was dismissed from service in the Secretariat of State.

The idiosyncrasies of many popes and cardinals resident in the Vatican during the last 550 years were often expressed in heraldic ornaments, on ceilings, walls and fountains. Bernini placed statues of 140 Popes, Cardinals and Bishops who had lived in the Vatican on his colonnades of St. Peter's Square. Monsignor Martin knew who everyone was, their life stories and why Bernini had chosen them to be immortalised.

We worked on his book for four years. I have never ceased to be amazed by Cardinal Martin's phenomenal memory. As Prefect of the Pontifical Household, he was always at the Pope's side. Sometimes I was privileged to be present when he introduced visitors to the Pope; he had this charming way of briefing the Holy Father not only on who the person was, but always with personal information about the visitor. Everybody was astonished at the ease with which the Pope walked among the many visitors and seemed to know everybody personally. Few realised that the Pope's Prefect was that walking encyclopedia on which not only the Pope but countless Cardinals and members of the Curia could rely to provide accurate and detailed information. As far as the Vatican Palaces were concerned, he knew of rooms and entire suites nobody but he had entered since the days of Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). He found heraldic curiosities nobody had seen for hundreds of years. Cardinal Martin, more than any prelate who had lived in the Vatican has enriched the wealth of human knowledge of heraldry in the Vatican.

Without fear of contradiction I can say that Cardinal Jacques Martin was one of the most loved men in the Vatican, and the warmth of his love and care for others permeated the Apostolic palace for many decades. Cardinal Martin's love and devotion to the successors of St. Peter was unparalleled. His sense of humour was infectious, and he could speak about the follies of some illustrious residents over the last 550 years without malice. Coats of Arms came to life and spoke to those who were fortunate to be guided by him.

HERALDRY IN THE VATICAN is in a manner of speaking a legacy Cardinal Martin left behind when he died in 1992. It is far more than a guide to the hundreds of heraldic emblems in the Vatican or a history of their bearers. It brings alive 500 years of one of the most fascinating places on earth. The author himself had become part of the rich tapestry of the Vatican.

This is not just a book for any serious scholar of heraldry or Vatican history; it is an indispensable companion for anybody fortunate enough to visit Rome and the Vatican, and it will compensate those who cannot do so.

Peter Bander van Duren

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19.0 x 13.0 cm.    viii, 151 pp.  [1983]     1990

W.B.Yeats (1865-1939) published his first volume of poetry in 1889. Deeply influenced by Spiritualism and Celtic mythology, he was a crucial figure in the Irish cultural revival of the 1890s. Under the influence of Maud Gonne he became involved in nationalist politics, but the Philistinism of the emerging Ireland repelled him, and he gradually drew back from public affairs. He had been a co-founder, with J.M.Synge and Lady Gregory, of the Abbey Theatre in 1904, and remained a director until the end of his life. His increasingly sceptical and pessimistic views on Ireland were temporarily reversed by the 1916 Rising. Out of the confusion and tensions of the following decade his greatest poetry developed: almost uniquely among major poets, his outstanding work was written in the second half of his life. In 1917 he had married George Hyde-Lees; they had two children. He died in the South of France, and in 1948 his body was brought back to Ireland and re-interred in Drumcliffe Churchyard, Co.Sligo.

This is a revised and enlarged edition of the work first published in 1983. On its first appearance it received exceptional reviews:

'Perceptive, honest and stimulating, subtly educating the uninformed reader in the best ways to approach a study of Yeats's verse, plays and letters.'
Richard Allen Cave in British Book News

'A remarkable achievement. He has succeeded in presenting a rational, sensitive account of the life of Ireland's most famous poet....Well worth reading by the scholar and the general reader.'
Ireland of the Welcomes

'A tour de force. Lucid and incisive, it gives us a convincing picture of Yeats's life in all its complexities, and it does so with insight and sympathy.'
A. Norman Jeffares in The Yorkshire Post

`A remarkable synthesis of a huge topic, written with enthusiasm and flair and ending with a splendid essay on the poet's "close companions", his great capacity for friendship and for converting the experience into poetry.'
Thomas Kilroy in The Irish Times

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22.8 x 15.2 cm.   xxvi, 440 pp.       1989

Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) is cherished interna­tionally for his delightful children’s tale Peter Pan, reprised in numer­ous forms as play, musical, and animated film.

Yet Barrie’s contribution to English literature carries far beyond his Immortal Peter Pan. He estab­lished a following as an essayist, achieved great success as a novelist, then turned from the novel to even greater successes in the theatre. There, decades later, works such as The Admirable Crichton and What Every Woman Knows were still being applauded in London’s West End and on Broadway, subse­quently pleasing even larger audi­ences in their film and television versions.

As a successful playwright, Barrie Joined his efforts with those of Bernard Shaw and Harley Granville Barker in helping to establish the ‘theatre of the play­wright’, a movement which revo­lutionised theatrical production by effectively breaking the strangle­hold grip of the old ‘star system’ and revitalised the British theatre during the first decade of this century.

Professor Markgraf has assidu­ously compiled and annotated over 5,000 items relevant to Barrie’s life and work. For decades to come this bibliography will be an essential source of research, not only for scholars who pursue Barrie’s career but for those interested in the era in which he worked.

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ISBN: 978-82-90601-09-1
20.8 x  13.8 cm.     80 pp.     1995

This is a book about Healing. Not ‘Faith Healing’, as Matthew refuses to call it that. As he writes, ‘The idea that healing only works if you believe in it is simply not true! Healing can work on a sceptical person yet sometimes fail to help a believer. Healing also works in test-tubes in laboratories, as well as on animals and brain-damaged children. It cannot be said that these results are brought about by psychological factors, faith or placebo. There is no faith required.’

Contents: Introduction – Healing in the Laboratory – The Healing Experience – Healing Ourselves.

We distribute this book in Britain for Eikstein Publishers, of Øyslebø, Norway.

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ISBN: 978-0-86140-387-5

21.6 x 13.8 cm.    viii, 176 pp.  illus.    Our 1995 pbk of the 1978 edition published by W.H.Allen

The Strangers is an enthralling tale by Matthew Manning, a man of unique psychic abilities, and a famous healer.

In this book he describes the amazing and frightening poltergeist phenomena that took place at his home in the early 1970s, and the remarkable portrait of the life and times of a previous occupant of the house, Robert Webbe, that Matthew and his family were able to piece together, mainly through Matthew's automatic writing, and the amazing set of "halfe of a thousand" signatures that appeared on the walls of his father's study.

Starting through a major attack of poltergeist activity in the family home, in which furniture would be speedily moved about or balanced on top of each other, with things vanishing and reappearing, Matthew found he could reduce the happenings by automatic writing, and it was through the writing that messages came from Robert Webbe. At times Webbe could see his surroundings, sometimes apologising for frightening people, and at others he was very irritated with these people who were in his house, unaware that he was in another century and no longer owned it. He would remove items belonging to the Mannings which it was occasionally very difficult to get him to return, and sometimes give them presents in the form of "apports". On one memorable occasion Webbe appeared in solid form to Matthew who handed him a small wooden clog, which vanished with him. It is small wonder that many visitors, including researchers into the occult, were extremely frightened by what they saw; yet Matthew has recorded the events with understanding and humour.

The Strangers may be considered one of the outstanding works of its kind to have been written this century.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.        x, 361 pp.   1992    Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 41

This volume is based on the seventh triennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Anglo-Irish Literature, held in July 1988 at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, Co.Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The international reputation and appeal of Irish literature are reflected in the fact that the contributors are from all corners of the world, North America, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and India.

The collection reveals the extraordinary influence that Ireland has had on world literature, especially as a model for colonial and nationalist cultures. A host of Irish writers, particularly dramatists, has been translated and adapted in countries attracted to the individuality as well as the universality of their themes. Very often, the outsiders' insight into Irish literature shows a directness and sensitivity which are most illuminating and instructive.

A revelation of this collection is the way so many Irish writers have embraced, and been deeply influenced by, the culture of other nations: important new documentary work on writers such as Maria Edgeworth, W.B.Yeats, George Russell and Derek Mahon are to be found here.

The collection is both a celebration of a truly internationalised field of study, and a tribute to a literature which has successfully emigrated throughout the world. These essays will interest all those, students and scholars alike, who recognise the value of culture and literary pluralism, and the importance of comparative studies.

For over forty years IASAIL, now the Interantional Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL), has done pioneering work in this field. By now, it may be said, Ireland has taken its rightful place amongst the literatures of the world.

 

At the time of publication Joseph McMinn was Senior Lecturer in the English Department of the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, near Belfast. He has taught in American and Germany, and his publications include John Banville: A Critical Study, Jonathan Swift: A Literary Life and, as editor, Swift's Irish Pamphlets: An Introductory Selection, all three books being published in 1991. He is presently working on an illustrated documentary of Swift's travels around Ireland.

 

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ISBN: 978.0.900675.82.9

21.6 x 13.0 cm.     191 pp. + 8 pp. illus.

"[Among the books I read at the Beaconsfield Public Library] I remember being impressed by Dermot MacManus' The Middle Kingdom, which had a great effect on me, and is probably one of the most influential books I've ever read", Terry Pratchett (in his 1999 talk to the Folklore Society)

'No matter what one doubts,' wrote W.B.Yeats, 'one never doubts the faeries for . . . they stand to reason.' The author, an intimate friend of Yeats and a friend too of the great folklorist Douglas Hyde and the myriad-minded mystic G.W.Russell ('A.E.'), was a staunch believer in 'the ancient and continuing spirit life of the countryside'.

Writing not as a folklorist but as a historian, Diarmuid MacManus records in factual detail many manifestations of the Irish faery world early in the twentieth century. He tells how the Thornhill fairy appeared to two sisters in their room, and the Mount Leinster fairy to a young woman as she was taking the cows home, and a young girl tried to pat the Wicklow pooka as it walked beside her, but her hand went right through it.

This is a strikingly persuasive book, tackling in a serious and intelligent manner a subject that has a strong romantic appeal. The author set out to write the book with certain principles in mind: first, that a central character in each incident was still alive at the time the book was first published (in 1959); second, that he could vouch for their reliability; and third, that each agreed to stand up, if asked, and vouch for the truth of the experience. Except in a few instances, those telling the stories had been friends of the author for many years.

Since its publication forty years ago it has retained its uniqueness as the only collection of true Irish fairy tales.

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Chosen and Introduced by John Barrett

The eleventh volume of the Irish Drama Selections series (ISSN 0260-7962), General Editors: Joseph Ronsley and Ann Saddlemyer.

21.6 x 13.8 cm.

Hardcopy ISBN: 0-86140-154-9 / 978-0-86140-154-3 £30.00
Paperback ISBN: 0-86140-155-7 / 978-0-86140-155-0 £9.95

Contains: Where Stars Walk, Ill Met by Moonlight, The Mountains Look Different, The Liar, Prelude in Kasbek Street, selected writings on plays and players, bibliographical checklist.

When he died in 1978, Ireland mourned the passing of the most versatile man of the theatre she has ever known. His acting career started early as a child actor in London, but when he was fourteen he read a single passage of Yeats extolling Ireland's heritage and from then on he was to give himself to the Dublin stage, notably the Gate Theatre which he founded with his partner, Hilton Edwards. John Barrett has mapped out the influences and achievements of this extraordinary character in his introduction and selected five of Macliamm¢ir's most memorable works.

John Barrett taught English at University College, Dublin.

 

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An Entertainment on the Life and Works of Oscar Wilde
21.6 x 13.8 cm.     71pp.    1995
Facsimile of the 1978 2nd Dolmen edition

ISBN: 978-0-85105-510-7

Originally created by the author as a one man show that was first produced at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 1960 to rapturous reviews, and over the next fifteen years performed by him all over the world,  the most recent production was performed by Simon Callow at the Savoy Theatre in 1998. Originally published by the Dolmen Press in 1963, critics acclaimed the text as 'an outstandingly skilful and memorable tribute from one Irish artist to another' (Micheal O hAodha, The Irish Press), and 'every bit as Wildeanly witty as Oscar at his best' (Quidnunc in The Irish Times). The present printing uses the designs mac Liammóir produced for the record sleeves for his recording of the work.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.        xx,  257 pp.  index      1990

Born in Melbourne, Australia, in October 1884, W.J.Turner left his home city in March 1907, determined to create a career for himself as a writer in London. By 1946, when he died, he had contributed to the literary and musical life of England in ways that establish him as a unique and fascinating figure. A man of independent mind and provocative originality, he was perhaps the most outspoken critic of his time and, in Arnold Bennett's judgement, the only one of his generation whom it was a `pleasure to read for the sake of reading', as well as being a poet whose `majestic song' left Yeats, in his own words, `lost in admiration and astonishment'.

Wayne McKenna's work provides an overview of Turner's life and work, discussing his plays, novels, short stories, poetry drama criticism and literary editing, and well as commenting on the more important literary friend ships in his life, such as those with Yeats, Siegfried Sassoon, and Lady Ottoline Morrell.

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.       63 pp.  1991

ISBN: 978-0-85105-433-9
First published by Dolmen Press in 1973, 2nd enlarged Dolmen edition 1982.

Seamus MacCall wanted to show that, as a nation, the Irish have much to be proud of and this resolve fired him with a contagious enthusiasm which the reader of A Little History of Ireland cannot help but share. It is a bird's-eye view of the Irish past which is at once lucid and expert and presents a vivid and lively view of its subject. This new edition of A Little History of Ireland has a final section by Catherine MacCall and Börje Thilman which brings the story up to our time.

'It is not very often that one gets the chance to see the whole course of Irish history outlined in sixty pages . . . Because there is no room for unnecessary detail, the facts are simply given to the reader’ Ireland of-the Welcomes

‘MacCall has managed to be at once concise and comprehensive in his coverage and the little book should be a valuable reference work’ The Irish Times

The cover shows the. meeting of Dermot MacMurrough and the Earl of Gloucester from the French metrical history of Richard II (British Museum) after the colour lithograph in Gilbert's Facsimiles of National Manuscripts by kind permission of the Royal Irish Academy.

 

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Translated and annotated by Padraic de Bhaldraithe

ISBN: 978-1-873821-14-5
192pp, 22.0 x 16.0 cm, 16 colour plates, 12 newly commissioned etchings by Sabine Springer  2000

First published in Irish in 1938 as Cladaí Chonamara and not previously available in English, The Shores of Connemara is both a naturalist's guide to the seashore and coastal waters of Connemara, Co. Galway and an account of the life of the people who lived there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Séamas Mac an Iomaire was born in 1891 near Carna in Connemara and wrote about the way of life he knew and the environment in which he grew up. He describes the flora and fauna of the seashore, the living people made from them and the crafts involved, such as kelp making, boat building and fishing. With this English edition a new audience can discover this classic of Irish social and natural history.

'Ribe ribe róibéis, tabhair dom greim ar bharr do shlata bige agus tabharfaidh mé duit arís amárach é.’ (Give me a grip of the top of your little rod, shrimp, and I’ll give it back to you tomorrow.) This was the chant that children recited on the shores of Connemara as they attempted to persuade the rock pool shrimps to desert their crevices and allow themselves to be captured. This is but one of the many customs and practices that linked the people of Connemara to the abundance of sea creatures that surrounded them. The Shores of Connemara presents a wonderful description of marine life, not according to the norms of scientific natural history, but as the people themselves saw it.  Séamus Mac an Iomaire combines his own acute observations of nature with the rich maritime traditions and customs of the people of Maínis to produce an informative, uplifting and original account of the sea life of the Irish Atlantic coast. The clarity and charm of his writing, so faithfully translated in this book, will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including naturalists, environmentalists, and social historians, but most of all to anyone fortunate enough to spend time walking and boating along the Connemara coast. The book is greatly enriched by the striking original illustrations of Sabine Springer.

Contents: Foreword – Introduction – Maínis – Fishing – Searching for Bait – Shore Creatures – Sea Fish – Boat Races in Connemara – Material for the Púcán – Kelp Making – Seaweed – List of Names of Invertebrates – List of Names of  Fishes – List of Names of Seaweeds – List of Place Names – Index of English Names of Fishes, Invertebrates and Seaweeds – Bibliography.

'Mac an Iomaire's is an original and clear story, a commentary on the social life of a people co-existing with nature and the cycles of the sea.'  Wild Ireland

'This is one of the most interesting and captivating books about nature ever written in Ireland. Here is a joyful supplement to the solemnities of regular field guides. A major cultural text and also one of the most enjoyable and revelatory books in the whole of Irish writing about nature. The rich illustration includes original etchings of fish by Sabine Springer that rank with the best in marine illustration. The whole book is a labour of love.'  Michael Viney, Irish Times

About the author

Séamas Mac an Iomaire was born in 1891 on Maínis, an island off the coast of Connemara. As a boy he learned all the traditional skills of the way of life on the seashore - sailing, fishing, cutting seaweed and similar activities. He also absorbed the heritage of songs, storytelling and folklore of this Irish speaking region. As a youth he was involved with the Irish Republican movement and he was arrested and briefly imprisoned, as were his father and one of his brothers. He began writing while in his teens and his essays and stories were published regularly in the Irish language press. He started to teach Irish through the Gaelic League and worked as a teacher until he emigrated to the USA in 1926. He at first taught Irish for the New York Gaelic Society then worked for a railway company. He worked mostly underground, spending months on end without seeing the light of day and it was then that he contracted TB and was hospitalised.

His friend Seosamh Daibhéid encouraged him to continue writing while in hospital and he began to record what later became Cladaí Chonamara. Seamas wrote (in Irish) "I was in bed when I wrote most of the pieces as I was not allowed to get up. The doctor told me there was no harm in writing three or four pages a day, that is, after having already spent six months on the flat of my back not being allowed stir. I often wrote eight pages a day, although the doctor doesn't know that yet. I got so immersed in such desirable memories that I would forget altogether that I was in a foreign country lying on the flat of my back with TB."

After his recovery Séamas continued to work for the railroad company until his retirement in 1960. He visited his native home from time to time and died in 1967.

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ISBN: 978-0-86140-200-7
21.6 x 13.8 cm.      [in association with the Mantis Press]

The Mad Pomegranate & the Praying Mantis tells the story of a playwright who went to Spain to make a film about the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. He made the film and stayed on in Andalusia with his wife and five children for another ten years. When the playwright, Peter Luke (1919-95), had a West End success with one of his stage plays, Hadrian VII, he bought an almond, lemon and olive farm..

His Andalusian way of life suggested parallels with that of Publius Vergilis Maronis, the Virgil of the Bucolics and the Georgics, and Peter Luke, through his carefully selected and beautifully presented description, admits us to share his own arcadian experience.

The Mad Pomegranate & the Praying Mantis is an apologia for bucolic man in an increasingly urbanised world, and the author conveys his pleasure in this world in a manner that will delight the reader, however urbanised.

[Contrary to what a certain book reviewer believed about the title and images on the jacket, the title was that originally chosen by the author. The mantis was caught by my parents' cat and rescued from it, while the pomegranate was picked in their garden in Malta. I flew both back to England, placed one on the other, photographed them and, because I had to return immediately, took the mantis back to Malta 24 hours later, releasing it back in the garden whence it came. It had travelled over 2,600 miles. C.P.S.]

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21.6 x 13.8 pp.      170 pp.        1992 pbk repr. of 1980 edition

Holy wells have been a feature of the religion of the Irish people for longer than records have existed, and while pilgrimages to them are not as common as in the last centuries, many wells are still visited, particularly on the Saints’ or ‘Pattern’ Days, and even now new wells occasionally appear.

In this survey Dr Patrick Logan, author of The Old Gods, Irish Country Cures and Fair Day: The Story of Irish Fairs and Markets, describes many of those wells that are still visited, detailing the features of the pilgrimage and the benefits obtained, together with the legends attached to the wells, the saints they are dedicated to and their Pattern Days, the sites, trees and stones associated with them, and fish that some of them have; he also gives information about the holy islands that have wells.

This collection does not attempt to describe every holy well in Ireland – an impossible task with so many – but Dr Logan has gathered together a collection of the most representative and interesting ones that visitors, pilgrims, and historians, as well as the local people will find it fascinating to read about.

‘What the author has done is to collect . . . a huge amount of important material about the wells, their history, the saints to whom they are dedicated, and their accessories, so to speak, such as the sites, the fish that some still nurture, and even such fascinating things as "swearing stones" and "cursing stones" . . . . A volume that is much needed and that will be a source of fascination to scholars and local historians alike for many years to come.’ Cork Examiner

'Dr Logan has succeeded in packing a great volume of interesting and useful information into this book.' Irish Independent

 

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Chosen and Introduced by S.F.Gallagher

The ninth volume of the Irish Drama Selections series (ISSN 0260-7962), General Editors: Joseph Ronsley and Ann Saddlemyer.

Hardcover ISBN: 0-86140-140-9 / 978-0-86140-140-6 £35.00
Papercover ISBN: 00-86140-141-7 / 978-0-86140-141-3 £10.95

21.6 x 13.8 cm.

Contains: The Au Pair Man, The Patrick Pearse Motel, Da, Summer, A Life, Kill, Bibliographical Checklist.

`Hugh Leonard' is the pen-name of John Keyes Byrne. He is, as Christopher Fitz-Simon has written, `the most prolific and most technically assured of modern Irish playwrights', and his cosmopolitanism is shown by the range of his work, twenty-five plays (eighteen of which have been published), and seven adaptations of others' work for stage, something like thirty individual plays for television, work for over forty TV series totalling well in excess of 120 original episodes, and over 100 episodes for serials based on others' works (Emily Bronte, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Flaubert, Somerville & Ross, for example), as well as over a dozen film scripts. The output is truly phenomenal.

Although a constant contributor to television, it is for the theatre that he has produced his finest work. This selection amply illustrates Leonard's cosmopolitan talent and his constant ability to entertain his audience.

 

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Edited by Jan Jędrzejewski

21.6 x 13.8 cm.      xxviii, 489 pp.     Ulster Editions & Monographs series (ISSN 0954-3392) volume 9

First published in 1845, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's The Cock and Anchor is one of the most interesting historical novels written in Ireland in the nineteenth century. It is many things: a record of the mores and manners of early eighteenth-century Ireland, a story of love struggling against the prejudices of class and religion, a penetrating moral study of crime and punishment, an engaging thriller. But first of all it is a full-bodied, energetic, lively picture of Dublin - its palaces and its inns, its streets, its people, its way of life. Written in the early years of Le Fanu's career as a novelist, it provides an exciting introduction to the work of one the most intriguing novelists of Victorian Ireland.

The Editor has provided notes, notes on the text and appendices which give the major and minor textual variants of the tale, and nearly thirty pages of contemporary reviews published in Ireland, England and Scotland.

Educated at the University of Łódź, Poland, and Worcester College, Oxford, Professor Jan Jędrzejewski is Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ulster. He wrote Thomas Hardy and the Church (1996), edited a selection of Thomas Hardy's short fiction Outside the Gates of the World (1996), and published numerous papers on Victorian fiction, modern Irish literature, and Anglo-Polish literary relations.

Front cover illustration (continuing onto the front flap): 'A Prospect of the City of Dublin from the Magazine Hill, in his Majesty's Phoenix Park' by Joseph Tudor, issued in 1753.

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22.8 x 15.0 cm.

Bernard Shaw, who made his international reputation as a playwright in London, and Augusta Gregory, founder-director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, are generally considered as belonging to different theatrical traditions. But in 1909, when the Abbey produced The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet, which had been banned in England, there began a close involvement of Shaw with Irish theatre and a warm personal friendship with Lady Gregory.

The complete surviving correspondence between the two, published for the first time, reveals their developing relationship: the battle with Dublin Castle over Blanco, Shaw’s support for Lady Gregory in the rows over Synge’s Playboy in America; the controversy with military authorities over O’Flaherty V.C., written for the Abbey in 1915; the lively exchange of views on Ireland, politics, the Hugh Lane pictures, the schooling of the Gregory grand­children; which ended only with Lady Gregory’s death in 1932.

Drawing upon letters to and from other corre­spondents, diaries and engagement books, private memoranda, newspaper reports, and press releases, the editors have enlarged the correspondence into a comprehensive record of Shaw’s important and previously unrecognised contribution to the Irish theatre. Shaw and Lady Gregory’s crisp, witty and informal letters, in the context of their joint commitment to the Abbey, make the book rewarding reading for all those with an interest in the theatre.

 

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Edited and Introduced by Peter Kuch

32.6 x 13.8 cm.     xxii, 474 pp.  + 2pp. with three colour illus.  2011   Part 4 of the Collected Works of G. W. Russell - 'A.E.'

George William Russell, or AE as he was more familiarly known, was mentor and friend to three generations of Irish writers. To visit or to be sought out by AE was to be assured of a place in Irish literary history. The young James Joyce knocked on his door at midnight; Lady Gregory looked forward to his visits to Coole; Patrick Kavanagh walked from Inniskeen to Dublin to meet him; Yeats regarded him as his ‘oldest friend’; Liam O’Flaherty sought his patronage; Frank O’Connor asked his advice.

As if to guarantee Russell would not be forgotten, George Moore concluded his engaging, gossipy account of the literary movement, Hail and Farewell (1911-14), with a benediction for ‘AE and the rest’. Whether aspiring, accomplished, real or imaginary, Irish writers inevitably found themselves indebted to his practical help and inspired by his spiritual and critical insights. Even Stephen Dedalus admits to himself AEIOU.

This scrupulously researched volume brings together for the first time all of Russell’s writings on poetry, prose, drama and painting—writings central to understanding the role of literature, theatre and art in Ireland’s quest for self-realisation. Included are reviews, prefaces, introductions and articles; letters to the press on censorship and the Irish Academy of Letters; and The Honourable Enid Majoribanks, a hitherto unpublished play. Extensive notes drawing from published and unpublished sources situate each item in terms of text, intertext and context.

Peter Kuch is the inaugural Eamon Cleary Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Director of the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at Otago, he is also an Honorary Professor at the John Hume Institute for Global Irish Studies at the University of New South Wales. He holds an Honours degree from the University of Wales and an M.Litt and D.Phil from Oxford. He has held posts at the Universities of Newcastle and New South Wales, Australia; L’Université de Caen, France; and been a Visiting Fellow at the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, and the Anthony Mason European Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. The author of Yeats and AE: ‘the antagonism that unites dear friends’ (Colin Smythe, 1988), he is currently researching a cultural history of the performance of Irish theatre in colonial Australasia.

 

CONTENTS<br

Preface <pr

Acknowledgements<br

Introduction<br

1. “The Poetry of William B. Yeats”; 2. “A New Irish Poetess”: review of Eva Gore-Booth, Poems; 3. “Literary Ideals in Ireland”; 4. “Nationality and Cosmopolitanism in Literature”; 5. Review of Eleanor Hull, The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature; 6. Review of Edward Martyn, The Heather Field and Maeve 7. “Politics and Character”; 8. “Fiona Macleod’s New Book”: review of The Dominion of Dreams; 9. Review of Fiona Macleod, The Divine Adventure; 10. “A Note on William Larminie” in Stopford Brooke and T.W. Rolleston, eds., A Treasury of Irish Poetry; 11. “The Dramatic Treatment of Heroic Literature”; 12.  “The Character of Heroic Literature”: review of Lady Gregory, Cuchulain of Muirthemne; 13. “The Poetry of William Butler Yeats”; 14. “A Book about the Earth Life”: review of Ethel Longworth Dames, Myths; 15. “A Note on Standish O’Grady” in Justin McCarthy, ed., Irish Literature; 16. “Preface” to New Songs; 17. “A Note on Seamus O’Sullivan”; 18. Review of T.W. Rolleston, The High Deeds of Finn; 19. “The Poetry of James Stephens”; 20. “The Boyhood of a Poet”; 21. “A Tribute to Standish O’Grady”; 22. “On Quality of Sound”; 23. Foreword to Shan F. Bullock, Mors et Vita; 24.  Foreword to Liam O’Flaherty, The Black Soul; 25. Foreword to F.R. Higgins, Island Blood; 26. Foreword to Hugh Alexander Law, Anglo-Irish Literature; 27. “Address to the Thirtieth Annual Dinner of the American-Irish Historical Society”; 28. “The Censorship in Ireland”; 29. Introduction to Oliver St. John Gogarty, Wild Apples; 30. Foreword to Katharine Tynan, Collected Poems; 31. Review of Humbert Wolfe, Snow; 32. Introductory Essay to Hugh MacDiarmuidFirst Hymn to Lenin and Other Poems; 33. “On the Character in Irish Literature” in Frank O’ConnorThe Wild Bird’s Nest: Poems Translated from the Irish; 34. "The New Irish Academy – AE replies to Father Gannon”; 35. “The Irish Academy of Letters: Letter from AE”; 36. “The New Irish Academy: Letter from AE”; 37. “The New Irish Academy: Letter from AE”; 38. “Oliver St. John Gogarty: An Appreciation”; 39. Foreword to Oliver St. John Gogarty, em>Selected Poems; 40. Introduction to Seamus O’Sullivan, Twenty-five Lyrics; 41. Introduction to Irene Haugh, The Valley of Bells and Other Poems; 42. “Memories of A.R. Orage”; 43. “An Appreciation” of Ruth Pitter, A Mad Lady’s Garland; 44. Foreword to Joseph O’Neill, Land Under England; 45. “The Sunset of Fantasy”; 46. Deirdre: A Legend in Three Acts; 47. The Honourable Enid Majoribanks: a Comedy; 48. “Art in Ireland”; 49. “An Irish Sculptor: John Hughes”; 50. “The Spiritual Influence of Art”; 51. “Two Irish Artists”; 52. “An Artist of Gaelic Ireland”; 53. “Art and Literature”; 54. “Art and Barbarism”; 55. “The Lane Bequest”; 56. “An Appreciation” of J.B. Yeats, Essays: Irish and American; 57. “Hugh Lane’s Pictures”; 58. “Some Irish Artists”

Appendices:<br

Preface to Some Irish Essays; Prefaces to Imaginations and Reveries; “Nationality or Cosmopolitanism – 1925 text”; The Countess of the Wheel; Britannia Rule-the-Wave: A Comedy; “AE’s Oration: George Moore”; “An Artist of Gaelic Ireland – 1908 text”<br

Abbreviations used in Glossary of Mythological References and Notes and Commentary; Glossary of Mythological References; Guide to Notes and Commentary; Notes and Commentary – Literary Writings; Notes and Commentary – Writings on Art; Notes and Commentary – Appendices; Bibliography; Index

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.   xviii, 489 pp.    2003  Irish Literary Studies series (ISSN 0140-895X) volume 52

Since Mary McAleese embraced the expatriate and emigrant Irish in her inaugural Presidential address, much has been made of the global Irish family. This exciting collection of essays by a group of eminent scholars explores the teaching and research of Irish  literature in a region of the world that has scouted the attractions of western culture since the sixteenth century. Three or four centuries later those attractions, as far as the Irish are concerned, have become specific.

It is reasonably well-known that in his own life-time W.B. Yeats was invited to take up a Professorship in Japan; that Ulysses has been translated at least three times into Chinese; that the plays of George Bernard Shaw apparently strike a chord with students in Hong Kong; that the fairy-tales of Wilde are reverenced in China; and that the Irish influence on Australian literature has been pervasive if not profound.

But what is not well-known are the contexts for these and other interrelations. Irelands in the Asia-Pacific explores these in a sequence of articles grouped under the headings of: Writing an Irish Self; Joyce at large; Post-Colonial readings of Irish Literature; Antipodean Connections; Teaching Irish Literature in the Asia-Pacific; and Irish Literature Down-Under.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Section 1: Writing an Irish Self

Shakespeare and the Irish Self. Terence Brown

‘Not a disease but a social necessity!’ Shaw and the Function of the Artist. T.F. Evans

The Silver Mirror & the Woven Veil: Oscar Wilde & the Art of Criticism. Julie-Ann Robson

Reading Food: Feast and Famine in Irish Women’s Writing. Joan Coldwell

Eavan Boland: the Complex State of the Woman Poet. Maurice Harmon

Section 2: Joyce at Large

Bloom’s appeal to the peoples of the world. Jin Di

National Apostate vs National Apostle: Joyce and St. Patrick. Bruce Stewart

Mothers/Mirrors: Sources of Self-Image in Irish Modernism. Diane Stubbings

James Joyce and the Dreamwork of Language: The Book from the Twenty-first Century. Donald E. Morse

Section 3: Post-Colonial Readings of Irish Writing

Post-Colonial Interpretation: The case of The Playboy. Nicholas Grene

Irish Post-Colonial Drama: A Hungarian View. Csilla Bertha

Ireland, Post-Colonial Transformation and Global Culture. Bill Ashcroft

Section 4: Antipodean Connections

John, Willy, Lily, George, Gilbert ... and Arthur: My Australian Connections. Ann Saddlemyer

Ascendancy Down-Under: George Bernard Shaw’s Irish & Australian Relations. A.M.Gibbs

The Port Phillip Gentlemen: Still Neglected. Jarlath Ronayne

The Emigrant’s Friends: Three Women. Maureen Murphy

The Scotch-Irish in 18th century America and their Counterparts in 19th century Australia: A Comparative Study of Relations between Colonists and Natives on Two Frontiers. James E. Doan

Section 5: Teaching Irish Literature in the Asia-Pacific

The Reception of W.B. Yeats in Modern China. Linda Pui-ling Wong

Modern Irish Literature in an Asian Context: Relevance and Advantages. Andrew Parkin

The ‘Sense of Happiness’ must not Disappear: Teaching Irish Literature in Japan. Taketoshi Furomoto

Re-reading Irishness: The problem of Lafcadio Hearn and Japan. George Hughes

Japan as Celtic Otherworld: Lafcadio Hearn and the Long Way Home. Ciaran Murray

Section 6: Irish Literature Down-Under

‘The weight of social opinion on [his] side’?: Ulysses, Censorship, Modernism and Canonisation, Australian-style. Frances Devlin-Glass

Through The Irish Looking Glass: School Experience of Irish Literature, History and Culture in Australia. Donna Gibbs

The Burden of Tyre and ‘the Loyal Gael’: The Expatriate Muse in the work of Christopher Brennan. Justin Lucas

‘Too Cold and Wide for the Tender Plant of the Irish Language to Thrive in?’ The Teaching of the Irish Language in Australia: 1880-1960. Jonathan M. Wooding

Notes and References – Notes on Contributors – Index

This collection of papers was given at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, at a conference convened under the aegis of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures (IASIL).

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21.6 x 13.8 cm.    xiv, 291 pp. + 16 pp. with 33 illus.  

During his life, W.B.Yeats formed only a few literary friendships from which he received as much as he gave. One of the foremost was his association with George William Russell. ‘A.E. was my oldest friend’ he confided to an admirer on Russell’s death in 1935. ‘We began our work together.’

This engaging, carefully researched book charts the history and evaluates the significance of the first twenty-three years of that work. It begins with the early months of 1884 when Yeats and Russell first met at the Arts Schools in Kildare Street, Dublin, and ends with their divisive quarrels in 1907 about the policies of the Abbey Theatre.

Taking as its focal point Yeats’s summary of the association – ‘between us as always there existed that antagonism that unites dear friends’ – the book sensitively gauges the pressures that each man exerted on the other. It also examines the way these pressures both affected their respective imaginative developments and shaped the course of the literary movement.

'What Kuch sets out to do, he does scrupulously and with such attention to detail, minutiae even, that his scholarly apparatus takes up nearly a quarter of the book. It is indeed "carefully researched".' Derek Mahon in The Irish Times

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