Rare books, manuscripts and maps in Dublin auction

Antiquarian travel books and signed first editions among the top lots

A thrilling account of hunting in British Raj India, Oriental Field Sports by Capt Thomas Williamson, published in 1808, is illustrated with hand-coloured plates and estimated at €700-€1,000 at Mealy’s

Sat Dec 07 2013 - 01:00

Rare books seldom achieve the stratospheric multi-million dollar prices that have become almost routine in the international art market. But last month in New York, Sotheby's sold one of only 11 surviving copies of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in what is now the United States, for $14.1 million. It set a new world auction record for any printed book.

Collectors of rare books are, however, generally motivated by a love of books and not the potential financial return. Happily, while rare and unusual books do have value they are still among the more affordable of collectibles.

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers’ sale in Dublin on Tuesday, December 10th, features more than 950 lots of rare books, manuscripts and maps of interest not only to collectors but also as gifts “for the man who has everything” or someone from the digital generation who just might be converted to the pleasures of the printed, beautifully bound and illustrated word.

Travel, history, genealogy, military records, natural history, hunting, fiction and poetry are among the categories, with many examples of rare antiquarian books and pamphlets as well as limited and signed first editions. A private collection of 150 maps, to be sold individually, includes one showing both Britain and Ireland “oriented to the east” published in Amsterdam by J Jansson in 1650 (€500-€700).