Kells facsimile in Meath books auction

MICHAEL PARSONS

FOR THE second time this summer, a major private collection of books is to be sold at auction. Following last month’s disposal by Mealy’s of Fred Hanna’s collection which raised over €300,000, next Tuesday Meath auctioneers Oliver Usher will offer Part 1 of the collection of the late William Battersby.

Mr Battersby, an accountant in Navan, was a well-known collector who had amassed a huge collection of rare and antiquarian books, posters, maps, estate papers and postcards. Auctioneer Oliver Usher said it was “the most amazing collection” he had seen in 30 years and was “particularly strong in books and pamphlets on Meath and the neighbouring counties, in comparative religion and mythology, and in history and art.” The first tranche of the collection, consisting of over 800 lots, will be auctioned with no reserves and, unusually, no estimates! The remainder will be sold later in the year. Highlights include a cased facsimile copy of The Book of Kells published in Switzerland in 1990; a large collection of books by, and about, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia); The Antiquities of Ireland (two volumes) by Francis Grose; the works of novelist and short-story writer Mary Lavin; and a “large collection” by Lord Dunsany. The variety is astonishing – from a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf to a 1905 volume of Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect. Bibliophiles won’t want to miss this.

Viewing begins tomorrow, Sunday, from 2pm-6pm and continues Monday from 10am-7pm. The auction begins at 11am on Tuesday at the saleroom in Kells, Co Meath.

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