Now an annual event, the two-day rare book and manuscript sale being held by Mealy's takes place, as usual, at Dublin's Tara Towers Hotel next Tuesday and Wednesday, with some 1,300 lots. Given that Stella Tillyard's book, Aristocrats, telling the story of the Lennox sisters, has just been filmed here, there should be particular interest in the collection of letters between these siblings; many of the items have a direct relevance to 1798. Among the documents are eyewitness accounts of the insurrection, family assessments of Lord Edward Fitzgerald (his mother, Emily, was a Lennox) and a description of the Duchess of Leinster's attempts to see him before he died. The entire collection is expected to make £14,000-£18,000. Other material relating to 1798 includes Wolfe Tone's An Argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland (£1,700-£2,200), a document of attainder for Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Cornelius Grogan and Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey (£650-£950) and a plaster cast taken from the death mask of Robert Emmet (£800-£1,400).

One of the very few original 1916 Proclamations of the Irish Republic still in private hands is also to be offered at this sale. A year ago, Mealy's sold a proclamation for £27,000 and this is the lower estimate for next week, rising to £32,000. A book lengthily inscribed by Roger Casement for his confessor on the eve of his execution is expected to sell for £2,500-£3,500. Other republican material includes a Tricolour, which is believed to pre-date 1922, and a number of paid cheques written by Terence MacSwiney, including several payable to Michael Collins. However, there are also plenty of lots referring to 20th-century Irish literature, such as a series of some 40 letters from Brian O'Nolan to his agent and publisher (£5,000-£7,000), plus a single-page manuscript poem by W.B. Yeats called The Desires of Man and a Woman (£4,000-£6,000), as well as some letters written by Sir William Orpen to Lady Gregory (£250-£350).

The sale also abounds with works of Irish history, topography and literature.