A remarkable man has quietly produced a most remarkable book. Anyone with more than a passing interest in horse racing, Stuart silver or early Irish bibliography will at least have heard of Tony Sweeney, an authority on all three.
Described as a "short descriptive catalogue", Sweeney's Ireland and the Printed Word 1475-1700 (Edmund Burke Publications, £150) lists almost 6,000 items. The details accompanying each entry are sufficient to identify and locate a copy, and include a unique collector's guide.
The sheer comprehensiveness of the work is staggering - attempting to include all books and pamphlets printed before 1700 "relating" to Ireland demands immense knowledge. Here is knowledge gleaned over half a century. A whole host of continental books with Irish content or connections is gathered together for the first time. For this "diaspora of Irish books", the author lists locations from Aberystwyth to the Vatican, Australia to Washington. This is the essential and companionable vademecum for anyone who would travel in this fascinating land.