"THE SHAM SQUIRE;" AND THE INFORMERS OF 1798. WITH A VIEW OF THEIR CONTEMPORARIES. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, IN THE FORM OF AN APPENDIX, JOTTINGS ABOUT IRELAND SEVENTY YEARS AGO
Dublin, Ireland: W.B. Kelly, 1866. Third edition. Leather-bound. 12mo., 7 in. x 4.8 in., pp. xvi, 329, [1], [1] ("Supplemental Note"). Illustrated with black and white frontis and one additional plate. Rich red half calf decoratively ruled in blind over marbled boards. GIlt title on brown panel, and four raised bands with gilt bandlines, to spine. Rubbing to extremities with a couple of inch-long tape scars to front. Previous owner's name, dated 1866, to title page. Light spotting to endpapers. Spine and hinges tight. Handsome spine for the shelf! Very Good. Item #88599
From title page: "Completely Re-Cast, with New Matter, Valuable Documents hitherto Unpublished, and Illustrations from Contemporary Prints."
A tireless researcher, William John Fitzpatrick (1830-1895) trawled through documentary sources to satisfy his desire for accurate information. From the beginning of his writing career, he had been obsessed with the secret history that surrounded the 1798 rebellion and the passing of the act of union. This led him to publish Lord Edward Fitzgerald or notes on the Cornwallis papers (1859), The Sham Squire and the informers of 1798 (1866), and The secret service under Pitt (1892), one of his most important works. (from Dictionary of Irish Biography).
Price: $125.00