SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822)

An Address to the Irish People

Dublin: [Isaac Eaton], 1812.

First Edition. Small Octavo (210 x 120)., [2], 22 pp.

Some staining and possibly some neat minor repair work in the inner margin of the title-page (just visible on the verso of the title and possibly due to the holes caused by the stab-stitching weakening the inner margin), evenly browned throughout, neat crease along the fore-margin of the title-page, a few minor paper flaws in places and with some leaves lightly inked (due to the poor paper and ink quality noted by Shelley on the title-page), old manuscript tract volume number to the upper margin of the title-page, original stab stitching holes in the inner margin. Full green crushed-morocco by Riviere, spine lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers.

Extremely rare.

Shelley’s rare pamphlet addressed to Irish Catholics and arguing for the repealing of the Act of Union. Intentionally produced cheaply and aimed at the poorest members of society, Shelley himself distributed the work in the streets of Dublin and even threw copies to potential readers from the balcony of his apartments on Sackville Street. The work has long been famed for its rarity but has in recent years gained much attention as an important example of Shelley’s political awakening and as an influence on his literary output, particularly Queen Mab.

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