THE OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND: AN INQUIRY, DID SHE EVER SEEK REDRESS AT THE COURT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, AS RECORDED IN THE JOURNAL OF ROBERT SYDNEY, EARL OF LEYCHESTER? AND DID SHE EVER SIT FOR HER PORTRAIT?
Dublin: Printed for Private Distribution Only at the University Press by M.H. Gill, 1861. First edition. 8vo, original brown blindstamped cloth; spine lettered in gilt. 76 pages; large folding genealogical chart of the Earls of Desmond. Binding with minor scuffs and discolorations, but sound. Small tear to large folding chart. Very good or better. Item #6201
The first edition of a very scarce antiquarian work by this well-known Irish numismatist, privately printed in small numbers for distribution to the friends of the author. Inscribed and signed by the author, with authorial corrections to the text in ink. Sainthill (1787–1869) was a lawyer in Cork, Ireland, and was a close friend of numismatists Aquilla Smith and John Lindsay. Not numismatic, it focuses on the life of Katherine FitzGerald, Countess of Desmond, who became famous for her longevity. Now thought to have lived from about 1504 to 1604, she was thought by some to have been as much as 140 years old when she died. She lived in Inchiquin Castle, to which she had been granted a life tenancy by her husband, the Earl of Desmond. An interesting account by a most engaging author.
Price: $350.00