DUBLIN.- First Editions of Brian O'Nolan’s 1939 novel At Swim Two Birds are rare. Written under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien, the book was originally published by Longmans in March 1939. Disappointingly for O’Nolan, it was a commercial failure with less than 240 copies sold by the outbreak of the war the following September. Hitler’s Luftwaffe then added to the future scarcity of first editions by bombing Longman’s warehouse and destroying all the unsold copies in 1940, presumably the masterpiece of metafiction didn’t fit in with der Fuhrer’s vision for the literature of the new Reich.

Most of the 240 copies of the novel which sold, appear to have been circulated among artists and writers, who were largely enthusiastic, Joyce declared O’Nolan a writer with ‘true comic spirit’. A signed copy of this rare first edition is offered by Whyte's in their Eclectic Collector Auction on 9 September. It is dedicated in true Dublin style to an artist friend of the author, “To my butty Rosemary Coyle from the author Brian O’Nolan”, estimate €1,000-€1,500. Other first editions signed by their Irish authors in the sale are a first American edition of Ulysses, signed by James Joyce, lot 170, estimate €1,500-€2,000; and a first Irish edition of The Deserted Village signed by Oliver Goldsmith, lot 161, estimate €3,000-€5,000. Worldcat lists a total of only 11 examples of this edition, with one copy in Ireland, at Trinity College Dublin.

The Quiet Man shooting script
Nominated for seven Oscars and winner of two, Best Director and Best Cinematography, The Quiet Man was filmed on location in Cong, Co. Mayo in June 1951. The screenplay was based on a Saturday Evening Post short story of the same name by Maurice Walsh, which John Ford bought the film rights to in 1933. Over a decade later Ford met Frank Nugent on the set of The Fugitive in Mexico and Nugent became his principle screenwriter, providing Ford with the screenplays of eleven of his films. For his work on for The Quiet Man Nugent received a nomination for the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The Quiet Man won the Writers Guild of America Award for 'Best Written American Comedy' in 1953. Lot 574 in Whytes Eclectic Collector Auction is a cast-member’s copy of the shooting script used during the production of the film, estimate €2,000-€3000.

Daniel O’Connell’s daughter’s poetry
Lot 163 is a volume of 130 poems by Daniel O’Connell’s daughter, Ellen Fitzsimon. The book comprises both original works composed in the early 1870s and translations of verse from French and Italian.

Ellen Fitzsimon (1805-1883), eldest daughter of Daniel O'Connell, is listed in 'The Poets of Ireland' by David O'Donohue. London 1892. Her volume of poetry Derrynane Abbey in Eighteen Thirty-Two and Other Poems was published in 1863. Over the signature 'L.N.F.' she published poems in 'The Citizen', 'The Nation' and 'Duffy's Fireside Magazine'. Ellen O’Connell’s poetry volume is accompanied in the lot by her son, Thomas O'Connell-Fitzsimons’s exercise book dated Liege, 1846 and with 34 playbills from operas and plays staged in Liege in the late 1840s pasted into the latter pages. The manuscript notebooks were purchased by the current owner in a job lot of second-hand books. The two volumes are lot 163, estimate €1,200-€1,500.

American WWII flyer’s ‘bomber’ jacket
The Type A-2 leather flight jacket was to American Air Force flyers what the ‘Biggles’ sheepskin jacket was to their RAF counterparts. An example worn flying ‘The Hump’ in 1942 is offered in Whyte’s Eclectic Collector auction on 9 September. ‘The Hump’ was the flyers’ nickname for the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains, over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort against the Japanese. One of these flyers was Lieutenant HD (Hoyt Dan) Fisk, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain pilot, whose A2 flight jacket together with flight suit (also named to Fisk), silk scarf, 'Ike' uniform tunic, uniform visor cap and uniform shirt is lot 227, estimate €1,800-€2,000.

Guinness ship modelled by Maurice Craig
Known primarily as an architectural conservationist, Maurice Craig was also a keen modelmaker. Among his projects was a 1:48 scale, live-steam model of SS ‘Clarecastle’, one of Guinness’ ships, built from scratch, using plans supplied to Craig by the brewer. It features in Whytes Eclectic Collector Auction on 9 September, lot 285 estimate €300-€500. The lot includes its exhibition information card from a 1968 exhibition and a typed and bound instruction manual, with instructions on how to operate the steam engine. The tin-plate model was mentioned in Craig’s obituary in the Irish Times, which also records that “the man who commanded the ‘Clarecastle’, after looking over the model very carefully, said, 'It is exact' “.

Another model, probably also by Craig, is a wood-built representation of the Kingstown to Holyhead, British and Irish Steam Packet Company's 1948 passenger ferry, MV ‘Munster’, lot 286, estimate €200-€300.

Football Programmes
Fergus Reid was a devoted Bohemians supporter. He was also a lifelong collector of football programmes and his extraordinary collection follows the story of Irish football from the 1930s to the new millennium. Whyte’s are delighted to offer the collection in our Eclectic Collector auction on 9 September.

The earliest international match programme is for Ireland v. Hungary played in Dalymount Park, in December, 1936 (lot 472, estimate €250-€350). The two nations met again in March 1939, this time in the Mardyke Grounds in Cork and the programme is lot 476, estimate €250-€350. The international theme continues throughout, lot 490 is a fascinating collection of official documents and passes used by Mick McCarthy and the Irish squad in Japan in the infamous 2002 World Cup (estimate €150-€200).

Some of the most sought after programmes are for matches between domestic teams and the giants of European football, both competitive and friendly. The ill-fated Manchester United team, known as Busby’s Babes after their manager, Matt Busby, met a Home Farm selection at Dalymount Park on 23 April 1956. The match programme, together with two pages from an autograph book signed by both teams and managers, is lot 519, estimate €200-€300. A very early testimonial match between a Bohemians selection and Manchester United, played at Dalymount Park on 1 June 1949 is lot 505, estimate €120-€180.

With estimates on lots ranging from €50 to €500, there is something in this section of Whyte’s auction for any collector with even a passing interest in Irish football.

Advertising
The advertising signs and posters section in Whyte’s 9 September Eclectic Collector auction is particularly strong with a greater than usual number of enamel advertising signs. Beechams Pills are “Worth a Guinea a Box”, according to an enamel sign (lot 313, estimate €200-€300); on another, Mick McQuaid lies contentedly on the grass in a tweed suit, smoking and declaring the tobacco named after him to be “The Best Tobacco in the World” (lot 309, €300-€400). A handsome Spratt’s Meat Fibrine Dog Food mirror declares the product to be “Famed for Worth Around the Earth” (lot 315, €500-€700) and Guinness extolls its attributes with a 1930s poster of a carter happily hauling a draught horse in a cart (lot 298, €300-€400).

Among the highlights of the advertising section is a 1930s travel poster, published by the Great Southern Railway, promoting Ireland as “The Land of Eternal Youth”. Its design owes much to the posters of Paul Henry but by depicting a young man and woman playing music and dancing in landscape it suggests a much more dynamic experience than other campaigns of the period. The poster is laid on linen and is lot 295, estimate €400-€600.