Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland

CROKER, Thomas Crofton. Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland. London: John Murray, 1825-1828. First edition, published in 3 volumes, each measuring 17.1 x 10.7 cm, collated as vi, 363 pp. (volume I); xii, 326 pp, errata page (volume II); xxxii, 300 pp (volume III). With etchings by, and wood engravings after the drawings of William Henry Brooke, and a dedicatory letter to front of volume III from the author to Dr. Wilhelm Grimm, the younger brother of the Brothers Grimm duo.

Contemporary half-calf binding with marbled paper sides, blind embossed decoration to covers, five raised bands to spine with gilt title on leather labels, all edges speckled, plain endpapers. With armorial bookplate of John Earl of Clare affixed to front paste-downs of volumes I and II (removed from III). Professionally restored recently with two volumes fully rebacked, hinges strengthened on all volumes, and leather re-coloured and worn areas touched up. There is small spotting and browning throughout, with some plates slightly chipped to margins, and a rough patch left behind when the armorial bookplate was removed from the pastedown of volume III; else a rather lovely set, free from previous owner's inscriptions. 

[together with]

One Autograph Letter Signed (“T. Crofton Croker”) to Robert Cole, F.S.A. One page, 22.3 x 13.2 cm, neatly penned in ink; folded for posting, yellowed, tanned and foxed, with address panel, red wax seal remnants, and red postage stamp. Dated Tuesday, with docketed date “31 May ’53” (31 May 1853). Written from his home address at 3 Gloucester Road, Old Brompton. A warm and courteous letter to the antiquary Robert Cole, in which Croker apparently identifies the documents Cole has sent him as 'lapsed' or 'cancelled' Admiralty commissions; and offers him an incomplete set of the Percy tracts (complete sets were 'now not to be had for love or money'). A lovely letter with attractive postal elements and Croker’s distinctive signature.

Both the set and the letter are now housed in a recently handmade, oversized solander case [28.5 x 19.5 x 12 cm] by the Black Cat Bindery; bound in green buckram with beautiful hand-marbled paper sides, with gilt ruling to sides and gilt titles to spine, with an additional portfolio to house the letter from the author safely.

A very scarce first edition set of Croker's anthology of Irish legends, folk songs and keens (dirges for the dead) collected on his travels through southern Ireland, beautifully preserved and restored, together with a letter from the author, all housed in a hand-made, slightly oversized clamshell case. Particularly rare in this wonderful condition.

Between 1812 and 1816, during rambles in southern Ireland, Thomas Crofton Croker (1798–1854) - a Corkman of the ascendency class - gathered stories, traditions, and folklore. This material became the foundation of his first book, Researches in the South of Ireland. The poet Thomas Moore later credited Croker for providing “many curious fragments of ancient poetry” used in Irish Melodies. Testimonies recorded by Croker and his wife on funeral customs, especially the practice of keening, stand among the earliest and most important sources for understanding Irish-language laments and their associated rituals. His work saw six editions and was translated into German by the Brothers Grimm. Croker’s most celebrated publication appeared in 1825: The Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, a collection of folktales featuring distinctly Irish mythological beings such as the Pooka, banshees, and leprechauns. He later produced Legends of the Lakes (1829), The Adventures of Barney Mahoney (1852), and an edition of The Popular Songs of Ireland (1839).