Banim, Michael, and Harriet Letitia Martin Mayor of Wind-Gap, and Canvassing London 1835
[Banim, Michael, and Harriet Letitia Martin.] The mayor of Wind-Gap, and Canvassing. By the O'Hara family. London: Saunders and Otley, 1835. (4)336; (4)401; (4)316 pp. Three vols., 12mo, contemporary half calf and marbled boards, spines gilt, dark green morocco labels (a bit rubbed).First edition. Two Irish novels. "The Mayor of Wind-Gap" is by Michael Banim, and is set in Kilkenny in 1779. Banim was one of the leading Irish novelists of the early 19th century; with his brother John he tried to do for Ireland what Walter Scott, in his Waverley Novels, had done for Scotland. "The Banims claim attention as folklorists, Irish Nationalists, and pioneers of regional authenticity." -- Sutherland. "Romantic and sensational -- attempted murders, abductions, &c. Not suitable for the young. Interest and mystery well sustained." -- Brown, Ireland in Fiction, 153. "Canvassing" is by Harriet Letitia Martin, the eldest daughter by his second wife of the much-loved Irish political figure Richard Martin, commonly known as "Humanity Dick" (partly for his efforts to prevent cruelty to animals). Miss Martin wrote this tale while staying in Paris with John Banim and his his wife. Her father, according to Wolff, is "brilliantly portrayed in the story as Mr. Wilmot." "An elaborate tale of matchmaking and marriage among the upper classes. Incidentally there is a good picture of an election contest in the first quarter of the nineteenth century." -- Brown 1099 (describing the text in 1919 as "still in print"). Half-titles present, though bound here as fly-titles, to follow the title-pages. A very good copy of a rare three-decker, the first set we have handled; the NUC lists three copies (DLC, ICU, RPB). Sadleir 147; Wolff 230; Block, p. 14; CBEL III, 708; CBEL (3) IV, 884.
£900
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