A single collection of works by W.B. Yeats, including signed limited editions, pamphlets on rice paper and autographed letters, goes for auction in London next month.
Mr Paul Rasti, a specialist in the books department at Christie's, says the collection in 49 lots is expected to fetch from £35,000 to £40,000 sterling (#58,000 to #66,000) on November 10th. While the collection was based in England, he declined to identify its current owner. "The chap wants to remain anonymous but it [the collection] is English-based," he said.
The highest value lot, Nine Poems Chosen from the Works of W.B. Yeats, is estimated at between £3,000 and £5,000.
Printed privately for John Quinn, a friend of Yeats, and his friends in April 1914 for presentation at a dinner given by Quinn for Yeats, it is one of only 25 copies. The book features a frontispiece portrait of Yeats by Arnold Genthe, and formerly belonged to the actor John Gielgud. It bears Gielgud's bookplate inside.
"It's a presentation copy, inscribed by Yeats to a Mrs Jefferson. It reads: `Mrs Jefferson from W.B. Yeats in gratitude for two evenings of beautiful sights and sounds'."
The nine poems included are The Song of Wandering Aengus, The Young Man's Song, The Mask, A Drinking Song, Against Unworthy Praise, A Woman Homer Sung, That the Night Come, The Three Hermits and Romantic Ireland.
Another highlight is an article in pamphlet form estimated at £2,500 to £4,000 (#3,174 to #5,079) entitled Is the Order of R.R. & A.C. to remain a Magical Order?
"[Yeats] belonged to one of the magical societies that were around at the time. It was called the Order of Rubidae Rosae & Aureae Crucis, which was a section of the Order of the Golden Dawn, a mystical society. Each member had a motto, which was usually in Latin and was known in the order by the initials of the motto.
"So in Yeats' case this was DEDI, which stood for Daemon Est Deus Inversus. Yeats never acknowledged authorship of the article. He was rather opposed to it being published and his association with it being known," says Mr Rasti.
The article, which does not bear Yeats' name, was given to John Quinn by Ms Florence Farr, an actress and author who was also a member of the mystical society, says Mr Rasti. She "basically fell out with Yeats" about the publication of the article.
"It's not absolutely sure what occurred between them but basically it was known that he [Yeats] opposed its publication."
John Quinn subsequently produced a catalogue of Yeats's works and wrote: "Yeats has never acknowledged the authorship of this article. It was written as a member of a magical society in London, and when there was a split in the society, this copy was bought by Mr Quinn and Miss Florence Farr, the actress-author, against Mr Yeats' rather strenuous opposition. No copy of this brochure has ever been offered at public sale, and it is one of the rarest of Yeats' writings in existence."
Mr Rasti believes Irish readers could own sought-after first editions by Yeats, having perhaps inherited them from their families. "I'd be surprised if there's not a few of these out there," he says.
Two first edition copies of The Wanderings of Oisin and other Poems (1889) are estimated at £800 to £1,200 each, while a first edition of The Celtic Twilight (1893) is expected to fetch £300 to £500. A first edition of The Countess Cathleen and Various Other Legends (1892) should make £250 to £400.
W.B. Yeats (1865-1939), brother of the artist Jack B. Yeats, received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
