A collection of letters and an essay penned by William Butler Yeats is to be auctioned in Sotheby's of London today.
The album, which includes an annotated, working manuscript of The Tragic Theatreand 18 signed letters written by Yeats, one of Ireland's greatest poets, is expected to fetch between £60,000 and £80,000.
It is understood several Irish people have contacted the auctioneers eager to snap up the highly sought after personal letters and writing.
Philip Errington, literature expert with Sotheby's, said the lot had attracted universities, institutions, and individuals as it was unusual to get a piece of work of such major importance.
The album contains 18 letters from Yeats to his friend Sydney Cockerell along with several other personal letters, and a picture of Irish playwright Lady Gregory.
Yeats's essay, The Tragic Theatre, was first published in the periodical The Maskin 1910 and discusses his conception of tragedy in theatre, along with many annotations and changes.
The edition on sale next week is 25 pages in black ink, fully annotated and signed.
The collection was put together by Cockerell and maintained as part of a private collection for several decades. It will go under the hammer on Tuesday as part of the Literature and History Sale.
A first edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, inscribed by the Dublin writer to his friend, the artist Arthur Power, will also be auctioned and is expected to reach somewhere in the region of £15,000 to £25,000.
Several lots of works by Oscar Wilde will also be offered to collectors including a first edition of An Ideal Husbandand a number of photographs of the writer.