Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 1916, lower half only, together with two handbills

IRELAND--EASTER UPRISING

Three items printed at Liberty Hall during the Easter Rebellion:

(i) [Irish Proclamation ("Poblacht Na H Eireann")], HALF SHEET OF THE ORIGINAL PROCLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC (text from "The Irish Republic..." to "...Joseph Plunkett"), text size 297 x 462 mm, paper size 485 x 680mm, printed in a variety of founts on a single sheet, smudging, sheet crudely torn 

(ii) Irish Proclamation ("Poblacht Na H Eireann") [Dublin: ?O'Keefe, for Joseph Stanley, 1916]. Handbill (218 x 142mm), THE EXCEPTIONALLY RARE SECOND PRINTING OF THE IRISH PROCLAMATION, slight wear where previously folded

(iii) The British Government's Plan for Suppressing the Irish Volunteers. [Dublin: n.p., April 1916] Handbill, 8vo (270 x 190mm), unevenly inked and smudged, weak where previously folded, tears at edges

AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE HALF SHEET OF THE IRISH PROCLAMATION. The Proclamation was printed at Liberty Hall on Easter Sunday 1916 by Christopher Brady, Michael J. Molloy and Liam O’Briain. Production was makeshift - hardly surprising given the circumstances - and the Proclamation had to be printed in two halves so the limited available type could be redistributed to complete the text. When British soldiers retook Liberty Hall on 27 April they found the type for the lower half still standing in the press and ran off a few copies out of curiosity and as mementoes. The crude presswork here is ample evidence that this copy was not run off by an experienced printer. This lot also includes an extremely rare example of the handbill edition of the Proclamation, which was printed for Joseph Stanley during the course of the Rising. Only four copies of this handbill are known, including one at the NLI.

PROVENANCE:

Lt Donald Keith Cooper (d. 28 August 1916), who served in Dublin attached to the 6th Battalion of the 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment and was placed in command of Liberty Hall following the suppression of the uprising

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