Historic books go under the hammer

The 21st annual Trinity Second-hand Booksale took place last week, featuring over 30,000 novels, journals, pamphlets, guides and reference books. The event, which is Ireland’s largest charity booksale, went on over three days, from Thursday 18th March to Saturday 20th March.
A rare books auction took place on the Thursday, with 80 lots going under the hammer. These included a set of five coloured maps from the Dublin Civic Survey, dating back to 1925. A rare copy of Tom Moore’s Selection of Irish Melodies from the nineteenth century was put for sale, along with a selection of original newspapers including The Dublin Evening Mail, which was printed on Wednesday 3rd February, 1847.
The auction offered two unusual books by the late John Lennon: In His Own Write, written in 1964, and the first edition of A Spaniard in the Works, written in 1965. Both were donated by Guy Robinson. A wide selection of poetry went for sale, including the first edition of Seamus Heaney’s Nobel Lecture, delivered in Stockholm on 7th December 1995, donated by Maureen O’Connor. The oldest document in the auction, dating from 1785, was A dictionary of the Cant Language which was used by the Medicants, a group of ascetics which lived on charitable donations.
Throughout the year Trinity’s Booksale Office collects donations of books from staff, students, alumni and friends of the College for sale during the event. The annual Booksale featured a wide range of subjects, from art history to natural sciences, from fictional novels to modern history.
The annual event is organised and run by both student and staff volunteers.  Funds raised are used to buy books, journals, maps and other research materials for Trinity College Library and for the smaller specialist departmental libraries.
The sale continued for Restocked Friday where lots of additional books were added, concluding with Half-Price Saturday and a clearance auction. Trinity’s Secondhand Booksale was held in the Public Theatre, Front Square.