HEANEY, Seamus.
Rare books by Seamus Heaney, including first edition and signed first edition copies of Death of a Naturalist.
Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) was an Irish author of international standing, often described as the most important Irish poet since W. B. Yeats. Born into a farming family in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, he attended Queen’s University in Belfast and then became a lecturer.
HEANEY, Seamus. From the Republic of Conscience.Dublin : 1985
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Heaney on the title page to one of his closest contemporaries, the Irish poet Derek Mahon, "for Derek, with best wishes for 1986 - in friendship, Seamus, 1 January 1986".
The two men were part of a small group of poets, which also included Michael Longley, that had its breakthrough in Belfast...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. From the Republic of Conscience.Dublin : 1985
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Heaney on the title page to the Orkney poet George Mackay Brown (1921-1996), "Happy Christmas, George. Seamus".
The two poets met in 1968, and their subsequent friendship was characterised by mutual admiration. Brown wrote that Heaney was a "master" at "the supreme art of making simple events...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Hailstones.Dublin : 1984
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Heaney on the title page to the Orkney poet George Mackay Brown (1921-1996), "George - Sláinte - Seamus, 12/12/84".
The two poets met in 1968, and their subsequent friendship was characterised by mutual admiration. Brown wrote that Heaney was a "master" at "the supreme art of making simple...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Holly.[Loughcrew] : 1981
Heaney's 1981 Christmas card, one of 121 copies, inscribed by the poet on the first blank: "For Philip and Valerie, with good wishes for Christmas, Seamus, 23rd December 1981, in Booterstown". The poem was later collected in Station Island (1984).Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. The Riverbank Field.Dublin : 2007
First edition, signed limited issue, number 477 of 500 copies signed by the poet, of which 450 were for sale. The poem was later collected in The Human Chain (2010).Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. The Midnight Verdict.Loughcrew : 1993
First edition, one of 925 copies, signed by the poet on the half-title and with a ticket for a poetry reading, at St Patrick's College, Carlow, laid in. It comprises three verse translations: "Orpheus and Eurydice" and "The Death of Orpheus" from Ovid's Metamorphosis and "The Midnight Verdict", from Brian Merriman's Cuirt an Mhean...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. The Haw Lantern.New York : 1987
First US edition, inscribed by the poet on the half-title, "for Marjie, Best wishes, Seamus Heaney, May 1980". Written while grieving the death of his parents, the collection explores mortality through the haw fruit, a symbol of defiance against winter.Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Sweeney Astray.New York : 1984
Signed limited edition, number 202 of 350 copies, signed by the author and illustrated by Barrie Cooke. First published one year prior, Sweeney Astray is the Nobel laureate's modern English translation from the ancient Irish "Buile Shuibhne". Barrie Cooke (1931- 2014) was an abstract expressionist painter who also illustrated Heaney's bog poems in...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Field Work.London : 1979
First edition. Inspired by Heaney's move to County Wicklow away from the Troubles in Belfast, Field Work deals "with themes of personal and political history, place, and the 'everyday miracles' that would be alluded to in the citation when Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995" (Seamus Heaney HomePlace). This volume was the Poetry Book...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Sweeney Praises the Trees.New York : 1981
First edition, number 54 of 110 copies, signed by the author on the half-title. Sweeney Praises the Trees is an early version of part of his modern English translation of the ancient Irish Buile Shuibhne, preceding his complete translation, published in 1983 as Sweeney Astray.
The verses translated here are the section where Sweeney,...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Eleven Poems.Belfast : [November 1965]
First edition of Heaney's rare debut publication, presentation copy to the Irish theatre director Mary O'Malley, inscribed by the poet on the front wrapper verso, "The first fruits - with gratitude and good wishes. Seamus." This is a first issue, with the nine-point sun symbol on the front wrapper.
An important figure in Irish theatre,...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Field Work.London : 1979
First edition, first impression, signed by the author on the title page, with his printed name struck through. Inspired by Heaney's move to County Wicklow away from the Troubles in Belfast, the collection deals "with themes of personal and political history, place, and the 'everyday miracles' that would be alluded to in the citation when Heaney...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. A Boy Driving his Father to Confession.Frensham, Farnham, Surrey : 1970
First edition, number 80 of 150 copies, printed on Glastonbury laid paper, the first 50 of which were signed. This is not only one of the first limited editions put out by Heaney, but also marks the first separate appearance of one of his early masterpieces. The poem was written in 1965 and published in Phoenix in March 1967.Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. The Riverbank Field.Dublin : 2007
First edition, first impression, signed limited issue, number 91 of 500 copies signed by the poet, of which 450 were for sale. This copy is from the library of the book's publisher, the Irish poet Peter Fallon (b. 1951), with his ownership signature on the first blank. The poem was later collected in The Human Chain (2010).Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Hailstones.Dublin : 1984
First edition, first impression, signed limited issue, one of 250 cloth-bound copies signed by the poet on the title page. This copy is from the library of the book's publisher, the Irish poet Peter Fallon (b. 1951), with his ownership signature on the first blank.
As well as the title poem, which first appeared in the previous month's LRB,...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus. Eleven Poems.Belfast : [November 1965]
First edition, first issue (with the nine-point sun symbol), of Heaney's rare first published work, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the reverse of the front wrapper, "For Brendan & Pat: with every good wish, Seamus".
The recipients, Brendan and Pat McCrystal, first met Heaney at their engagement party. The party was hosted by...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus, and others. A Tribute to Kevin Sullivan.New York : 1991
First edition, number 3 of 25 copies signed to the title page by all five contributors (Seamus Heaney, Thomas Flanagan, Benedict Kiely, Sean White, and June K. Davison). An unsigned issue was also released in an unrecorded run.
The tribute reproduces the speeches given at the memorial reading for Sullivan at Queen's College, New York, on 2...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus; Max Neumann (illus.) Audenesque.Paris : 1998
First edition, number 90 of 100 copies signed by Heaney and Neumann, of Heaney's poem dedicated to the memory of poet Joseph Brodsky (who had died in 1996), using "Wystan Auden's metric feet" and composed on W. B. Yeats's anniversary. The whole edition was 120 copies, all on velin d'arches, with 20 copies lettered and hors commerce. The poem was...Learn More
HEANEY, Seamus (contrib.) Everyman: an Annual Religio-Cultural Review.Benburb, County Tyrone : 1969-74
First editions, first impressions. A complete run of this uncommon annual publication, most notable for the inclusion of work by Seamus Heaney: an interview with Michéal MacLiammóir and the poem "Birdwatcher" in issue I, the poem "Yan"' in issue II, the verse-play Munro in issue III, and two poems, "A Constable Calls" and "Act of Union" in issue...Learn More
