Choice Seamus Heaney works on sale would make for fine Father’s Day gifts

With Father’s Day falling on Sunday, how about a gift for your loved one from one of the greatest Irish poets?

After WB Yeats, Heaney is considered to be the most significant poet in the history of Irish literature. He died a decade ago this year, and HomePlace, the arts and literary centre in Bellaghy, Co Derry, will hold a special weekend on August 25th-27th in “reflective celebration of Seamus Heaney’s life and work”. Commencing with a reading by Pulitzer Prize winner, and Ireland Chair of Poetry, Paul Muldoon, 10 award-winning poets from across the country and beyond will explore the poet’s enduring influence in a celebration of music, art and poetry.

For those interested, there are a good number of works by Seamus Heaney going under the hammer on June 17th in Mullen’s Collector’s Cabinet sale, which would make fine gifts to mark the occasion.

[ Seamus Heaney’s healing words a sound investment ]

Not only do first editions of his books make lovely gifts, they are increasing in value, making him popular in rare book catalogues and at auction. Heaney was recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, and held posts at Harvard and Oxford universities, and his poems feature extensively on school syllabuses across the globe.

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The top lot in relation to Heaney in Mullen’s sale is Eleven Poems, his first book. This presentation copy (€2,000-€3,000) is inscribed with “To Winifred and Stan, with every good wish, Seamus, May 1969″ – Winifred was Heaney’s children’s childminder. Listed at €1,000-€1,500 is Columcille the Scribe (Royal Irish Academy, 2004), which is a version of an early Irish poem by Heaney. The poet commissioned calligrapher and expert on early Irish manuscripts Tim O’Neill to write the poem on vellum for presentation to the Royal Irish Academy, on the occasion of Heaney’s admission as a member.

A signed, limited edition of Electric Light (192/300), is listed at €300-€500, and a signed limited edition of District and Circle (128/300) is also €300-€500. For smaller budgets, Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney by Dennis O’Driscoll, signed by both Heaney and O’Driscoll, is listed at €100-€150, while Stations by Heaney, inscribed to American publisher William B Ewert, with “Bill, ‘Oh yes, I crept before I walked’ (p.24) Seamus Heaney 30.IV.93″, is seeking €120-€180.

Further lots in the sale worthy of a Father’s Day gift include a John Jameson & Sons (JJ&S) Fifteen Years Old Dublin Whiskey bottled by Henry Downes and Co, Thomas Street, Waterford (€500-€700); a selection of vintage port, to include five bottles of Taylors, Late Bottled Vintage Reserve Port, 1969 and two bottles of Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage Reserve Port, 1981 and 1986 (€200-€300); a 1690s hand-coloured, engraved map of Ireland Hiberniae Regnum by Nicolas Visscher (€300-€500); and a 1965 All-Ireland final GAA match worn Number 14, Umbro, Kerry jersey worn by former player and Kerry manager Mick O’Dwyer (€300-€500).

Heaney in London

For those who may miss Heaney’s works in Mullen’ sale, in the upcoming Fine Books and Manuscripts sale on June 21st, Bonhams has two important works by the Irish poet. A first edition, first issue of the author’s first book, Eleven Poems, is expected to fetch about £2,000-£3,000 (€2,320-€3,492).

This edition, described as “scarce” was owned by poet and author John Fuller, fellow emeritus at Magdalen College, Oxford. Also listed from Fuller’s collection is Heaney’s Munro, a typescript for a BBC Radio play (plus 10 others, including a first edition of Ten Poems by Michael Longley), which is listed at £800-£1,200 (€929-€1,394).

Nick Cave

In its gift suggestion section, de Búrca Rare Books in Blackrock has 200 books, including Heaney’s Station Island, a signed first edition (€575) and a signed first edition of Finders Keepers (€475). Also of interest as potential Father’s Day gifts are Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan’s Faith, Hope and Carnage (€250), a signed first edition. It was created from “more than 40 hours of intimate conversation with O’Hagan”, and draws candidly on Cave’s life, from his early childhood to the singer’s dramatic transformation in recent years.

Untameable on RTÉ

The latest documentary from the Verner brothers Alex and Joel, who produced the wonderful biopic The Man who Painted Ireland about the life of Jack B Yeats, is Untameable. The 50-minute long film, written by Colm Tóibín, and narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Ciarán Hinds, explores the dilemmas in Ireland’s bogs and the relationship Seamus Heaney had with our bogs.

His poems are read by Game of Thrones star Michelle Fairley, and the film delves into the influence of human sacrificial bodies, excavated from both Irish and Danish bogs, with insights from Irish historian Roy Foster, while also discussing artworks by Barrie Cooke and Sean McSweeney. If you missed Untameable – which aired on June 15th – you can catch up on the RTÉ Player.

seamusheaneyhome.com, rte.ie, mullenslaurelpark.com, bonhams.com, deburcararebooks.com