The Fate of Father Sheehy: A Tale of Tipperary Eighty Years Ago. The Daughter of Tyrconnell: A Tale of the Reign of James the First by Sadlier, Mrs. James - 1895

New York: P. J. Kenedy: Excelsior Catholic Publishing House.. Good with no dust jacket. 1895. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 12mo - 18 x 12 cm.; 132 - 152 pp. A light tan decorative cloth binding over boards with gilt lettering on the spine and the front board. Patterned end papers of the same tone. A volume with two of Sadlier's Irish stories bound as one. The tissue protected frontis engravings are present, one for each story and both are by A. Williams. Small engraved tailpieces grace the end of each chapter. Pagination notes: the first numbered page for "The Fate of Father Sheehy" is page 10 with there being 5 pages before that, the frontis counting as two of those pages. The first numbered page for "The Daughter of Tyrconnell" is page 10 with there being 5 pages before that, the frontis counting as two of those pages. An irregularity to be sure but explained (an educated conjecture here) by the fact that each one of these stories had been previous published individually (1863 by Sadlier followed by Duffy of Ireland in the next year) and the pagination for this combined edition follows that of the previously published individual volumes with the blank pages being left out for this edition. (The copyright is stated as belonging to D. and J. Sadlier, 1885, which is another reason for believing so.) There is no sign in this volume of any pages having been removed or other pages having been present. Previous owner's dated name (1879) on the recto of the first blank preliminary with a second note from a later owner (1982) as to where they had acquired this volume. Another previous owner (a cloistered French religious order: The Congregation of the Cross and the Seven Dolors) has their stamp on the bottom of the first title page and on the bottom of page 51 where it partially obscures one word - 'and'. Tipped in on the gutter margin of the last printed page of the second story, is a small fold out eight page catalogue of publications available from P. J. Kenedy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House of New York. Quite moderate shelf wear to the externals with light rubbings and the lower spine showing the most. The back cover has a dollar size red stain, and it is most definitely there and very red, with some similar smaller drops just below it. This does not show on the spine and is on the surface only. Both end paper hinges show a bit of looseness though there is no tearing and the binding of the text block is sound and solid. Quite a nice copy even considering the faults, of a scarce book. Digital images of any aspect are available upon request. A clear and removable archival cover has been fitted. .