Attributed to George Russell, called AE

The sheet is not laid down and appears in good overall condition. Held in cream mount and simple wooden black frame under glass.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The townland of Ballylee (Baile-an-Liagh, Baile ui Laoi) was at the time part of the Gregory estate, and  Yeats had begun collecting folklore with Lady Gregory in the area in 1897. Yeats had told some of these stories to George Russell before September 18987 when Russell published (inaccurately) some of this Ballylee folklore. Yeats’s first visit to the tower would have been between late June and mid-November 1898, and he immediately ‘possessed’ it in his imagination, writing in 1916 that ‘[f]or years I have coveted Ballylee Castle’. In the summer/autumn of 1898, Yeats and Russell had spent time seeing visions in the nearby Lydicaun Castle, a similar Norman tower house, though uninhabitable. Ballylee, at the time was occupied by Patrick Spellman, Master of the Loughrea Workhouse, and Yeats returned there again in the summer of 1899. Russell’s 1901 visit is not recorded by Lady Gregory in her diary.