BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, IRISH, 1608, (1 VOL.)

folio, translated by William Daniell, title within elaborate woodcut border printed in red and black, last leaf with large woodcut of the coat of arms of Chichester, woodcut decorations, initial letters, calendar printed in red and black, dedication page dated October 1609, early ownership inscriptions with early 17th century notes in English, Latin and Irish, with manuscript additions to the calendar, modern full green morocco, spine in compartments with title in gilt, lacking preliminary blank, housed in collector's green cloth folding box, some browning, leaves washed and extensively repaired and conserved with minor occasional loss

"I brought this booke with me out of Conaght in June Anno Domini 1627 [name erased]"; "I bought this booke of William Lloyd 15 May 1629"; "John Butler, his booke" 

STC 16433

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"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."

FIRST EDITION OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER IN IRISH, AND RARE AT AUCTION: only three copies are recorded as having been sold in Britain or Ireland since 1933. See note to lot 403 for a short summary of the early translation of religious works into Irish by the Anglican Church. The printer here, John Franckton (or Franke), also printed part of the first edition of the New Testament in Irish, which appeared in 1602, also translated by William Daniell (see same lot). Francke worked in Dublin from 1618 until about 1620, importing paper and skins for binding from Chester; he also printed the Irish translation of the Book of Common Prayer in 1608.

The Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam William Daniel [Uilliam Ó Domhnaill] (c. 1575–1628) was born in Kilkenny and was one of the first three scholars of Trinity College Dublin, being elected junior fellow in 1593. Between 1596 and 1601 he was in Galway. At some time during the 1590s Daniel took upon himself the translation of the New Testament into Irish, a work which finally appeared in 1602, and which led to him securing the treasurership of St Patrick's Cathedral. At the encouragement of Sir Arthur Chichester Daniel then undertook the translation of the Book of Common Prayer into Irish, finishing it and indeed seeing it through the press himself in 1608 (see N.J.S. Williams, ODNB). His reward was his elevation to the archbishopric of Tuam, being consecrated in 1609. The work translates the English Act of Uniformity (rather than the Irish one, which had been passed in the Irish parliament in 1560. The translation then follows the English prayer book or 1604, though omitting both the ordinal and the psalter. It is thought the translation was used quite widely, since the Franciscan Hugh Mac Caughwell became agitated that both this and Daniel's translation of the New Testament "were seducing the Irish from the Catholic faith" (op.cit.) He wrote in 1618 that the Irish Book of Common Prayer was not so much a (leabhar aifrinn 'mass-book') as a (leabhar iffrinn eiriceachda 'book of heretical hell') (quoted by Williams).