Rare Books go up for Auction at Ireland’s Largest Charity Booksale

Posted on: 12 March 2010

The 21st annual Trinity Secondhand Booksale will feature over 30,000 novels, journals, pamphlets, guides and reference books during a three-day event that will be held in the Public Theatre of Trinity College Dublin on March 18th – 20th next.  Throughout the year Trinity’s Booksale Office collects donations of books from staff, students, alumni and friends of the College for sale during the event which is Ireland’s largest charity book sale.

The annual Booksale features a wide range of subjects, from art history to natural sciences, from fictional novels to modern history.  Each year a rare books auction takes place on the first evening of the sale and this year 80 lots are scheduled to go under the hammer.  Highlights of the auction include a set of 10 coloured maps from the Dublin Civic Survey (1925); a rare copy of Tom Moore’s Selection of Irish Melodies (1810-15); a selection of original newspapers including The Dublin Evening Mail for Wednesday 3rd February, 1847; poetry by Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley; two unusual books by Beatle John Lennon (1964 & 1965), as well as books with a strong Trinity connection.

The annual Trinity Secondhand Booksale is organised and run by both student and staff volunteers.  Funds raised will be used to buy books, journals, maps and other research materials for Trinity College Library and for the smaller specialist departmental libraries.

The Trinity Secondhand Booksale will be held in the Public Theatre, Front Square, TCD, on Thursday 18th March from 5.30pm.  An auction of rare books will commence at 7pm.   The sale will continue on March 19th for Restocked Friday where lots of additional books will be added and will conclude on March 20th with Half Price Saturday from 10am – 2pm.  A clearance auction will take place at 2.15pm on Saturday.  Everything must go!

Further details are available from the Booksale Office. Tel: 896-2276 and 896-2087. Email: booksale@tcd.ie.