Irish Pride (2 results)

Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Condition: Very Good. Dublin: P. [Peter] Brereton Printer, [ca. 1867]. First Edition. Pictorial broadside (28.25x11cm); woodcut illustration followed by a ballad. Mild rubbing and toning to edges; Very Good and sound. John Morrissey (1831-1878), known as Old Smoke, was an Irish-American politician, bare-knuckle boxing champion, and criminal. While this fight at Tierra del Fuego is not historically verified, clearly Morrissey was the model for the hero. Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, his family emigrated to the U.S. when Morrissey was still a child. Among the exploits that would make him a folk hero in Ireland were his winning of the heavyweight boxing championship, fighting and possibly murdering Bill the Butcher, and testifying against Boss Tweed and winning a State Senate seat on an anti-Tammany platform. A version of this ballad is included in Sandburg's The American Songbag. Brereton printed a number of these Irish Street Ballads, which were cheaply and carelessly printed as they are riddled with errors. "A closer investigation reveals the blemishes of compositioninverted letters, multiple type-faces, broken sorts, uneven leading, etc. Clearly, neither the printer nor reader cared much for these minor details. The broadsheets were printed quickly and inexpensively," (Kuhn). A lovely survival of Irish street literature highlighting the connection between the country's print trade and its robust oral tradition. Andrew Kuhn, "Reading Room Log: Brereton Broadsides." From the John J. Burns Library Blog, accessed online.