ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND; OR THE MYSTERIES OF FREEMASONRY, OF SABAISM, AND OF BUDHISM, FOR THE FIRST TIME UNVEILED. "PRIZE ESSAY" OF THE ROAYL IRISH ACADEMY, ENLARGED, AND EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

O'Brien, Henry [1808-1835]

Published by Whittaker and Company, London, 1834

About this Item

Thick 8vo. (22 cm.) xxxvi, 524p. Plus 1p. ads and 1p. errata. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR'S BROTHER on the title pages as follows: "John Mounterney Jephson Esqu[ire] / from his sincere friend / the authors brother / James O'Brien." Illustrated with numerous engravings throughout. Bound in vellum with stamped gilt letters on the spine. Some transfer from vellum to endpapers, almost no interior foxing, stain along top edge of rear cover (but not affecting textblock), vellum lightly soiled, gilt bright, else very good to near fine. Besides the gift inscription, the third and fourth blank pages have an ink hand-lettered "List of Engravings" with the page numbers included to which has been added in pencil, in a different hand, a list of topical references in the text. Henry O'Brien [1808-1835] was an antiquary, ethnologist, historian and archaeologist. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin with a B.A. in 1831. In 1832 he wrote a dissertation on the "Round Towers of Ireland" for the prize offered by the Royal Irish Academy; but he was not awarded the prize. In 1833 he published a translation of IBERNIA PHOENICEA by Joaquin Lorenzo Villanueva (London, 1831), under the title PHOENICIAN IRELAND. In 1834 O'Brien published THE ROUND TOWERS in which he tried to show that the round towers are Buddhistic remains. He died in 1835, aged 27, being found dead in his bed in the house of a friend. The second edition of ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND (London, 1837) includes a biographical introduction by the translator's younger brother, James O'Brien [b. 1810], which defends from the critics who attacked them, the works of his late brother. John Mounteney Jephson [1819-1865], to whom this volume is inscribed by James O'Brien was a vicar and writer. Seller Inventory # 006094

Bibliographic Details

Title: ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND; OR THE MYSTERIES OF...

Publisher: Whittaker and Company, London

Publication Date: 1834

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition