ROLAND KYAN: AN IRISH SKETCH
by Walter Sweetman
Digby, Long & Co. (1896)
First Edition
Condition: Near Fine

Walter Sweetman (1830-1905) was an Irish writer of fiction, poetry and essays. A staunch liberal Catholic, his writing had a marked philosophical accent. ROLAND KYAN is a novel "set in an Irish country seat, where discussions between mainly French and English visitors lead to a clearer understanding of Ireland, the betrothal of Roland and his return to Catholicism".  This copy is unusually well preserved, with some cover rubbing but otherwise only minimal wear inside or out. The binding is firm and the pages unmarked and not seriously toned. There is some wrinkling and foxing on the end papers. The book is apparently unread, as a number of pages are still unseparated along the top edge. The original (rather worn) plain brown wrapper for the book is also included (FRAGILE!). 283 pages, plus 8 pages of ads for the publisher's other books. A rare item for the collector of Irish literature.
This book was recently reprinted in paperback by the British Library. It was sold under the erroneous title, ROLAND RYAN. Five of Sweetman's titles have now been reprinted in recent years (the first reprints in a century), showing a possible growing revival of this author.