[MacMahon, Ella [Eleanor Harriet] / Watson, Aaron / Edwardes, Charles / Bonney, Professor / etc.].

Historical Houses of the United Kingdom [and Ireland] – Descriptive, Historical, Pictorial. [The two articles on Lismore Castle and Kilkenny Castle were written by irish romance novelist Ella MacMahon].

London / Paris / Melbourne, Cassell & Company, 1892. Quarto (23 cm x 27.5 cm high). Frontispice, VIII, 328 pages with numerous text-illustrations and severl full-page illustrations of the Houses and Castles. Original, decorative Hardcover with gilt lettering and ornament on spine and cover. Bidning shaky but bookblock firm. Wonderful publication with many historical building-details of irish and english houses. To our knowledge the full-page illustrations of Kilkenny Castle and Lismore Castle are not found in any other publication.

The two articles on Lismore Castle and Kilkenny Castle were written by irish romance novelist Ella MacMahon.

Eleanor Harriet MacMahon (23 July 1864 – 19 April 1956) was a prolific Irish romance novelist.
Ella MacMahon was born to Rev. John Henry MacMahon, curate of St. Werburgh’s Church, Dublin and Frances Snagge on 23 July 1864 in Dublin. She was the older of their two children. Her father later worked as chaplain of Mountjoy Prison. Rev. MacMahon was on the board of religious education of the Church of Ireland as well as editor of the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette. He wrote four books. His daughter was educated at home and had similar interests in a literary career.

In her twenties, MacMahon began contributing to periodicals such as the New Ireland Review, and her first novel was published in 1894. Her best-known books were A New Note (1894) and A Modern Man (1895). In addition to fiction, she wrote Hints on Letter-Writing (1884), based on a French guide, and “Is Humor Declining?”, an essay in The Living Age.

While her main income was from her novels, MacMahon worked for various government departments including the new Intelligence department during World War I.

A reviewer in Godey’s wrote that McMahon’s A Pitiless Passion “is in no sense a great work, but it is an unusual and an absorbing story told with a good eye for contrasts.” “Miss MacMahon can write very pleasantly, and knows just how much detail of dress and furniture is interesting to her readers,” explained a reviewer in 1898. “She makes no attempt to avoid femininity, and succeeds none the worse on that account.″

In the post-war years MacMahon moved to Brockenhurst, Hampshire, and later retired on her government pension. At some point in her life, she converted to Catholicism. She died 19 April 1956. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 18th Century – Rare · Architecture – Rare · Art · Art – Rare · Catalogue Four – International Art · Catalogue Irish History – Art and Architecture · Irish Architecture · Irish Art – Rare
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 32145AB

EUR 275,--