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8°, contemporary crimson morocco with design of strapwork and stars on covers, spine gilt with raised bands in five compartments, inner dentelles gilt, decorated endleaves, all edges gilt, signed in gilt on the lower outer portion of the front cover "P. Ferreira". In very fine condition. Author's five-line presentation inscription on half title: "Ao M.G.F. [?] // Conde da Praia e // de Monforte // off. // o auctor." A few early corrections to the text. (1 l.), iii pp., (2 ll.), pp. [7]-368 pp. *** FIRST EDITION of this collection of poetry (including sonnets and fables), with notes at the end. With only a half title, and without any title page, as issued. The place, publisher and date are taken from the front wrapper of another copy. The book was almost certainly privately printed. There was a second edition, 1888; another of 1910 [?] is cited.Henrique O?Neill (1821-1889), descendant of an Irish family that arrived in Portugal during the eighteenth century, was a distinguished and literate man. After receiving his degree in law from Coimbra he taught Portuguese at Göttingen, then returned to Lisbon to enter the judiciary. O?Neill counted among his acquaintances Alexandre Herculano and Antonio Feliciano de Castilho, and belonged to the Academia Real das Ciências de Lisboa and the Instituto de Coimbra. In 1873 he became perceptor of D. Carlos and D. Afonso, the sons of D. Luis I, and veador of Maria Pia of Savoy, D. Luis?s consort. For these services he was named Visconde de Santa Monica. Innocêncio notes that O'Neill seldom published his works with his name on them: "Cultivando as letras com íntimo amor, poucas vezes tem dado ao prelo, sob o seu nome, producções suas." Provenance: António Borges de Medeiros Dias da Câmara e Sousa (Ponta Delgada, São José, 1829-Lisbon, 1913), 2.º Visconde da Praia, 1.º Conde da Praia e Monforte e 1.º Marquês da Praia e Monforte, was a great landed agricultural magnate and political figure. A typical enlightened, liberal aristocrat, he and his family formed a significant library, supported cultural projects, and patronized a number of authors, especially in the Açores.On the binder Paulino Ferreira (born 1861), see Matias Lima, Encadernadores portugueses. pp. 104-5.*** Innocêncio X, 391: listing only two works, a project for a law and O'Neill's translation of Lessing's Fables. This edition not located in Porbase which cites a single copy of the 1888 second edition, at Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, without collation; the second edition, Lisbon: Typ. da A.R. das Sciencias, 1888, bears O'Neill's name; also listed is In memoriam without place or printer, [1910?], with 368, 36 pp., at Biblioteca João Paulo II-Universidade Católica Portuguesa. KVK (51 databases searched) locates only the editions cited by Porbase. Seller Inventory # 35061
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