Sweeney Astray. A Version from the Irish. London: Faber 1984. First Edition, Paperback Issue. Pp, 77. Near fine in pictorial wrappers.

Presentation copy, Inscribed & Dated by Seamus Heaney with thought bubble from Sweeney’s head: “I wish I was in Mourne, (see pg.64)”

Heaney’s version of Buile Suibhne, first published by Field Day (Derry) in 1983, is one of the major achievements of medieval literature. The story centres on the fate of Sweeney, the king of Dal-Arie in Ulster, who was cursed by a saint, turned into a bird, and driven astray for many years until the curse was fulfilled by his death.