History of The Irish Rebellion in 1798. With Memoirs of the Union, and Emmett’s Insurrection in 1803. With Numerous Illustrations Drawn and Engraved by George Cruikshank. London: George Bell,1891. Later Edition. Green cloth boards, title in gilt to spine. A nice bright copy.

William Hamilton Maxwell was born in Co. Down & attended Trinity College Dublin. His history of the 1798 Rebellion was written in a spirit hostile to the rebels, and accompanied with similarly hostile illustrations by Cruikshank.

The crude racism is evident in his illustrations where Cruikshank’s lurid depictions of incidents in the rebellion were characterized by the ape-like portrayal of Irish rebels.