Ireland Considered as a Field for Investment or Residence, By William Bullock Webster, Esq. Contains Folding Hand-Coloured Geological Map of Ireland showing Bog in Ireland, the Railways, Canals &c.’ Dublin: Hodges Smith, 1853. Second edition. Small 8vo. Pp (4) + xvi 125. Original blind-stamped red cloth, lettered in gilt on upper cover and spine, remains of white glue to spine and margins, light soiling to covers, contents in very good condition. First published in 1852, the second followed a year later, both editions scarce. Webster, an Englishman Resident in Ireland for Four Years, Attempts to Break Down English Prejudice that “in Ireland There is No Security for Either Life or Property’. He Argues That Social Improvements Have Changed the Irish Peasantry Into Hardworking, Worthy Citizens. There is Much Statistical Material on Contemporary Prices, Rainfall, Crops, Poor Rates and Natural Resources. This Book is a Product of an Interesting and Largely Forgotten Phenomenon, Namely the Interest Shown in Post-Famine Ireland by English Investors. The Optimistic View of Irish Agricultural Resources Propagated by Such Books as This and James Caird’s “The Plantation Scheme; or the West of Ireland as a Field for Investment” (1850) led to Substantial Investment of English Capital into Irish Land. The Fact that a Second Edition was Needed Within Six Months of the First Exhibits the Contemporary Interest, and in the New Preface Webster States that his Continuing Experience, Drawn from Extensive Land Purchases in Both England and Ireland, Has Confirmed his Earlier Finding that the Latter Provided a Better Economic Return. The Second Edition is Little Changed but Contains an Interesting Four Pages of Quotations From Reviews of the First Edition, and an Additional Large Map Showing Both “Mountain” and “Red” Bogs at the End.