Grania. The Story of an Island. London: Smith, Elder, 1892. First Edition. Two Volumes. Pp, 268, 394. Publisher’s maroon cloth boards, lettered in gilt. Rear endpaper with lower corner piece torn, otherwise a nice bright set.

Frontispiece map of Islands of Aran & publisher’s catalogue to rear of volume one.

Emily Lawless’s fourth novel is set on the isolated island of Inishmann, the middle island of the three islands in Galway Bay. Grania focused on a poor Irish family and was intent on leading its readers to a new sympathy and understanding of major Irish problems, many of which resulted from neglect by the English.

Emily Lawless wrote nineteen books of fiction, biography, history, nature studies and poetry, many of which were widely read at the time. She is most famous today for her Wild Geese poems.