William Butler Yeats Collection

Photo of Yeats

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was born in Dublin, Ireland. Yeats began to write poetry while attending the Metropolitan Art College. His first publication was in The Dublin University Review in 1885.

The following year, he published his first book, Mosada , a dramatic poem. In 1887, after moving to London, Yeats published his second book, an edited edition of Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland . In addition to writing poetry he also edited and published Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry (1888) . It was with his book The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems (1889) that he made his first appearance as a lyric poet.

In 1896 Yeats met Lady Augusta Gregory, a 44-year-old widow and playwright desiring to create an Irish arts movement. With the help of Lady Gregory, he founded both The Irish Literary Theater and The Abbey Theater. In addition to the Irish arts movement Yeats also received the Nobel Prize for Literature (1923).

Special Collections retains various publications of Yeats's work from as early as 1903. There are several first editions in the collection as well as many early editions of his poetry and dramatic works. Several of these books were printed by the Cuala Press which was a fine press established by his sister Elizabeth Corbet Yeats.

Irish Literature Collection

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