An original and rare copy of the 1916 proclamation which marked the start of the Easter Rising will be sold by Kent fine art and antiques auctioneers The Canterbury Auction Galleries.
The proclamation, one of over a thousand lots, is expected to sell for up to £6,000 in the sale from December 2-3.
“British soldiers destroyed hundreds of copies of the poster and few survive today,” said a spokesperson for the auctioneers.
“A copy hangs in Leinster House in the Irish Parliament buildings; another is on display in the GPO where the Proclamation was first read; the National Museum of Ireland; Trinity College, Dublin and in other museums worldwide. However, it is exceedingly rare for a copy to appear on the open market.”
Printed in secret on Easter Sunday April 23, 1916, the so-called Easter Proclamation was read out loud on the steps outside Dublin’s General Post Office on what is now O’Connell Street, which had been seized and occupied as the Republican’s military headquarters.
It resulted in six days of fighting against the British Army, reducing much of the area to rubble and resulting in many deaths and civilian casualties.
The poster will be on view alongside the traditional eclectic range of fine art, antiques and collectors’ items in The Canterbury Auction Galleries sale.
