A first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce and a half sheet of the original 1916 Irish Proclamation are back on the market after failing to sell in London's Sothebys on Tuesday.

The copy of Ulysses was guided to sell at between £25,000 and £35,000 ($41,000 to $57,000).

However, even though it was a first edition and was still in the original wrapper it failed to make its reserve.

The extremely rare half sheet of the Proclamation also failed to make its reserve after being listed at a guide price of between £20,000 and £30,000 ($32,000 to $49,000).

The Proclamation originally came in two halves and the half which was being auctioned was the rarer of the two as it contained the second section which runs from “The Irish Republic” to the last signature of Joseph Plunkett.

The second half is believed to have been in on the printing presses when the British soldiers arrived at Liberty Hall on April 27th, 1916.

There are only five other copies in existence and most are held in institutions.

In some good news for Irish auction watchers, two other items of Irish interest did manage to sell.

A signed first edition of JP Donleavy’s "The Ginger Man" sold for £2,750 ($4,520) while a first edition of "The Tree Clock" by Séamus Heaney sold for £2,500 ($4,100)