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Auction
News Archive 23.12.07.
I'm pleased to say I was wrong, and we have managed to get the 2008 Book Auction
Diary up. Hopefully, I will find the time to add more dates before the end of
the year, but as yet few have been made available by the auctioneers. Add
a comment 21.12.07.
A happy Christmas and peaceful New Year to all our readers and contributors. Add
a comment 20.12.07.
Due to reasons too complicated and dreary to mention, I don't think I will have
the 2008 diary up until January Ist. However, next year the diary will roll over
- just one of the improvements planned for 2008. Generaly speaking, you can expect
to see a significant increase in both the number of auctions listed (424 in 2007)
and the quality of the descriptions provided. Add
a comment 11.12.07.
As usual there are plenty of lots to tempt the northern ephemerist at Thomson,
Roddick & Medcalf's Antiquarian
& Collectable & General book sale on December 19th. For example, lot 142 is
an attractive handbill from Alnwick in 1817, offering a five guinea reward for
information regarding the theft of a large trunk of valuables. If only it was
Gloucestershire ... :) Add a comment 03.12.07.
Children's book collectors are spoilt for choice at this time of year, with Dominic
Winter offering children's and illustrated books on the 6th, and Bloomsbury
holding a Memories
of Childhood sale on the 12th. Too many good things to mention, but an obvious
highlight of the Bloomsbury sale must be Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit,
privately printed for the author by Strangeways, which has an estimate of $60000
– $80000. Add a comment 30.11.07.
One of only two surviving manuscript leaves from one of Mozart’s greatest compositions
has been found in a private collection in England. Although
a single sheet, it comes from Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat for Violin,
Viola and Orchestra, and is widely regarded as the greatest work by anyone for
the viola.
It is due to be auctioned at Sotheby’s
in London next Tuesday, and is likely to exceed the auctioneer’s £100,000 estimate
... more Add
a comment 27.11.07.
A "spooky" image of a priest executed for treason over the Gunpowder Plot has
appeared on a 17th century book thought to be bound in his skin, it is claimed
... more Add
a comment 24.11.07.
A reminder that bidding on items in the Comic
Book Postal Auctions Winter sale closes on Tuesday November 27, at 8 pm UK
time.
Add a comment 23.11.07.
Old photographs including pictures of the Prince of Wales' visit to Halifax in
1926, maps and other goodies tempted bidders at the Harrogate sale to pay well
above guide prices ... more
Add a comment 15.11.07.
An Edinburgh college is £180,000 richer after selling a rare, centuries-old book
at Christie's in London. The book - a precious first-edition copy of Carl Linnaeus'
1735 masterpiece, Systema Naturae - was snapped up yesterday by a mystery bidder
for £180,500, or £15,000 for each of its 12 pages ... more
Add a comment 13.11.07.
A rare first edition of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights sold at auction
today for £114,000, more than double the expected sale price ... more
Add a comment 12.11.07.
The Winter 2007 auction at Compalcomics
is now open and runs until November 27th. Highlights include is a Beano Book No
1 in VG grade and a scarce Book 2 with no major defects. There is also a No 1
Dandy Monster Comic and Desperate Dan’s Xmas 1946 artwork where he fights his
nephew, Danny, for Aunt Aggy’s monster Xmas pud (no button is left unpinged!)
... more
Add a comment 01.11.07.
A unique auction of Raj period Indian books and photographs by Bonhams in London
saw a book of photographs fetching a whopping £30,000. The sale, which also included
a few Chinese and Asian lots, touched a total sale value of £390,000. This is
the second such sale of Indian collectibles in this genre by Bonhams and 90% of
the photographic lots have been snapped up by collectors ... more
Add a comment 29.10.07.
Thomson, Roddick & Medcalf's sale of Antiquarian
& Collectable Books, Documents & Ephemera on November 7th includes an extensive
collection of ephemera relating to the actress Diana Dors. Included are photographs
signed by Diana Dors and other stars, a childhood letter from Diana Dors to her
parents, film posters and stills. Add a comment 25.10.07.
A rare signed first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has been
sold for £19,700 at Christie's auction house in London. The estimate was £8,000-£12,000
... more
Add a comment
24.10.07. An
800-year-old copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, has sold for a world record
price of £1,140,500 at an auction in London. Auction house Christie's said it
was a world record for both a Koran and an Islamic manuscript. It was expected
to sell for between £500,000 and £750,000 ... more
Add a comment 22.10.07.
Gorringes
Book, Map and Print sale on October 24th & 25th has a wealth of material to
tempt the topographical enthusiast. County maps by Speed, Bleau, and Jansson and
a first edition of Braun & Hogenberg's plan of Cambridge, are amongst the
maps on offer. The books include a second edition of Camden's Britannia, and various
topographical dictionaries. Amongst the natural history and botanical lots are
a rather worn Gerard's Herbal, and Jane Loudon's Ladies Flower-Garden in an attractive
sounding binding. Add a comment 15.10.07.
Bloomsbury will sell the second and final part of the Erica
Spender Collection on October 18th. ‘Japonisme’ held a particular interest
for Erica Spender and the sale boasts 131 lots of Japanese
interest. Le Japon Artistique, Paris 1888-90 is an important periodical on
Japanese art which carries an estimate of £500-700. A limited edition of L’Art
Japonais in 2 volumes (lot 47 and another similar lot 48) was the first major
work on Japanese art published in Europe and was very influential in the development
of ‘Japonisme’ in Western art (both lots estimated at £400-600). Add a comment 03.10.07.
Prompted by the success of a similar sale, Sotheby's is to host an auction of
modern and contemporary Iranian Art in London. Illuminated and unadorned manuscripts
written in Persian and Turkish, embodying various topics ranging from myths and
legends to astronomy and medicine, will be auctioned on October 24th ... more
Add a comment 28.09.07.
Northern ephemerists are in for a treat at Thomson,
Roddick & Medcalf's book & ephemera sale on March 3rd. But whist the sale
posters, mining documents and political material may be primarily of interest
to local history collectors, some items, like the late eighteen century garden
ephemera, will have a wider appeal. Add a comment 25.09.07.
Lot 435 of the Keys
book sale on September 27th & 28th is a tiny Koran,
not much bigger than a pound coin. Written in Persian, probably 15th Century,
the tiny octagonal volume has some 200 leaves, the first two illuminated, and
is housed in embroidered bullion work pouch. The estimate is £1500-2000.
Add a comment
21.09.07. An
unnamed bidder has paid £1,350 at auction for a rare Broons annual signed by the
artist ... more
Add a comment 17.09.07.
Two copies of a rare Rupert Bear annual are the stars of a collection of memorabilia
featuring the cartoon character coming up for auction at Dukes
of Dorchester in October.
The 1973 annuals featuring
a brown-faced Rupert were printed to appease illustrator Alfred Bestall, after
the publishers had changed his appearance to white to meet the demands of young
fans ... more
Add a comment 07.09.07.
Bloomsbury's popular Erotica
sales are eagerly awaited, and the latest on 20th September has plenty to interest
collectors of books, prints, photographs and posters. This sale is strong
on sexploitation cinema posters, and lot 243, a group of Emanuelle posters including
Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, is a gem of it's genre. Add a comment 03.09.07.
The book section of Simon
Chorley's sale on September 6th includes a number of books on geology, topography,
natural history and Silurian archaeology, but the highlight is Egypt, Sinai and
Jerusalem by Francis Frith. Circa 1860, the elephant folio has nine of the plates
signed in the negative, and the estimate is £15,000 - £20,000.
Egypt,
Sinai and Jerusalem by Francis Frith made a hammer price of £63,250 -- more than
three times the estimate -- no bad for a book discovered during an attic earlier
this year. - TBG. Add a comment
30.08.07.
While there are only twenty or so lots of books in Morphets
Fine Art and Antiques sale on September 6th, the seven original monochrome
gouache, pen and ink works by Louis
Wain should generate significant interest. Each work is expected to realise
£3000-£5000. Add a comment 29.08.07.
Arthur Ransome’s children’s book Swallows and Amazons in its very rare dust jacket
and in excellent condition achieved an auction world record price of £6,500 at
Tennants Auction last week ... more
Add a comment 28.08.07.
A collection of 23 Diana signed letters, photographs, and Christmas cards, sent
to Simon Barnes is expected to realise over $20,000 at Dominic Winter Book Auctions
sale in South Cerney, Gloucestershire tomorrow ... more
Add a comment 15.08.07.
An outstanding collection of books and letters of Lewis Carroll – including a
rare first edition copy of Alice in Wonderland goes under the hammer on August
23rd, at Mullock’s historical documents sale.
‘This
is unquestionably the most important Lewis Carroll collection to come up for sale
in recent years, and we are expecting considerable international interest’ commented
the auctioneers’ historical documents expert Richard Westwood-Brookes ... more Add
a comment 13.08.07.
Apart from January, August is probably the quietest month for auctions in the
UK, and we certainly wont match the 59 sales containing books that we were able
to list last month.
On the 23rd, Mullock Madeley's bimonthly
sale of Printed Ephemera & Autographs usually holds plenty of interest, and I
will add a link as soon as the catalogue goes live. Add a comment
04.08.07.
I'm joining the holiday exodus for a week away with my extended family, so no
more auction news until August 13th. Add a comment 28.07.07.
Stride & Son of Chichester are holding one of their occasional Book
& Document sales on August 7th.
Travel an
exploration are well represented, with books from the travel collection of Horace
and Herbert White, and a small archive of material relating to Surgeon Major J
J Lamprey, while stationed in Sierra Leone in the 1870s-1890s.
The
children's books include some Beatrix Potter firsts, and amongst the ephemera
is a rare Bram Stoker pamphlet with a presentation letter. Add a comment 25.07.07.
Taylor's Auction Rooms in Montrose have an eclectic selection of books in their
Books, Stamps,
Coins, Postcards & Banknotes sale on July 28th. The 284 lots of books
include some interesting natural history, topography, polar and other exploration,
children's and illustrated books. Amongst the ephemera
is lot 1029, a photograph album simply described as Paddle Steamers 1812-1906,
which is estimated at £600 to £800. Add a comment 17.07.07.
A first edition of Arthur Ransome’s children’s book ‘Swallows
and Amazons’ described by the auctioneers as being in excellent condition,
with its scarce dust jacket well preserved, is the highlight of Tennants Summer
Book Sale on the 25th of July.
The only recent
auction record is for a copy in a stained dust jacket, which sold at Bloomsbury
Auctions in London for £5,000 in April 2004. Tennants copy is estimated at £2,000-3,000. Add
a comment 10.07.07.
As of today we have 43 auctions containing books listed in the July Diary. Some
of these sales will only contain a handful of lots, and when this is the case
it's indicated in the sale title.
This is a considerable
increase over previous months, and I'm confident that auctioneers will respond
positively by sending us earlier notification of dates and lot details. Add
a comment 06.07.07.
A rare first edition of a classic horror story which sparked countless films and
built a legend around a seaside town has been unearthed.
The 1897 copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula was found during a house clearance and
when it goes under the hammer at the Applegarth Salerooms later this month it's
expected to fetch upwards of £4,000 ... more Add
a comment 04.07.07.
The estimate for Napoleon's lament from a cruelly misjudged lover began at £25,000
- but bidding at Christie's yesterday started at £30,000. It eventually made a
world record price for one of the Little Corporal's letters, from an internet
buyer, of £276,000.
The whole collection was forecast
to fetch £2m, but had outstripped that by lunchtime. A letter from Elizabeth I
to the King of France - flowery assurances of goodwill and friendship in French
- sold for £33,600, more than twice the top estimate ... more Add
a comment 02.07.07.
Christie's have withdrawn the Mahatma Gandhi letter due to be auction in London
today so that it can be acquired by the Indian government ... more Add
a comment 30.06.07.
The scheduled auction by Christie's of a letter written by Mahatma Gandhi, possibly
his last before his assassination, has ruffled feathers in the Indian government.
The Indian High Commission in Britain is negotiating with auction house and is
keen on buying the letter before it goes under the hammer on the July 3 ... more Add
a comment 28.06.07.
A copy of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Aurora Australis has sold at auction for £43,200.
Named after the spectacular sky lights of the Southern hemisphere, it was was
discovered at the bottom of a filing cabinet by a Kent family ... more Add
a comment 27.06.07.
A rare first edition Harry Potter book bought by a schoolgirl ten years ago went
under the hammer for a magic £9,000 today.
The copy
of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was published by Bloomsbury
in 1997 - when no-one could have predicted quite how successful the franchise
would become -- it had a pre-sale estimate of £5,000 to £7,000 ... more Add
a comment 17.06.07.
My elderly mother has been taken into hospital, so no updates until I return from
visiting her -- hopefully towards the end of the week. Add a comment 10.06.07.
A fund manager's sale of books by T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and other authors missed
its high estimate at a Sotheby's auction on Friday in London, as dealers discounted
editions that were damaged or resold too soon ... more Add
a comment 07.06.07.
The words are full of passion and love. But, unswayed by emotion, no buyer was
willing yesterday to pay a reserve price of about £120,000 for more than 80 letters
written by the poet Rupert Brooke in the last two years of his life ... more Add
a comment 05.06.07.
A first edition of JK Rowling’s debut Harry Potter novel is expected to fetch
up to £7,000 at auction this month. The hardback version of Harry Potter And The
Philosopher’s Stone is going under the hammer at Bonhams on June 26 in London
... more Add
a comment 31.05.07.
A rare first edition of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, in excellent condition
and with its original dust jacket well preserved, is expected to sell for several
thousand pounds at Tennants Auctioneers of Leyburn on July 25 ... more Add
a comment 31.05.07.
An expected bidding war failed to materialize for John Steinbeck's handwritten
draft of a novel, the starting bid of $300,000 apparently set too high ... more Add
a comment 19.05.07.
I'm away on holiday until the end of the month, so this will be the last update
until the begining of June. The new auction database now seems to be bug free,
and I look forward to featuring many more provincial auctioneers in the coming
months. Add a comment 18.05.07.Letters
and documents in which Beatrix Potter discusses flu, bad weather and the strains
of farming during wartime come up for auction in Carlisle on Wednesday ... more Add
a comment 03.05.07.
GWRA (Railwayana Auctions) are holding one of their regular sales at Pershore
High School on May 12th.
There are a number of posters and works on paper included amongst the usual hardware,
as well as a supplementary auction of tickets and ephemera. Add a comment 03.05.07.
Bloomsbury
describe their Travel Sale on May 10th as "a must for collectors of books
and maps relating to India, Asia and Africa." One of the sale highlights
in the India section is Scenery, Costumes and Architecture Chiefly on the Western
Side of India by Capt. Robert Melville Grindlay from 1830, estimated to reach
£4000-6000. Add a comment 16.04.07.
The new database seems to be working properly, but if you spot any anomalies or
inconsistencies please let me know.
As well as browsing
auction dates in the calendar, you can now search for auctions by auctioneer,
town and county. There's also a limited ability to search by sale content - something
we hope to improve in the next few months.
You should
also start to see a significant increase in the number of auctions listed with
book sections - and whenever practical - some description of the books they contain.
As
part of the site rebuild I'm trying to find the most intuitive and useful ways
to present this improved functionality. I would of course welcome your comments
and suggestions. Add a comment 13.04.07.
We are in the process of migrating the Auction Diary to an online database, and
needless to say there have been teething troubles. This has meant that I have
been unable to add auctions for the last week, although everything should be working
properly by Monday. Add a comment 03.04.07.
Many thanks to Phil Downes for pointing out that Mallams
have postponed their book sale, which was due to take place on Thursday the 5th
of April. It is now scheduled to be part of a sale to be held on Wednesday the
25th of April. Add a comment 23.03.07.
The log book, from the slave schooner Juverna, was bought by The National Maritime
Museum in Greenwich, for £5,520 at Bonhams sale on Wednesday. It had been expected
fetch nearer £2,500 ... more
Add a comment 22.03.07.
Hampton &
Littlewood's Antiquarian Book Sale on March 28th includes several lots that
caught my eye. The Speaking Toy Book circa 1900 is defective but comes with it's
original printed box, and there's a better than average set of The Yellow Book.
However, the stars of the show are an album of Indian costume watercolours, and
a 9 page signed manuscript of 'Greenhow Hill' by Kipling, with an estimate of
£3,500 - £4,500. Add a comment 20.03.07.
An inscribed copy of the 'exceptionally rare' first book by Nobel Prize-winning
author Rudyard Kipling is expected to fetch up to £3,000 when it is auctioned
in London on March 27th ... more 16.03.07.
One of the highlights of Bonhams sale on March 27th is a second edition of Ranulf
Higden's universal history. Printed in 1495 by Wynkyn de Worde in the precincts
of Westminster Abbey, at the press he inherited from the trail-blazing English
printer William Caxton in 1491 ... more
Add a comment 08.03.07.
A
vivid personal account of the Battle of the Somme sold yesterday for over £7,000
- more than 10 times its guide price ... more
Add a comment 02.03.07.
Dee,
Atkinson & Harrison have a book section in their 19th Century & Later sale
on March 31st. Add a comment 02.03.07.
The first printed atlas of England and Wales, made up of two fabulously rare sets
of Tudor maps bound in a sensational volume, and charts of Sir Francis Drake's
expedition to the West Indies with the first printed plan of any American city,
are to be auctioned in London on March 15th ... more
Add a comment 02.03.07.
The second day of Dominic
Winter's sale on March 7th & 8th is dominated by photography and the proforming
arts, including the Joe Bulaitis archive of photographs of Marcel Marceau. Add
a comment 19.02.07.
Tring
Market Auctions February 24th sale has a 165 lot book section, which is strong
on recent aviation, navel and military titles. All to be sold without reserve. Add
a comment 19.02.07.
Bellmans
Antiquarian & Modern Book Sale on February 23rd has a number of interesting titles
on drawing and painting, including several by David Cox. A copy of his Treatise
on Landscape Painting and Effect in Water Colours, 1st ed, 2nd issue, 1814, has
an estimate is £1000 to £1500. Add a comment 16.02.07.
A damaged first edition of the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, has failed
to sell at auction in London. The copy of Ian Fleming's novel was expected to
fetch £8,000 to £10,000 but bidding did not reach its undisclosed reserve price
at Bloomsbury Auctions ... more Add
a comment 13.02.07.
Duke's Book and Manuscript
Sale on March 8th includes the libraries of Sir Harry Newton, and the Late Jean
Preston. Highlights will include: A First edition in contemporary calf, of Newton's
Principia Mathematica and a Kelmscott Chaucer, in the original pigskin by the
Doves Bindery. A 1482 first edition of Euclid's Elementa and a first of Darwin's
On the Origin of Species. Add a comment 06.02.07.
A damaged copy of the first James Bond novel Casino Royale is expected to fetch
£10,000 at auction this week. Bloomsbury Auctions spokesman Richard Caton said:
"The print run when it first came out was very, very small indeed. For any copy
to survive is wonderful as they have become very rare ... more Add
a comment 15.01.07.
A handwritten note from Lady Thatcher is set to go under the hammer, along with
a signed copy of her memoirs. The note, sent in 1993, turned up at Oxfam's Nicolson
Street bookshop inside a first edition of "The Downing Street Years" ... more Add
a comment 11.01.07.
An ancient map of Scotland has fetched more than £22,000 at an auction in Edinburgh.
The 16th century "Nicolay Rutter", which is said to be the oldest accurate chart
of the country, was sold to an unnamed London dealer, whom experts said had acquired
an "exciting and important piece of Scottish history" ... more Add
a comment 06.01.07.
A cookery book written by the country's first celebrity chef 329 years ago is
up for sale. "How to Boil a Pike in City Fashion" and "A la Mode Ways of Dressing
the Head of Any Beast" are among some of the other culinary tips dished out by
17th century cook Robert May ... more
Add a comment News
from 2006
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