Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
First Discworld book works its magic in Lincolnshire
20 February 2026Book dealers and auction houses are all saying the same thing about fantasy and sci-fi novels: once derided as not serious objects of desire, they are now eagerly sought after by collectors and achieving really big prices.
A collector not short of interests, from autograph hunting to wrestling and speedway
20 February 2026John Short, a well-known collector in the Bristol area, amassed over 50,000 autographs in his lifetime. He began obtaining signatures at stage doors in the 1960s right up until his death in 2022.
Specimen book for The Curwen Press is one of the joys from newspaper art critic’s packed home
20 February 2026According to an article in The Times ahead of the estate sale of the paper’s former theatre, film and art critic John Russell Taylor (1935-2025), the west London flat where he lived was crammed not only with artworks but also 20,000 books.
Elizabethan table stands out in Fitzsimmons sale
13 February 2026Paul Fitzsimmons of Marhamchurch Antiques in Bovey Tracey, Devon, is one of the foremost early English oak specialists in the UK, with over 30 years of experience in the trade.
Derbyshire Shrovetide football scores £4200 many miles away in Cornwall
13 February 2026The ancient game of Royal Shrovetide Football has been played in the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since the 17th century.
Show of ‘magnificent courage’
13 February 2026A First World War Distinguished Conduct Medal casualty group of four sold for £2800 at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in Leyburn on December 10.
Here comes the Heavy Brigade
13 February 2026The disaster of the Charge of the Light Brigade inevitably dominates the tale of the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854, but far more successful actions also took place that day: the Charge of The Heavy Brigade and The Thin Red Line.
Door opens to Dorothy Garland at the Dominion Theatre
13 February 2026Incomparable! Delightful! The one and only! Miss Show Business Judy Garland’s All Star Variety Show – as billed at the time – opened at the Dominion Theatre in London’s Tottenham Court Road in October 17, 1957, for a four-and-a-half week run.
Trafalgar and Spartan add up to £9100 result
13 February 2026The clasps (metal bars across the ribbons) signifying participation in particular actions are a key factor driving value when it comes to the Naval General Service medal 1793-1840 awarded retrospectively for Royal navy service.
An unlikely but warm friendship revealed in a fascinating archive
13 February 2026Group lot shows how a shared interest in communication linked Louis Mountbatten and a telegraphist
Bidder demonstrates a burning desire to own a mining model pithead
13 February 2026‘Coal’ is a dirty word in today’s world of increasingly clean energy but in terms of a model offered at auction it can still generate a strong price.
17th century dictionary of slang emerges at Gloucestershire auction
06 February 2026Visitors to London at the end of the 17th century needed to take care: banditts, adamtilers and fencing-cullies were out looking to prey on unwitting buzzards, fat culls and fuddlecaps.
The Hobbit with a spaced-out Smaug brings £3000 sum for Oxfam
06 February 2026As befits one of the most read and best-selling works of English literature, JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit involves a bewildering array of editions over the many decades since the great fantasy novel made a debut on September 21, 1937.
Family of artist Anne Clark come back to life as more documents emerge at auction
06 February 2026Fresh batch of material related to artist Anne and husband Hezekiah brings extra family detail
The story behind The Hobbit with a spaced-out Smaug that brought a £3000 sum for Oxfam
03 February 2026As befits one of the most read and best-selling works of English literature, JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit involves a bewildering array of editions over the many decades since the great fantasy novel made a debut on September 21, 1937.
Rare Mercury Cougar model sets record price for a single Matchbox vehicle
23 January 2026As with any market, the Matchbox collecting scene has ups and downs but recent results suggest significant market strength right now.
