Collectables

Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions.

At a recent PBFA fair, dealer John Underwood sold a collection of albums of mosses compiled by the naturalist Frederick DuCane Godman (1834-1919) to Horsham Museum & Art Gallery.

Before railway mania came canal mania – key to the Industrial Revolution. This 1830 second edition copy of George Bradshaw’s 'Map of Canals, Navigable Rivers, Rail Road &c. in the Midland Counties of England from Actual Survey' sold for £500 (estimate £200-300) at Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on October 8.

Ewbank’s of Send, Surrey, will feature a series of rare 1930s Soviet travel posters in its Vintage Posters auction on October 30.

A Colored Troops Medal or Butler Medal was offered for sale at the Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour Militaria at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury.

Entered by different vendors to raise money for charities, and accordingly given token estimates, petrol signs and Irish banknotes took the top prices at Clarks Auctions Rooms (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Liskeard.

“Bradshaw becomes first-hand for any sort of railway guide – you can argue whether or not he was the very first to create them, but he was the first to be successful. It is a bit like everyone calling vacuum cleaners Hoovers.”

This lithographic poster design of Titanic and Olympic, c.1910-11, was withdrawn after the disaster of 1912 so there are only a handful in existence today. They would have been used in travel agents and White Star Line offices to advertise the liners.

Boxes such as these fashioned and painted as cottages are among the most desirable of all 19th century caddies and boxes.

This c.1905 leather top hat ‘bucket’ by the prestigious hatters Johnson and Co of Regent Street, London.

MADAM – There is absolutely nothing that is not collected by some bloke, in some shed, somewhere.

An early 19th century campaign chest designed to be broken down into two parts for easier travel has been hailed as “exceptional” by the specialist dealer who bought it at an Essex auction.

Motor cars became more affordable and reliable particularly in the 1920s-30s, making day trips increasingly popular.

In the campaign furniture market, provenance and an interesting story behind the owner are important.

What could be more British than a policeman in traditional garb standing on Tower Bridge?

Highly influential three-volume set on maths takes a record £90,000 sum in London

After 60 years in an attic, an extremely rare battery-operated Machine Man robot with its original box rolled into the spotlight at Morphy in Denver, Pennsylvania.