Collectables

It all started, as things often do – by pure chance.

A steel Katar dagger, made in the Tanjore region of India in the 17th or 18th century, hammered way above hopes at Ripley Auctions (25% buyer’s premium) in Indianapolis.

Rare atlases from the 17th to 19th centuries provided the top-sellers as an extensive library collection emerged from the estate of a descendant of one of Britain’s longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer.

London books, prints and wine specialist Forum Auctions was founded in July 2016 with the ambition of combining the best of the digital and the analogue worlds. A decade later, with all but one of the original team still on board, the company is preparing for two special anniversary sales. Founder and executive chairman Stephan Ludwig shares his views with ATG.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Two personal letters written by William Wilberforce, the Hull-born anti-slavery campaigner and influential politician, were on offer at East Yorkshire saleroom Hawleys (22% buyer’s premium) on June 13.

The appearance of a British ‘Dandy Horse’ bicycle c.1819 at Lewes saleroom Gorringe’s in May, which featured in Pick of the Week in ATG No 2745, sparked Grosvenor Prints in London to write in.

What is considered the first coin made in platinum was among the highlights of the second tranche of British coins from the so-called Traveller collection.

Items associated with the White Star Line, the British shipping company that built its global brand on unmatched passenger comfort, continue to thrive at auction.

Motor Launch 397 was one of about 500 of these 37-ton boats built by Elco during the First World War and was heavily involved with the 1918 raids on the German-held ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge.

A mirror for an East End brewery set a new record at £33,000 as the breweriana collecting market matures

Unusual models brings strong demand as the RAF Museum sold off items it viewed as no longer needed

A four-page letter written by Edward ‘Bill’ Wilson to a friend during the early days of the doomed British Antarctic Expedition sold for £19,000 at Fieldings (26% buyer’s premium) in Stourbridge.

If The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers are to your liking, a large single-owner collection of military medals comprising nearly 100 lots dedicated to the regiment offered in Somerset on May 28 would have caught your eye.

Johannes Blaeu’s 'Atlas maior, sive Cosmographia…' is considered the finest collection of maps ever produced.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions

Bidders spot copy of 1631 Barker bible that contains jaw-dropping mistakes missed in proof-reading

“The Russians opened fire on our right, on our left, and then in front...

Guided at £800-1200, a 10in (26cm) medieval ‘rotating’ or ‘register’ bookmark sold at £7000 at Semley Auctioneers (22% buyer’s premium) in Shaftesbury, Dorset on May 16.

The Spink (20% buyer’s premium) sale on April 23 that included the Rorke’s Drift medal awarded to ‘Ammunition Smith’ (see News, ATG No 2742) also featured several other notable lots.