Books & Periodicals

Material in this specialist market ranges from the early printed works of the Gutenberg Press and William Caxton right through to Modern First Editions and now up to signed copies of Harry Potter. Condition and rarity are the keys to this sector.


British and Irish book auctions: March 19-30, 2019

18 March 2019

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from March 19-30, 2019.

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Beano, Eagle, Sweethearts and Scoops in demand at Comic Book Auctions timed sale

18 March 2019

Though it sold just a touch under the lower estimate, a copy of the 1938 launch issue of Beano was the top lot in a Comic Book Auctions (19% buyer’s premium) timed auction of March 3 held on thesaleroom.com.

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Medley of tastes on offer in California

18 March 2019

A Californian sale of March 7 certainly offered great variety in age, content and price range. Promoted as A Biblio-Medley for All Tastes, it ran to well over 500 lots across its printed and supplementary, online catalogues – with at least one lot, a volume of the works of Arthur Hallam, sold for just $10.

Henry Bradbury's Autotypography

Devon auction to offer library of renowned botanist

17 March 2019

Running to just 60 or so pages, a little promotional work called ‘Autotypography: Or Art of Nature-Printing...’ coming up for sale in Devon on March 26 proves to have a rather complex tale to tell.

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Unrecorded archive of well-connected Victorian gay rights activist Edward Carpenter makes eight times estimate at auction

15 March 2019

A previously undocumented archive of writings by Edward Carpenter, the well-connected socialist poet and gay rights pioneer, sold for a hammer price of £4200, more than eight times its upper estimate, at Bamfords in Derby this month.

Elgar

Lost Elgar masterpiece found in autograph book is heard for the first time in 100 years as it heads to auction

14 March 2019

A rediscovered melody by Sir Edward Elgar will be offered at auction in Lichfield after it was found in an autograph book.

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Price is far from the end of the world for Durer Apocalypse

11 March 2019

Conducted by Christie’s Paris (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in collaboration with Bertrand Meaudre of Paris dealer Librairie Landarchet, a February 20 sale featured the dispersal of the library of Marc Litzler for a premium-inclusive total of €4.4m (£3.82m).

Mein Kampf hits headlines and Indian works make an impact at auction

11 March 2019

The lot that gained all the publicity in a recent Shropshire sale, even national newspaper coverage, was a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

British and Irish book auctions: March 12-23, 2019

11 March 2019

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from March 12-23, 2019.

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Questions of body and soul in West Sussex sale

11 March 2019

Seventeenth century philosophical work sold in Sussex discusses nature of life and death.

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Ninety-two first edition Beatrix Potter books go up for auction at Ewbank’s

08 March 2019

Ninety-two first edition copies of Beatrix Potter’s 1907 ‘The Tale of the Faithful Dove’ go under the hammer in Surrey this month.

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World Book Day focus: Five classic and collectable rare books going under the hammer this month

07 March 2019

Today marks World Book Day, and while the occasion is aimed at young people, it could also be a chance for rare book collectors to take stock of their libraries and investigate some top lots in store at future auctions.

Tony Benn archive heads to British Library after help from auction house Christie’s

06 March 2019

The archive of Labour’s longest-serving MP Tony Benn (1925-2014) has been accepted by the British Library.

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King William returns… and the wonders of the world

04 March 2019

Two unusual and successful lots from a February 20 sale held by Lockdales (19.5% buyer’s premium) of Ipswich.

British and Irish book auctions: March 5-16, 2019

04 March 2019

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from March 5-16, 2019.

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Works once part of a Scottish house library form a key part of Edinburgh auction

04 March 2019

A small group of lots in a recent Edinburgh sale were once part of the library of the late 5th Earl of Lovelace at Torridon House.

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Garden grapple over Brown

04 March 2019

A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening… is the single volume that I have selected from a recent Gloucestershire auction in which job lots were very much in evidence and that acted as a sort of extra, clearing-the-decks sort of exercise in the saleroom’s calendar.

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Ornate binding is a real beauty

04 March 2019

Sold for £900 by Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) on February 19 was an elaborately bound example of Monsieur Gravelot’s Almanach Iconololgique… for the year 1771.

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Days with puppies and fairies

04 March 2019

Illustrated with eight hand-coloured litho plates, each with moveable flaps, The Puppy’s Visit To His Friends was issued as one of EC Bennett’s moveable books, probably in the 1850s.

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Woolf work in women’s show

04 March 2019

A first-edition presentation copy of Jacob’s Room (1922) by Virginia Woolf bearing an inscription to her sister Vanessa Bell is on offer for £85,000 at Peter Harrington’s exhibition In Her Own Words: Works by Exceptional Women.

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