Book

A tiny Oxfam shop in Headington, Oxfordshire, was celebrating after a set of 12 books dropped off by an anonymous donor later sold at Bonhams for £13,000 (£16,640 with premium).

Courtesy of Dava Sobel’s 1995 best-seller, the compelling story of a Yorkshire horologist’s struggle to receive a prize for creating a reliable and accurate method for determining longitude at sea is well known.

Two separate lots at the recent books and manuscripts sale held by TW Gaze (26.4% inc VAT) in Diss, Norfolk sold at £20,000.

A fine association copy of Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice was sold by Reeman Dansie (25% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on April 30.

Chiswick Auctions (26% buyer’s premium) held a sale titled The Art of Nature – a themed catalogue of art and antiques based on the natural world.

Important mathematical work by young German genius Gauss makes a rare appearance at auction

It took 16 years to compile the first great German florilegium, an edition of which can be seen – and purchased – at the Firsts London book fair running from May 15-18 at the Saatchi Gallery.

The British invasions of the island of Guadeloupe during the Seven Years’ War was part of William Pitt’s plan to attack the French wherever they could.

Greek philosopher Epictetus (c.50-c.135AD) is best-known for his contribution to Stoicism.

A Latin to French dictionary that belonged to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was among the highlights a recent sale of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps at Doyle New York (28/27% buyer’s premium).

ATG takes a look at some stand-out lots sold recently at an auction in Berlin

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about,” Oscar Wilde wrote in The Picture of Dorian Gray - a prescient observation that has proven remarkably true.

The public may have been surprised to discover that Barry Humphries (1934-2023), the creator of Dame Edna Everage, was a great bibliophile with a passion for rare books by the ‘decadent’ writers of the fin de siècle.

A recent Freeman’s Hindman (28/27% buyer’s premium) sale in Chicago included a first edition of John Locke’s foundational text on civil society and the nature of government 'Two Treatises of Government….'

Inscriptions and annotations can make a massive difference to value

With crossover interest to several collecting disciplines, early manuscript recipe and remedy books continue to thrive at auction.

Fragment found in an attic with receipt for £25 now sells for £39,000 hammer price

Oxfam discoveries from a pile of donations include Chinese religious rarity, Communist manifesto and Dickens