Book

Arch Books of Richmond, southwest London, recently sold the personal expedition copy of Fridtjof Nansen’s Fram over Polhavet [Farthest North] (1897), owned and signed by fellow Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928).

This copy of The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha (Cambridge: at the University Press, 1961) is signed in ink by Queen Elizabeth II on a mounted presentation plate, dated Christmas 1961.

Collection of gallery owner and exhibition organiser includes letters from the likes of Bacon and Hockney

Eighteen letters written by Beatrix Potter to an antiques dealer between 1933-43 come for sale in Nottingham this month.

Books from a routine call proved disappointing until a first edition Dracula loomed into view

A first edition, first impression of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien is a valuable proposition even without its dustjacket.

First editions of the books that made Nancy Mitford’s name – The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949) – sold for £1600 at Reeman Dansie (25% buyer’s premium) in Colchester.

The sale of Antiquarian & Collectable Books at Capes Dunn in Stockport on March 17 included a group of deluxe editions of popular classics illustrated by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939).

The Private Library Book Company is offering for sale online the library of John Russell Taylor (1935-2025), a collection of over 20,000 books, many by the renowned author and critic himself.

Inaugural Forum standalone auction achieves impressive results in south London

A first edition of Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs published by The Crime Club (Collins), London 1942, was consigned to Wessex Auction Rooms (24% buyer’s premium) by the family of Phyllis Rice, housekeeper to the author at Greenway House.

The 1690 Utrecht edition of Suetonius Caius Tranquillus’ Opera, “with Samuel Pitiscus’s seminal commentary, was a landmark in classical scholarship and perfectly reflects Sir William Hamilton’s deep antiquarian interests, particularly in Roman history”.

Pristine first editions from sought-after authors or documents written by the luminaries of times past are usually the ones that command the greatest attention at book auctions.

Forget Paddington Bear. Think Winnie-the-Pooh “I am a bear of very little brain…”, whose 100th anniversary this year celebrates the first outing of the gentle bear and his beloved friends including the “small and anxious” Piglet.

A collection of nine letters from Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne sold at Derbyshire saleroom Irita Marriott (24% buyer’s premium) had been passed down through the family of Vincent Seligman and his wife Barbara, who were lifelong friends of the author.

Book 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.