Books & Periodicals

The third edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was the last of those published in 1843, coming out (appropriately) on Christmas Eve.

The sale at Peter Kiefer Buch und Kunstauktionshaus in Pforzheim on October 14-16 includes a near complete copy of 'Atlas minor, sive geographia compendiosa qua orbis terrarum per paucas attamen novissimas tabulas ostenditura' by the Dutch engraver, cartographer and publisher Nicolaes Visscher (1649-1702).

On October 25 Philadelphia firm Freeman’s will offer the Alexander Hamilton collection of John E Herzog.

According to the memoir Le Mémorial de Sainte- Hélène by Count Emmanuel de Las Cases published in 1823, Napoleon first expressed an interest to learn the English language during the two-month voyage from Europe to the island in 1815 aboard the Northumberland.

One of Persian scholar Imam Ghazali’s (1058-1111AD) best-known works, Kimiya-yi Sa’ādat (The Alchemy of Happiness), was compiled late in his lifetime during a period of unrest between Sufi mystics and Islamic scholars – the former accused of overphilosophising Islam and neglecting the importance of ritual practices.

The Books and Works on Paper sale at Chiswick Auctions on November 9 includes a rather special copy of Sir William Gell and John P Gandy’s The Topography, Edifices, and Ornaments of Pompeii.

The Gary Munson collection of horror and fantasy books will be offered by Heritage Auctions in Dallas on October 14.

This chromolithographed plate is one of 52 (of 55) included in a copy of Dickinson’s Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Printed in Amsterdam in 1685, Anatomia humani corporis, centum & quinque tabulis, per artificiossis by Godard Bidloo (1649-1713) was the first large-scale anatomical atlas since Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica in 1543.

Dominic Winter’s November 10 sale of Printed Books, Maps & Documents includes this first-edition, two-volume copy of Georg Wolffgang Knorr’s Deliciae naturae selectae, oder auserlesenes Naturalien-Cabinet welches aus den drey Reichen der Natur…

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

This illuminated initial comes from a late 14th century Book of Hours that carries an estimate of £20,000-30,000 at Forum Auctions on November 25.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Celebrating the county’s history, literature and its arts and crafts, an inaugural Dorset Auction was held in Dorchester by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium).

A group of Richmal Crompton’s Just William books that had an appealing family provenance were offered without reserve at Sotheby’s (26/20/13.9% buyer’s premium).

Remarkably well-preserved 1818 Frankenstein and 1897 Dracula firsts impress in New York

Incorporating 40 coloured litho plates, a copy of The Last Works of Henri Matisse, a folio collection of 1958 issued by Harcourt Brace of New York, led a sale held by Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) of Washington in West Sussex at £2600.

A menu celebrating a landmark in British aviation – the first flight from London to Brighton, accomplished in 1911 – sold for £750 at Bellmans.

Now well-established London auction house marks landmark with a wide-ranging sale