Collectables

This pair of Mickey and Minnie Mouse toys has been on quite an adventure.

For 19th century sahibs in tiger country and bwanas dealing with charging lions, howdah pistols like the one offered at West Sussex gun specialist Gavin Gardiner (25% buyer’s premium) were the preferred sidearm.

Copy printed in Boston in 1744 and now offered in Chicago was defective but a real rarity

A children’s book estimated at £20-40 in a May 14 sale held by Pippa Deeley (15% buyer’s premium) in Bodiam, East Sussex, was sold instead at £2200.

Throughout the 20th century toy manufacturers produced commemorative models, with the coronation coach a particularly popular subject.

An inscribed copy of F Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' was the most expensive purchase in a held by Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium).

Steve Nutt runs Windsor Rare Books and exhibits at IACF and Etc Fairs. He is on AbeBooks and on Instagram @windsorrarebooks

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

From mid-June Brussels will be a hive of activity on the art and antiques front with plenty on offer to interest residents and draw visitors to the city.

English jubilees, coronations and investitures have long been occasions not only for a national celebration but also for manufacturers to cash in with an array of souvenirs. In this special report we turn the spotlight on royal items offered and sold by dealers and auction houses

This original concert poster advertises the second of two now legendary punk rock concerts in Manchester in the summer of 1976.

Estimated at just $200-300, this folding map of the island of Antigua proved rather more expensive than expected.

This large iron lock and key is inscribed Presented to WP Brookes Esq by a Member of the Wenlock Olympian Class May 18th 1869.

A London saleroom offered what was billed as the only “known” surviving set of uncorrected galley proofs for Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone.

The classic enamel station totem signs used in the early days of the newly formed British Railways have long shown their pulling power at auction.

More than 60 Dickens lots appeared in an April 26 sale of the library of Jeremy and Penny Martin, several of them bearing presentation inscriptions.

Work sold in Cambridge is thought to reflect US author's friendship with Scottish physician and essayist

This remarkable Baccarat tantalus in the form of an elephant and howdah sold at Can$120,000 (£75,000) at an auction in Victoria, British Columbia.