Collectables

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Footballers were among the very first of the Britains hollowcast lead ‘civilian’ figures.

The presence of the author’s signature dramatically enhanced the value of a copy of Ian Fleming’s (1908-64) first collection of James Bond short stories 'For Your Eyes Only' offered at an auction at University Archives (25% buyer’s premium).

Swann Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium) recorded head-turning sales during its series of New York sales in May.

It is with sadness that I advise the passing of a wonderful person who was also my client, Ray Haradin. He was only 60.

A foundation document of Western sinology appeared at Freeman’s Hindman (28% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.

London rare book dealership Peter Harrington has revealed that it placed the top bid on the first editions of William Blake’s 'Songs of Innocence' (1789) and 'Songs of Experience' (1794) at Christie’s Maurice Sendak auction last month.

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).

A substantial collection of 18th and 19th century Cape silver, made by European silversmiths practising in South Africa, is coming for sale at Strauss & Co in Johannesberg.

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.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

An unusual, possibly unique stereo viewer from the last decade of the 19th century attracted numerous bids at Auction Team Breker (21.8% buyer’s premium) in Cologne.

A specialist antiques shop in Southampton, a city rich in maritime heritage, is set to close at the end of August after 50 years of trading.

Since his inception in 1939, Batman, the Caped Crusader, has never really been out of fashion.