Collectables

Records continue to tumble in the vibrant US market. Hardly a week goes by without another new marker being established as comics thrive in a remarkably buoyant collectables collecting scene, or sought-after high-grade copies attract rocketing prices.

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.

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

In the last ATG (No 2731) we featured an Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football sold on January 22 at Truro Auction Centre for £4200 and mentioned others sold at Hansons in 2022.

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

Spotlight on awards that brought rewards for vendors in three separate sales

Judging by recent auctions, once live acts in the circus are now thrilling eager collectors via memorabilia.

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.

John Short, a well-known collector in the Bristol area, amassed over 50,000 autographs in his lifetime. He began obtaining signatures at stage doors in the 1960s right up until his death in 2022.

According to an article in The Times ahead of the estate sale of the paper’s former theatre, film and art critic John Russell Taylor (1935-2025), the west London flat where he lived was crammed not only with artworks but also 20,000 books.

Several lots linked to a George Henry Robertson who served in Victorian campaigns in India impressed at Toovey’s (25% buyer’s premium) of West Sussex .

The ancient game of Royal Shrovetide Football has been played in the Derbyshire town of Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since the 17th century.