Auctioneers

A classic metaphysical fantasy novel that sold poorly when first issued but later influenced the works of CS Lewis and gained many admirers, A Voyage to Arcturus is the work of David Lindsay.

Bid to a rather higher than suggested £1300 in a Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) sale of December 8 in Crewkerne were two early 19th century works on water meadows.

Four unusual collections caught the eye, if not always the cash, at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer's premium).

An extensive collection with Astor family provenance offered at auction was billed as best of its type in more than 20 years.

Sotheby’s sale of 80 pieces of memorabilia relating to Lord Horatio Nelson featured a return to the saleroom of many lots acquired by the ‘Princely’ vendor in 2005.

London is to host a viewing of a small oil painting by Paul Cézanne ahead of its sale in the US.

Two of the first sales of 2018 suggest that toasts to the future can be drunk from half-full, rather than half-empty, Georgian rummers.

Dr Who fans can start collecting early this year with a series of lots from the cult science-fiction show going under the hammer in January.

Stourbridge firm Fieldings began the new year in some style with the sale of a cameo glass plaque by George Woodall for £84,000.

A collection of remarkable Nelson memorabilia from the Battle of Trafalgar on offer at Sotheby’s includes a large fragment of the Union Jack believed to have flown from HMS Victory at Trafalgar.

Presentation copies of The Bostonians and a volume containing the first bookform appearance of The Turn of the Screw were among the highlights of a large Henry James collection offered in almost 50 lots as part of a Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium) sale.