Forum Auctions

As Forum Auctions enters its 10th year of trading, Rupert Powell reflects on a busy year

The public may have been surprised to discover that Barry Humphries (1934-2023), the creator of Dame Edna Everage, was a great bibliophile with a passion for rare books by the ‘decadent’ writers of the fin de siècle.

The etching 'A View in America in 1778' is a satire on the progress of the American Revolution.

The Brontë Parsonage was the successful bidder at £32,000 (plus premium) when an original watercolour drawing by Emily Brontë came for sale in London.

Written by the English naturalist and apiarist Rev Charles Butler and printed by the Oxford bookseller Joseph Barnes in 1609, 'The Feminine Monarchie or A Treatise Concerning Bees' is considered the first book on the science of beekeeping in the English language.

Among the watercolours attracting interest at the earlier part of the year were four works by Lucy Elizabeth Kemp-Welch (1869-1958) that appeared at Lincoln saleroom Golding Young & Mawer (24% buyer’s premium).

Forum Auctions has set a record for a copy of JRR Tolkien’s 'The Lord of the Rings'.

End of year highlights included specialist collection amassed by couple who were both renowned experts

Single-owner collection offered in south London reveals costumes and culture of the empire

Highlights from the The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper offered at Forum

Wind in the Willows illustration leads varied selection of lots offered by west London saleroom

The trial of Warren Hastings (1732-1818) was a cause célèbre of the last decade of the 18th century.

Spotlight on copy sold in superb Strutz collection – plus a look at other recent results for the Tolkien classic

Ada Augusta Lovelace (1815-52), the only daughter of Lord Byron, is today justly celebrated as a mathematician and computer pioneer.

Two early documents featuring female authors are among the highlights in a wide-ranging sale selection

Rupert Powell of Forum Auctions reflects on a busy year in the ‘stage-play’ of rare books