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West Sussex auction house Bellmans has reshuffled its top team following the departure of managing director Jonathan Pratt, who left to join Dreweatts last month.

Considering that W Britain began making his revolutionary hollowcast toy soldiers only in 1893, a set dating from just three years later certainly deserves the tag ‘early’.

“The numbers are up to maximum capacity at 226 stands and there are a further 10 stands for calligraphers, marbled paper dealers and bookbinders – it’s the largest ever,” said York bookseller Janette Ray, spokeswoman for PBFA’s annual two-day York Book Fair.

Two obituaries from the art and antiques trade.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including the delay in the unveiling of the world's most expensively-acquired painting.

One of the more unusual clocks on offer this summer was the late 19th century French ‘devil band’ mantel clock that attracted international bidding at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

It’s fair to say the work of Victorian animal painter Sidney Cooper (1803-1902) is not flavour of the month.

Wide-ranging Lyell family archive brings high prices across the board in London.

One of the harder titles in the New Naturalist series to find today is RJ Berry’s Natural History of Orkney.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period August 30-September 5, 2018. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

The product of child labour – but conscious-clear purchases for bidders – provided two of the top lots at a specialist textiles and costume sale at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) of North Yorkshire.

In a worn but period calf binding, a 1697 first of John Evelyn’s Numismata. A Discourse of Medals… made £350 in the book section of a recent Cornish auction.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Known familiarly as the ‘Audley End Lydgate’, the mid-15th century vellum manuscript shown below is ‘The Fall of Princes’, a Middle English version by the poet John Lydgate of Laurent de Premierfait’s French translation of Boccaccio’s De Casibus virorum illustrium.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Racing round the banking at Brooklands in Surrey, Sir Tim Birkin is shown to dramatic effect in this oil painting by Dion Pears, below.

Chicago auction house Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) is conjuring up quite a reputation for its magic memorabilia sales.

MADAM – I read the letter from Gavin Littaur (ATG No 2355, August 25) and the letter of the previous edition from Nick Silver (ATG no 2354, August 18) with more than a little puzzlement.

Christie’s executive Dirk Boll told delegates at the Art Business Conference that the decorative arts could be coming back into fashion.