Books and Works on Paper

This linocut comes from one of just 30 copies of Rigby Graham’s 'The Casquets… the most dangerous Channel Islands' issued by the Brewhouse Press in 1972.

Founder remembered as anniversary sale sheds light on evolution of the Narnia Chronicles

Containing an original watercolour, one of just a dozen de luxe copies of the 1931, Harrap edition of Izaak Walton’s 'Compleat Angler', illustrated by Arthur Rackham, made a record equalling £10,000 at Gildings (18/12% buyer’s premium) of Market Harborough.

Following on from last week’s 19th and 20th century literature round-up, this second selection focuses on earlier works sold in London and New York during the summer.

Real rarities and record breakers are among items that feature in this first of a couple of reviews of more literary lots from the wealth of summer sales. Here the focus is principally on works of the last 200 years or so – and includes such diverse characters as Hugh the Heron and the Invisible Man.

Accounts of wars and skirmishes in the southern states of North America and Mexico were one notable feature of an August 23 sale held in San Francisco.

Our round-up of British and Irish book sales coming up from September 18-27, 2018.

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.

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.

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.

Two lots offering heraldic manuscripts – one of them being of particular regional interest – produced the highest bids in a mixed sale of collectables and militaria held in Shrewsbury.

Our round-up of British and Irish book sales coming up from September 11-21, 2018.

Complete with 48 cards and rules sheet, and still in its original, if slightly fragile case with printed label, Panko, or Votes for Women… is a sort of ‘Rummy’- inspired card game pitching Suffragists against Anti-Suffragists.

On September 18-19 Sotheby’s will offer an American library on the history of computing formed by the late Erwin Tomash (1921-2012), a sale that runs to 944 lots in all but is divided into two sections.

Our round-up of British and Irish book sales coming up from September 4-15, 2018.

A final selection from the extremely varied Christie’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) major summer sale ranges from the scientific works of such giants as Newton and Galileo to the first jigsaw puzzle.

Briefly noted in ATG No 2353 was a copy of Through the Looking Glass sold for £30,000 at Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9%) on July 10, where it was part of the eighth and latest sale of books from ‘The Library of an English Bibliophile’.

Our round-up of British and Irish book sales coming up from August 28-September 9, 2018.

Fine or unusual bindings, ranging in date from the 15th century to very recent times indeed, are illustrated and briefly described here – all of them drawn from mid-summer UK auctions.