UK

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Painted with an image of an urn to the front cover of its vellucent binding and with a view of Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire to the rear, the Book of Common Prayer & Book of Psalmes shown below was printed in 1774 by T Wright & W Gill for the University of Oxford.

A Basingstoke firm which recently celebrated 40 years in the business is “one of the few single-owner antiques shops left in Hampshire”, says its owner.

A single-owner collection of 33 sovereigns from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I generated a white-glove result at London auction house Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium).

The strong prices for Modern British female artists keep rolling on. Among the notable results in the regions recently was a beach scene by Dorothea Sharp (1874-1955) that was among the star performers at Parker Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

Gallery relocations give London firms the chance to re-think ways of doing business

Female subjects dominate the work of Ethel Gabain (1883-1950), as in this 1908 lithograph 'Laveuse de Vaiselle'.

Florrie Evans is director of The Fine Art Society in London, which launches its exhibition Scotland (December 2-23) as part of London Art Week.

Among the book lots offered as part of an October 7-8 sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) the earliest was a Burgundian ‘Hours of the Virgin’ manuscript.

Amassed by the headmaster of one of Britain’s finest public schools, the Silk collection of Staffordshire portrait figures provides a fillip to an overlooked market

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

In Fairs, Markets & Centres in ATG No 2516 we featured a story about 'The Venus of Meudon', a 1.9m tall sculpture by the Dadaist sculptor Jean Arp. Owned by dealers Karin and John Haines, it stands in a commanding spot at the Melford Antiques, Interiors and Lifestyle Centre in Suffolk.

Paintings of caves including a view from a Channel Island in the spotlight at two salerooms

Portraits by James Sharples (1751-1811) appear to make less money than you might expect given the calibre of his sitters.

Two very different lots shared the highest bid honours in a September 30 sale held in Norfolk. A manuscript recipe book dating from the late 17th/early 18th century onwards was, as such, accomplished in several different hands.

Sometimes a little change is all that’s needed. Antiquities specialist David Aaron is moving from 22 Berkeley Square – to 25a Berkeley Square.

The game of golf (originating on the eastern coast of Scotland) and mauchlineware (the name given to a family of wooden souvenirs made in south-west Scotland over a period of a century) would seem ideal bedfellows.

Dealer John Swarbrooke will present his first exhibition at the Simon Dickinson Gallery, focusing on works from Lincolnshire artist Dominic Parczuk.

Buying online took off in the trade last year with one notable example being The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA) which launched its monthly online back-to-back book fairs in April.