London

A beautifully preserved 1937 first state copy of Tolkien’s 'The Hobbit' sold for £35,000 at Forum Auctions.

The Wassenaar Zoo in Den Haag opened its doors in 1937 and closed in 1985, but its wonderful library, essentially untouched since the 1970s, has only now come to auction in London.

Contemporary art specialist Halcyon Gallery will expand in Bond Street by moving into the Fine Art Society’s home of the past 142 years, in the latest example of a traditional gallery leaving Mayfair.

London dealer Daniel Katz has sold two bronze sculptures to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, one by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and the other by Rodin’s assistant, model and lover Camille Claudel (1864-1943).

Dutch maritime charts feature in wide-ranging auction strong in travel and exploration.

The picture below shows Paul Viney (on the left), chairman of Woolley & Wallis, receiving congratulations upon being installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars from Loyd Grossman, the outgoing Master (and now Deputy Master).

Alexandra Toscano is celebrating 30 years working at Trinity Fine Art, which specialises in 15th-19th century European art. She is vice-chairman of London Art Week (June 29-July 6)

Richard Green Gallery is in good company as it salutes one of its most prestigious neighbours this summer.

Searching online for the term ‘skirt lifter’ is probably unwise in the public domain, but an intriguing item sold at Graham Budd’s latest auction shows it is a popular collecting field.

Sunlight after Storm, Windsor, below, is among the pieces on offer at Portland Gallery’s exhibition of Edward Seago paintings. The gallery is the exclusive representative of the artist’s estate and this show, running from June 8- July 6, follows ones in April 2016 and June 2014.

Church Street in Marylebone, north London, looks like a good place to be on Sunday, June 24, with the return of the second annual Antiques Anonymous fleamarket which last year welcomed 5000 visitors.

An original typescript for Boris Pasternak’s most famous novel Doctor Zhivago with handwritten corrections by the author was sold for £110,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Forum Auctions.

The challenge for the organiser of 'Art and Antiques Olympia' is to carry the fair into the future without altering the fabric of the venerable event.