London

Sold as part of a Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium) sale to benefit the charity House of Illustration, and in partnership with both the saleroom and Winsor & Newton, was a group of 33 lots gathered together under the heading First Editions Re-Covered.

A specialist fair in London that was put together at top speed in under two weeks, with Christmas in the middle, has been judged a resounding success by the organiser Two C’s Fairs.

An extensive collection with Astor family provenance offered at auction was billed as best of its type in more than 20 years.

Sotheby’s sale of 80 pieces of memorabilia relating to Lord Horatio Nelson featured a return to the saleroom of many lots acquired by the ‘Princely’ vendor in 2005.

Among the 150 dealers at the upcoming Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair (January 23-28) is newcomer of sorts, Nic McElhatton, former head of Christie’s South Kensington.

A collection of remarkable Nelson memorabilia from the Battle of Trafalgar on offer at Sotheby’s includes a large fragment of the Union Jack believed to have flown from HMS Victory at Trafalgar.

How art and antiques can learn from the world of luxury goods and take advantage of Brexit will be the focus of the LAPADA Conference next month.

Presentation copies of The Bostonians and a volume containing the first bookform appearance of The Turn of the Screw were among the highlights of a large Henry James collection offered in almost 50 lots as part of a Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium) sale.

Possibly the first autograph manuscript of a complete work by Bela Bartok ever seen at auction, a working manuscript for the complete score of the original version of his Second Rhapsody for Violin and Piano (BB96) was bid to £250,000 in a music sale held by Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium).

A fine Pushkin collection, running to a dozen lots in all, was a major attraction in the Russian section of at a Christie’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) sale.

A retrospective of William Tillyer (b.1938) running at Bernard Jacobson this month is only the first in a series of events planned relating to the British artist at the Duke Street gallery this year.

A painting by Rex Whistler (1905-44) which was believed to be the last he painted before he was killed during the Second World War sold at Chiswick Auctions (25/12% buyer’s premium) in London.

The annual London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair (LARTA) returns to Battersea for the second time to run in conjunction with the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair from January 23-28. Taking place on the mezzanine of Battersea Evolution, the fair focuses on carpets, rugs and woven design.

Roy Bolton is cofounder of Sphinx Fine Art, an Old Master and Russian pictures specialist on Kensington Church Street in London.