London

James Boswell (1740-95), later renowned as the biographer of Samuel Johnson, arrived in London in 1762 at the age of 22.

These two pages of working lyrics for the Jimi Hendrix song Room Full of Mirrors (which later appeared on his 1971 album Rainbow Bridge) are handwritten on Londonderry Hotel, Park Lane, stationery.

If you are visiting the Decorative Fair in Battersea, which runs from January 20-25, check out the many antiques shops in the area and a visit to the Northcote Road Antiques Market in Battersea might also be a good suggestion (nearest rail station: Clapham Junction).

A round up of news from three London dealers

Illustrator famous for helping to bring alive the beloved bear preferred his other commissions

Market freshness and good provenance have always been key components in the Old Master sector, and the latest series of auctions in this category underlined how heavily dependent the market remains on the supply of works that have these qualities.

With the first hardback Philosopher’s Stone at stratospheric sums, the soft cover value is rising steadily

Roy Raftery is a gaming cards dealer with Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s

Despite its name, a new exhibition, 'Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton’s Lost Collection', at Leighton House in west London is not, in fact, a séance.

Over his career, the Flemish artist Hendrick van Balen (1573-1632) collaborated with a number of other artists, not least Rubens. Another was Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625).

A group of jewellery and art specialists headed to Grays Antiques in Mayfair for ‘champagne and macarons’ to celebrate the start of the Christmas season.

Pocket watches owned by Horatio Nelson, Thomas Hardy and Cuthbert Collingwood and consulted throughout the Battle of Trafalgar were sold together as a single lot in London on December 9.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal awarded to Private Samuel Vickery of the Coldstream Guards who kept Florence Nightingale safe during the Crimean War is to be offered at Noonans on January 14.

Despite some “spirited resistance,” antiquities dealer Rupert Wace has been coaxed into releasing a selection of ancient treasures and curios this festive season.

To mark the completion of its newly expanded space in the West End’s Cecil Court, Darnley Fine Art is presenting an exhibition on the so-called ‘lost’ Post-Impressionists Robert Deborne (1870-1944) and Henri Ottmann (1877-1927).