Auction News Archive

07.08.08. Stew and dumplings, beef hotpot, Coronation pudding and steamed jam roll were the order of the day for soldiers in the North African desert in the Second World War. Recipes for these and other field kitchen classics are found in a battered, handwritten, and illustrated cookbook, up for auction next month... more  Add a comment

29.07.08. A pamphlet warning Britons to leave the Middle East or face death has come to light in a stash of illicit propaganda.
     The document does not hail from Basra or Baghdad, nor was it penned by the Islamists of al-Qaeda or the al-Mahdi Army. It was found in Haifa, about 60 years ago, and it was issued by the underground group led by Menachem Begin – the future Prime Minister of Israel and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
    The pamphlet, which is expected to fetch about £500, goes on sale at Mullock’s, in Shropshire, on August 6. ... more  Add a comment

25.07.08. An Auctioneer in Towcester has sold a 14th-Century Ethiopian Prayer Book for 40 times its estimated value ... more  Add a comment

22.07.08. Three signed first edition copies of books by Belfast-born Chronicles of Narnia author, CS Lewis, have sold for a total of £30,000 — more than three times what they were expected to fetch — at an auction.
     Before the sale in London, at renowned auction house Sotheby’s, experts were predicting that the books would fetch in the region of £3,000 each ... more  Add a comment

18.07.08. A Beatrix Potter watercolour fetched £289,250 last night, making it the most expensive book illustration ever sold at auction. The Rabbits’ Christmas Party, which was painted by Potter in the 1890s, was estimated to sell for between £40,000 and £60,000, but demand for the picture was much higher than expected.... more  Add a comment

12.07.08. I'm out of the office for a few days -- so no news or updates until my return on July 17th.  Add a comment

10.07.08. A warship's log detailing one of England's greatest naval victories has been found in a house near Swadlincote after lying undiscovered for more than 200 years. The record, which describes the dramatic events on board HMS Belleisle, the vessel which led Lord Nelson's 27-strong fleet against the 33 Franco-Spanish galleons in the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805, is to be sold by Etwall auctioneer Hansons on July 30th ... more  Add a comment

07.07.08. A former secretary of Oxford author CS Lewis is giving away signed first editions of the author's Narnia books to raise money to renovate a city church. The books will be auctioned by Sotheby's in London on July 17 ... more  Add a comment

02.07.08. Hectic bidding from around the world saw a Berkshire auction house sell a complete set of Harry Potter first editions for £17,800 ... more   Add a comment

26.06.08. A rare presentation copy of Jane Austen's novel "Emma" sold for 180,000 pounds ($353,500), setting a new auction record for a printed book by the British author, auction house Bonhams said on Tuesday ... more  Add a comment

20.06.08. A rare book on ladybirds was snapped up at the auction of a private collection to raise money for a bird charity ... more  Add a comment

20.06.08. Hand-written scripts for The Two Ronnies television show have sold for £3,700, auctioneers said ... more  Add a comment

19.06.08. A lock of hair thought to have belonged to Jane Austen has been sold at auction in Gloucestershire for £4,800. The previous lot, a first edition set of the author's first novel, sold for £30,000 to an unnamed phone bidder ... more  Add a comment

12.06.08. An 800-word prequel to the Harry Potter series, handwritten and signed by JK Rowling, sold for £25,000 on Tuesday night at a charity auction in central London. The card was one of 13 original A5 storycards donated by literary luminaries including Doris Lessing and Richard Ford to benefit English PEN and Dyslexia Action, which together raised a total of £47,150 ... more  Add a comment

09.06.08. This month Thompson Roddick and Medcalf's regular Book Sale takes place on Thursday 12th June. As usual it contains numerous fascinating ephemera lots, many of them of Northumberland and northern interest.  Add a comment

05.06.08. A rare first folio of Shakespeare's plays, regarded as the most important book in the history of English literature, has sold for £435,250 at Christies ... more  Add a comment

03.06.08. A locket containing what is believed to be Jane Austen's hair is expected to reach more than £5,000 at auction. The lock of light-brown hair, which the auctioneers admit may never be confirmed as having come from the novelist's head, forms part of an "in memoriam" locket, in which the strands of hair are woven into the shape of a weeping willow ... more  Add a comment

26.05.08. I'm off for a few days in Norfolk, so no news or updates until my return on June the 3rd.
  Add a comment

20.05.08. The Broons are the stars of Compalcomics latest action, with the first book from 1940 at the relatively high grade of fine. The amount of original artwork in these sales continues to grow and along with headliners Desperate Dan and Oor Wullie, there are The Daleks, Lord Snooty, Tommy Cooper and Dan Dare. There are 311 lots in all and bids will be accepted until Tuesday June 3rd.  Add a comment

15.05.08. Lot 2200 caught my eye in Belman's Antiquarian & Modern Book Sale on May 23rd. Despite dinosaurs and other attractions, The Crystal Palace Company had steadily lost money and was declared bankrupt in 1911. The sale particulars offered here contain details of the Palace, Park and various leasehold properties around the perimeter, and were to be sold as one Lot. This copy is illustrated with 48 sepia photogravure plates, but lacks the coloured plan, and is estimated at £100-150.  Add a comment

01.05.08. John Lennon's lyrics for Give Peace a Chance are to go under the hammer at Christie's auction house on July 10. The lyrics were handed to comedy writer Gail Renard, who was then 16, at Lennon and Yoko Ono's Montreal "bed-in" in 1969, along with other mementoes. They are expected to fetch up to £300,000 ... more  Add a comment

25.04.08. The highlight of Christie's Foljambe Collection sale on April 30th is likely to be a complete set of the celebrated folio bird books formed by Gould's close acquaintance, George Savile Foljambe. Offered as a single lot 18, with a price guide of £600,000 - £800,000, they will be sold as lots 19-29, if the the single lot reserve is not reached.  Add a comment

21.04.08. Bridport Auction House are offering a large collection of cinema magazines and annuals as part of their Antiques and Collectables sale on April 25th. Mainly from the 1950's, they include magazine covers featuring a number of film stars, including Marilyn Monroe.  Add a comment

17.04.08. As usual, it's the ephemera that attracts my attention at Thomson, Roddick & Medcalf on April 23rd. Amongst the typographically delightful examples of all sorts of printed material, is lot 268. Described as a good hand painted plan of a proposed Turnpike Road, it is dated 1811, and is embellished with an attractive heading, and two watercolour scenes to either side. The estimate is £150 - £300.  Add a comment

12.04.08. Letters between James Bond author Ian Fleming and his "Miss Moneypenny" have fetched £14,340 at auction - almost five times more than expected ... more  Add a comment

08.04.08. Hexham & Northern Marts Book Auction on Wednesday April 16th includes natural history, bird books, sporting and fishing books. Amongst the highlights are: Thomas Bewick's General History of Quadrupeds, 1820; and David Croal Thomson – Water Colour Drawings of Thomas Bewick.  Add a comment

03.04.08. Charles Dickens’ chair and the desk at which he wrote Great Expectations are expected to fetch up to £80,000, when they are auctioned at Christie’s of London on June 4. The two items of furniture are said to be the most important relics from the Medway-based author ever offered for public sale ... more  Add a comment

27.03.08. One of the highlights of the Conjuring and Magic section of Bloomsbury Auctions Bibliophile Sale on April 3rd, is signed presentation copy of The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin. Inscribed to Angelo Lewis, the estimate is £1000 – £1500. There is also a first edition of the extremely rare A New Handy-Book of Magic, by Alfred Inglis Stodare, which is expected to make £500 – £750.

20.03.08.The catalogue for Cumbria Auction Rooms biannual auction of antiquarian books & ephemera on March 27th, is now available. A small group of Donald Campbell signed photographs includes a particularly poignant one of of the Bluebird under power, inscribed Blue Bird, Coniston, August 1949.

19.03.08. 20 lots of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, including a rare first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', made £36,560 at Christie's today .... more  Add a comment

18.03.08. When Tolkien's original pint-sized hero Bilbo Baggins set out in search of fame and fortune, he would not have known that the most valuable treasure he would bring back would prove to be the tale of his adventures. But now the halfling hero's bulging coffers have swollen further after a rare first edition of Tolkien's The Hobbit, or There and Back Again sold at auction for £60,000 ... more  Add a comment

10.03.08. Catalogues are now available for Hampton & Littlewood's Antiquarian Book Sale on March 19th. One of the highlights is Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations 1851, vol. III only, disbound and with 42 of 45 calotype prints. Never the less, it is described as "one of the earliest examples of a book illustrated with original photographs," and is estimated at £1500-2000.
    Also on the 19th, Thomson, Roddick & Medcalf's sale includes their usual fascinating select of printed ephemera... more

28.02.08. Putting Charlie Chaplin on a Nazi death list did nothing to intimidate the cinema legend. Instead, it inspired him to make a film in which he mercilessly lampooned the evil regime and depicted Adolf Hitler as a buffoon. The full story of Chaplin’s defiance emerged as the Nazi propaganda book that placed the star on the death list was put up for auction next month ... more  Add a comment

19.02.08. The Spring 2008 auction at Compalcomics is now open, and runs until March 4th. The star of the 284 lots in this catalogue is that wee lad on the upturned bucket, Oor Wullie. His first book, in the highest grade ever offered at auction, carries an estimate of £3,200-3,600.  Add a comment

14.02.08. Margaret Vennett-Smith contacted us today to report that we had incorrectly listed their General Sports & Football Memorabilia sale as being on February 18th. It should have been March 18th, and has now been corrected.   Add a comment

08.02.08. Copper plates and wooden blocks engraved by one of Wales’ most important wildlife artists for the original publication of Tarka the Otter could raise up to £15,000 when auctioned by Peter Wilson on February 20th. The plates and blocks used in Charles Tunnicliffe’s prints and illustrations include some from his most famous work of all on Henry Williamson’s 1932 book .... more  Add a comment

08.02.08. Bloomsbury Auctions are having problems with their telephone lines, so you will NOT be able to fax bids, and there may be no telephone bidding for their sale on February 14th.  Add a comment

29.01.08. During January we listed 40 auctions in the UK which were either devoted to, or included books. This represents a significant increase over 2007, and I think, bodes well for the future. This year the challenge will be to work with auctioneers to achieve the maximum notice of sale dates, and the most succinct description of the auction's book content.  Add a comment

24.01.08. For the first time we are listing Trafford Books, who hold regular auctions in Trafford, Manchester. This year they are holding seven sales, all of which will contain a mixture of books, postcards, cigarette cards, autographs and ephemera. Their first sale of the year is on January 29th.  Add a comment

17.01.08. A full set of Harry Potter books signed by author JK Rowling sold for £6960 including buyers premium, at auction yesterday ... more

15.01.08. Mullock's Historical Documents, Autographs and Ephemera sale on 24th January includes a huge variety of fascinating historical material - ranging from Judaica to the Black Shirts, and from the Suffragette movement to Polar exploration. Along the way there's a good group of Civil War pamphlets, a Churchill letter, and the original brochure for "Triumph of the Will."  Add a comment

10.01.08. Artwork created by The Beatles for the world's first ever rock festival is expected to fetch nearly £400,000 at Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia auction next week ... more  Add a comment

08.01.08. Dukes Books & Prints Sale on January 17th will include the library of the late Dr David Vessey, which is being auctioned to raise funds for the establishment of the charity ‘Advocates for Children’. The "Vessey Collection" - a library of over 8000 volumes, includes first editions of modern literature, an extensive collection of books on the occult and volumes concerning history, art and topography, the majority in notably fine condition.  Add a comment

01.01.08. On 8th January Chiswick Auctions are selling John Websters library of some 30,000 books collected over the past 60 years. In addition to 1,500 books on the Royal Family and 1,500 biographies and autobiographies, there are books covering a wide range of subjects - from bee-keeping to Freemasonry and London, and from the origin of the bicycle to scrapbooks and diaries from the 1800's.  Add a comment

News from 2007