Latest News Articles by Ian McKay
Inspired by Sir Walter Scott
05 April 2021Talented amateur artist enjoyed riding excursions with the author to antiquarian sites
Battle mags and Dr Who go into action
05 April 2021Publishers’ file copies of the first 199 issues of War Picture Library, pocket-sized and essentially pictorial publications of the years 1958-63, brought a bid of £3250 in a Comic Book Auctions (19% buyer’s premium) timed sale.
Another Agatha Christie record
05 April 2021First published in the UK as a ‘Collins Crime Club’ title in 1970, an Agatha Christie novel brought a bid of £850 at Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium).
British and Irish book auctions: March 30-April 17, 2021
29 March 2021Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.
Hangman’s calling card is one of the highlights of a varied sale
29 March 2021Sold online for a far higher than predicted £600 in Norfolk on February 11 was a calling card of William Marwood (1820-83), who for many years was an official hangman.
Handy little guide when you want to find a library book
29 March 2021Offered as part of a sale at Taylors (24% buyer’s premium) of Montrose with an estimate of just £20-30 was a catalogue of the library at Fasque House, or Fasque Castle as it is also known.
From Zanzibar to the South Pole at Bonhams
29 March 2021A travel sale held by Bonhams (27.5/25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) offered the usual mix of books, pictures, prints and photographs – and to very good effect in doubling the high estimate total.
How to get away with murder
22 March 2021Collection offered in London auction included Agatha Christie and other crime classics
Mezzotint version of portrait takes 10 times the top estimate at auction
22 March 2021John Faber’s mezzotint version of a portrait by John Vanderbank of Nicholas Saunderson (1682-1739), a celebrated blind scientist and mathematician, was bid to 10 times the high estimate in a Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) general clear-out sale.
British and Irish book auctions: March 23-April 9, 2021
22 March 2021Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions
Map shows heartfelt emotion
15 March 2021Sold at $34,000 (£25,185) apiece, two very different lots headed the bidding in a New York sale of December 17.
Daily life and world history in one
15 March 2021A magnificent copy of Liber chronicarum, or ‘Nuremburg Chronicle’ as it is more familiarly known, made a record $350,000 (£265,150) at Bonhams New York.
Sale explores early America
15 March 2021Published in Paris, a 1613 first edition of a pioneering American exploration work sold for $160,000 (£114,285) in Philadelphia.
New York buyers curious about Dickens
15 March 2021Almost a hundred lots in a New York sale came from the extensive Dickens collections assembled over four decades by Martin Nason.
Huge baths picture makes a big splash
15 March 2021At nearly 7ft high, a fine example of a four-sheet coloured lithograph of the Sutro Baths sold for $10,000 (£7355).
British musical Leppard spotted in Indiana
15 March 2021Though a Bösendorfer grand piano topped bidding at $42,500 (£31,250) in a January 16 sale, the main attractions for many came from a different source.
Books and works on paper: Grimm and wonderful buys
15 March 2021Famous brothers’ fairy tales take top spot in an exceptional selection of children’s works.
Medical pioneer’s library sold at Bonhams New York
15 March 2021Offered at Bonhams New York (27.5/25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) was a first selection from the medical library of James Tate Goodrich (1946-2020).
Vagabonds tramp to Chicago
15 March 2021Sold at a rather higher than expected $1900 (£1440) by Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) of Chicago was a lot offering not one, but two early copies of Rafaele Frianoro’s Il Vagabondo overo Sferza de Bianti, e Vagabondi.
British and Irish book auctions: March 16-30, 2021
15 March 2021Our regular listing of UK and Irish book sales.