Latest News Articles by Ian McKay
The magic of a clean Harry Potter
25 September 2017Harry Potter’s 20th birthday celebrations continue apace – with a new record for a standard copy of 'The Philosopher’s Stone'.
First English edition of 'Around the World in Eighty Days' tops Catherine Southon sale
25 September 2017One of Jules Verne’s most popular tales, 'Around the World in Eighty Days', led the book section of a September 6 sale held by Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium).
Mining and other Cornish pastimes
25 September 2017Works of Cornish interest featured prominently in a sale held by David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) of Penzance, among them those from the library of the writer and scholar, PAS Pool.
'Flowers & Gardens of Madeira' watercolour sells at Thomson Roddick
25 September 2017Sold for £560 by Thomson Roddick (17.5% buyer’s premium) on September 6 was a watercolour by Ella Du Cane (1874-1943).
John Napier’s doctrinal bone of contention
25 September 2017Alice, Tennyson and Port of London plans all played their part in the success of a September 5 sale held by Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium), but the prize lot was something of much greater antiquity.
Was it a cow or a card game that set Chicago ablaze?
21 September 2017How the 1871 Chicago fire started remains a matter of conjecture, though a lantern knocked over by a Mrs O’Leary’s cow, or perhaps by a group of men who were gambling in a barn are among the favourite theories.
Saleroom finds winning recipe
18 September 2017In recent years Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium) has enjoyed considerable success with cookery manuscripts and the most recent auction further enhanced the saleroom’s recipe for culinary success.
Album reveals POW camp life
18 September 2017Located on the Vistula river in northern Poland, the old city of Torun somehow escaped undamaged from the ravages of the Second World War and is now recognised as one of the country’s national treasures.
Dickens strolls in at £45,000
18 September 2017Bid to £45,000 at Sotheby’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) was an extensively revised and corrected autograph draft of what was to become Charles Dickens’ tale of ‘Mrs Gamp with the Strolling Players’.
Ballroom dance guide leads Ilkley selection
18 September 2017A Regency period guide to ballroom dancing, sold for a much higher than expected £800, was a rare and welcome entry in the book section of a September 6 sale held by Hartleys (18% buyer’s premium) of Ilkley.
Manuscript copy of Sheridan’s ‘School for Scandal’ takes £3100 at Gloucestershire auction
14 September 2017Bid to £3100, some ten times the high estimate, a contemporary manuscript copy of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s ‘The School for Scandal’ sold at a recent Dominic Winter sale.
Story of an uprising Down Under
11 September 2017Eureka Stockade has been dubbed as the only ‘battle’ to have taken place in Australia but was in reality little more than a skirmish in global terms. However, the 1854 uprising that cost nearly 30 lives is now recognised as a seminal political event in colonial history and one that marked the birth of democracy in Australia.
Busy summer in Norfolk creates warm sales glow
11 September 2017It was a busy summer for Keys (20% buyer’s premium), who had book sales in both July and August.
Laying down Jewish laws
11 September 2017Jacob ben Asher’s Arba’ah Turim (The Four Orders of the Jewish Code of Law) was compiled in the early 14th century and its dissemination throughout the Diaspora led quickly to its recognition and acceptance by Jewish scholars as an authoritative, convenient and concise approach to Jewish law.
The auction moon boon
11 September 2017A small white zip-up bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring samples of lunar material back to earth following the historic Apollo 11 moon landing of 1969 was the star lot in a Space Exploration sale held by Sotheby’s New York (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) on July 20.
Explore the world’s outer reaches
04 September 2017Just the two outer panels of what had once been a six-part world map remained in a cartographic lot offered at Christie’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium).
Quite a life: polar explorer, air pioneer and wartime pilot
04 September 2017Tryggve Gran (1888-1980) – polar explorer and First World War aviator – was a man whose achievements and adventurous life were recognised in two lots offered by Christie’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on July 12.
Max doctors a souvenir book
04 September 2017A lavishly produced 'Souvenir...' book published in 1899 to benefit a Charing Cross Hospital bazaar held at the Royal Albert Hall included contributions from distinguished writers, painters and composers, along with their photographic portraits.
Lot of local interest for Maurice Gorham first edition
04 September 2017Sold for £420 in an August 24-25 sale held by Keys (17.5% buyer’s premium) was a 1939 first of Maurice Gorham’s 'The Local', with its 15 coloured litho illustrations by Edward Ardizzone.
Classic illustrations shine in sales
04 September 2017Last offered at auction at Sotheby’s (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in 1971, a pair of EH Shepard’s original ink drawings for Winnie-the-Pooh returned to their rooms to sell at £55,000.