Letter

The Library Auction at Hansons (Bishton Hall, Staffordshire) on June 15 includes this autograph letter by Roald Dahl.

How letters related to wars bring a connection that history books cannot match

After a long and illustrious naval career, it is a pity that Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is best known for the circumstances of his death.

Convoys to protect merchant vessels have a long history in naval conflict. A letter sold at Kent saleroom C&T (22% buyer’s premium) in a timed Military Books, Ephemera & Photographs Auction reveals Royal Navy ships in action back in 1808.

A group of some 40 letters and greetings cards sent in 1990-97 by Diana, Princess of Wales, to her good friend Roger Bramble sold for almost £70,000.

The handwritten journal of Colonel Christopher Rigby, recording his success in securing freedom for thousands of slaves in east Africa, was the highlight of a collection of his papers sold in London.

Sold for €160,000 (£144,145) was a letter sent by Félix Régamy to his brother Frédéric including a drawing of Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine in England.

The latest Specialist Collectors’ Sale at Cuttlestones in Wolverhampton included a little bit of 20th century ceramics history.

Several decades on from the last of the five major auctions Sotheby’s held to disperse items from the remarkable collections of American historical documents and letters formed by Philip (1902-75) and Elsie Sang (1906-97), a further selection appeared at Sotheby’s New York (26/20/13.9%).

In 1793, well in advance of the Slave Trade Act (1807) and the Slavery Abolition Act (1833), 275 British men, women and children attempted to settle an uninhabited island off the coast of Sierra Leone.

Letter highlights early fossil fan Mary Anning who is soon to be the subject of a film.

MADAM – The auction report (issue 2459, page 22) highlighting the sale of two Napoleonic documents at Sotheby’s is most interesting when you consider the two very different characters they were addressed to.

A cache of material related to the influential Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-61) and her family sold for close to £50,000 at Lawrences of Crewkerne.

An exceptionally varied and very successful recent Scottish sale contained a great many letters and plenty of fascinating manuscript material.

A letter in which Kenneth Grahame writes about the suicide of his son, Alastair, sold at East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) for £1200.

An account of travels in Indian territories in the early 19th century was one of two letters of particular North American interest sold for notably higher than expected sums by Forum (25/20/12% buyer’s premium).

A signed memorandum letter sent by Nelson from HMS Victory to one of his captains sold for a mid-estimate £3200 at a recent TW Gaze (18% buyer’s premium) auction in Diss in Norfolk.