Manuscript

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

Two lost folios from the 'Yongle Dadian', the Ming dynasty encyclopaedia that has assumed national treasure status in China, surfaced for sale in Paris last week.

The Paris auction centre Drouot opened its doors again last month in France following the lockdown.

In keeping with the convention of the time, autograph leaves of serialised novels were nearly always destroyed as soon as they were set in type.

A selection of upcoming lots of books, maps and prints from auctions taking place around the UK.

Two outstanding works on paper – a letter by Robert Burns and a page from the manuscript for Charles Dickens’ 'Pickwick Papers' – headline the June offerings across the field of books, maps and prints.

This small-scale book of hours, below, was made c.1490-93 for Charles VIII of France. Containing 12 full-page and 10 small miniatures by the Master of the Chronique scandaleuse, it is offered by Les Enluminures for $575,000 as part of its online initiative: a Books of Hours online update to be sent out biannually.

Said to date from the 12th-14th century, an incomplete and dampstained Middle Eastern medical manuscript sold for £70,000 at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) on February 22.

Two institutions dominated bidding for the notebooks and correspondence of a significant Regency period female author at the Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham last week.

Rare book dealer Dr Jörn Günther of Switzerland specialises in manuscripts, miniatures, and rare early printed books from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Two men have pleaded guilty in connection with the theft of rare books and manuscripts from the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Personal devotional prayer books, known as a Book of Hours, were popular among the wealthy and powerful in late medieval Europe. Illuminated with miniature paintings depicting the life of Christ, the Virgin Mary and saints, they were sometimes personalised for the patrons who commissioned them.