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Manuscript

Manuscripts are books, letters, documents or pieces of music written by hand as opposed to being printed.

Handwritten material relating to historical events or famous and literary figures has sparked an active collectables market. Nowadays a wide range of examples can be available from auctions and dealers from illuminated medieval manuscripts to 20th century political speeches.


New Testament bible

Medieval bible 'looted during Hundred Years' War' blocked from export

09 November 2023

A New Testament bible formerly owned by the French King Jean II but believed to have been in the UK for more than 600 years has been temporarily barred from export.

Pamflyt Compiled Of Cheese

Say cheese: University buys Elizabethan manuscript on cheese making

19 September 2023

The University of Leeds Libraries has bought the earliest known book about cheese making in Britain.

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Mystery manuscript identified at Cornish auction

18 September 2023

One of two texts in a single volume revealed after eager bidding to be by Hungarian Jesuit

Tikkunei Shabbat

Big bidding for a small prayer book: Hebrew manuscript takes five times estimate

11 September 2023

An 18th century copy of Tikkunei Shabbat (an amalgam of Hebrew prayers and devotions for the Sabbath) sold for £57,000 to an international phone bidder at Hansons on September 5.

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Collector interview: fragments of our medieval past

11 September 2023

Robert Weaver, a teacher and keeper of the Fellows’ Library at Dulwich College in south London, has collected medieval manuscript fragments for close to 50 years

Freddie Mercury in concert

Freddie Mercury collection: Major sums for lyrics and piano at Sotheby’s auction

07 September 2023

The handwritten lyrics for Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the piano which Freddie Mercury used to compose it were among the major highlights at Sotheby's auction of the singer’s collection in London.

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Patent reference helps to sew up profit

04 September 2023

A 19th century document referencing Elias Howe Jr’s patent for the first modern sewing machine sold for more than 100 times its estimate at Devin Moisan’s (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Epping, New Hampshire.

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All forgiven: medieval document relating to rebellion soars above estimate

04 September 2023

This medieval document with a royal seal attached amounts to a pardon granted by Henry IV (1367-1413) to John Barlawe of the manor of Barlow in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy (now suburban Manchester).

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Reel appeal of Scottish music

04 September 2023

A previously unrecorded 18th century manuscript containing 75 pieces of traditional Scottish music sold for £5000 at Lyon & Turnbull (plus 26% buyer’s premium).

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Original lyrics for Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' comes to auction

21 August 2023

The original working lyrics for 'Heartbreak Hotel' carry an estimate of $200,000-220,000 at GWS Auctions’ sale titled Artifacts of Hollywood & Music in Agoura Hills, California, on August 26.

A drawng in The Illustrated Autobiography

Pick of the week: Family collection of manuscripts and pictures tell story of an artist lost in sadness

24 July 2023

A poignant description of life as an artist studying at the Royal Academy in the mid-19th century emerged at auction and more than doubled its estimate.

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The Freddie Mercury Collection: A kind of auction magic

19 June 2023

Queen singer Freddie Mercury’s art and antiques collection is coming up for sale in September.

Corday letter

Letter by Marat murderer Corday bought by Normandy institutions

14 June 2023

A letter of justification by the woman who assassinated the French Revolutionary journalist and politician Jean-Paul Marat has been bought by a group of Normandy institutions at auction.

Elizabethan manuscript on cheese

Pick of the week: Cheesy does it for £45,000 Elizabethan manuscript at auction

29 May 2023

Leading the sale at Dominic Winter on May 17 was a highly unusual Elizabethan manuscript treatise on cheese and cheese making.

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Conan Doyle celebrated in Chicago

29 May 2023

‘Sherlockian scholar’ is the term Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) uses to describe Robert Hess.

The Codex Sassoon

Auction record for any book as Hebrew bible takes $38.1m at Sotheby’s

18 May 2023

Setting an auction record for any book, manuscript or item of Judaica, a work billed as the ‘earliest and most complete Hebrew bible’ in existence sold for $33.5m (£26.6m) at Sotheby’s New York.

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An astronomical price paid for Mamluk manuscript

08 May 2023

A 13th century Mamluk (Egyptian or Syrian) manuscript on astronomy sold for a surprise £140,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) in south London on April 28.

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The incredible story of Aristophil

08 May 2023

Involving a string of spectacular works, the saga of the collapsed French firm is worth a novel itself

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Recreational maths: Handwritten Alan Turing document sold at Bonhams

08 May 2023

When the Bletchley Park boffins were taking a break from code-breaking in the Second World War, complicated puzzles were one of the diversions.

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The polar market explored

08 May 2023

Now hugely popular, this collecting field actually took many years to get going