Books & Periodicals

Codex stands out as some of the world’s most important manuscripts come to auction in London

It’s not often that you hear the phrase “grandmother of the vendor, by repute the first woman in the world to jump through a flaming hoop on the back of a horse”.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) epitomised the power of words and, on June 25, that is what bidders had the chance to own in the form of those penned by the political and spiritual leader himself in a letter to his friend, South African architect Hermann Kallenbach (1871-1945).

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions

Ralph ‘Randolphus’ Ayres is recorded as being head cook at New College, Oxford at various times in the 18th century.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions

A landlord and tenancy agreement signed by Freddie Mercury in 1986 was among the highlights of the Autographs and Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions (25/12% buyer’s premium).

First edition of key Mormon work lists Joseph Smith as ‘author and proprietor’ of text not ‘translator’

The Fonsie Mealy Chatsworth Summer Rare Books & Collectables Sale on July 30-31 includes a private collection of works by Jack B Yeats, The Cuala Press and modern Irish and English literature.

Only 29 books from the library of John Keats are recorded - among them a 1679 printing of the collected works of the Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser given to him by the artist Joseph Severn (1793-1879).

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

Naturalist produced a fish-focused work featuring nearly 3000 original watercolours across 50 copies

The original artwork for 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' sold at Sotheby’s for $1.6m (£1.3m) plus 20% buyer’s premium in New York on June 26.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions