Books & Periodicals

Thomas Riley was one of the few professional tattooists of the Victorian and Edwardian era and – with patrons among international royalty and the aristocracy – a key figure in the changing perception of tattoos from ‘sailors’ marks’ to ‘body art’.

Bid online to a much higher than expected £3200 in a Dominic Winter (24% buyer’s premium) sale was a framed and glazed Thomas Rowlandson etching with contemporary colouring that depicts a famous 'Milling Match…' in 1811.

More manageable version of monumental Nuremberg Chronicle makes five-times top guide

Two lots offered as part of a Chinese works of art auction held by Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) brought matching bids of £110,000 – far, far in excess of their estimates.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

A group of Ethiopian works of art believed to have been taken during the Battle of Maqdala in 1868 has been withdrawn from a Dorset auction after the Embassy of Ethiopia intervened.

The opening lot in Hake’s June 29-30 auction Pennsylvania, is a 1767 promissory note hand-signed by a prominent Virginia slave owner – George Washington.

In 1820 the then US Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned William J Stone to produce a facsimile of the original 'Declaration of Independence'.

A selection of upcoming highlights from books and works on paper sales.

Richly illuminated manuscripts from a ‘truly exceptional collection’ shine in New York

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Auction marking German firm Reiss & Sohn’s 50th anniversary included earthly and heavenly delights

An Americana sale held by Swann (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) was led at $55,000 (£39,855) by an 1830, Palmyra first of 'The Book of Mormon'.

An Illustration Art sale held in Dallas by Heritage (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) included a classic EH Shepard Winnie-the-Pooh work.

Discovered lying unrecognised on a bookcase in a Sussex cottage, a unique edition of Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard will be offered at Gorringe’s this month with a £100,000-150,000 estimate.

Sold for $42,500 (£30,795) was a very appealing Einstein lot that offered a short but amusing letter dating from November 1928 and a signed photo-portrait.