Bloomsbury Auctions
Bloomsbury Auctions is a specialist saleroom for antiquarian books, prints and maps. The business was founded as Bloomsbury Book Auctions in 1983 by Lord John Kerr, Frank Herrmann and David Stagg who ran the firm independently for 17 years.
The firm has gone through a number of changes in ownership since 2000.
Art advisers Gurr Johns purchased Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017 and resumed auctions under the Bloomsbury brand the following year.
![img_20-1.jpg](/media/31778/img_20-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131780239070000000)
Summer brings books and works on paper auction riches
06 August 2018June and July brought a rich crop of auctions in London, around the country and overseas. A few of those sales and stand-out results have already been reported on these and the ATG news pages, but many more hammer highlights were achieved.
![Canterbury bible](/media/31702/august-01-canterbury-bible.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131776186360000000)
Medieval bible bought at auction to return to Canterbury Cathedral after 500 years away
02 August 2018Canterbury Cathedral has bought a rare illuminated bible once owned by one of the last members of Britain’s monastic community before the Reformation.
![img_8-1.jpg](/media/31160/img_8-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131762083890000000)
Pick of the week: Hours and centuries of famous owners
16 July 2018Estimated at £200,000-300,000, the 'Hours of Isabella d’Este' sold at £340,000 (plus buyer’s premium) at Bloomsbury Auctions’ sale of Western and Oriental Manuscripts and Miniatures on July 10.
![img_20-1.jpg](/media/28929/img_20-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131712809390000000)
Bidders keep eyes on the prize
21 May 2018Bearing a title that translates as ‘The Book of Correction of Optics for those who have Sight and Mind’, an early 14th century Arabic manuscript made a much higher than expected £450,000 during the recent Islamic week of sales in London.
![img_29-2.jpg](/media/25710/img_29-2.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131645561650000000)
Parisian Book of Hours with Russian princess link
05 March 2018A Parisian Book of Hours dating to c.1440-50 was among illuminated or decorated manuscripts sold during in the closing weeks of 2017.
![Dreweatts](/media/24353/dreweatts-2301ne-14-07-17.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131618661780000000)
Mallett reunited with Dreweatts and Bloomsbury after sale by Stanley Gibbons
31 January 2018Antiques dealership Mallett has been reunited with its former stablemates Dreweatts and Bloomsbury following a £100,000 purchase by Gurr Johns-owned Dreweatts.
![img_37-1.jpg](/media/23038/img_37-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131580649080000000)
Marilyn’s sultry happy birthday song to JFK
18 December 2017The night, just three months before her death, that Marilyn Monroe sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in sultry tones at a Democratic Party fundraiser celebrating John F Kennedy’s 45th birthday caused quite a sensation.
Gavel falls on Bloomsbury Auctions
11 December 2017Update (July 2019): auctions resumed at Bloomsbury in 2018 following Gurr Johns' purchase of Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017. In February 2019 it expanded the number of sales at its London office at 16-17 Pall Mall. The original story is below.
![img_39-1.jpg](/media/21913/img_39-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131554781530000000)
Lear sticks to landscape
20 November 2017A letter that Edward Lear wrote in 1881 to a friend to whom he intended to dispatch two drawings of Athens was among the more successful lots that Bloomsbury Auctions (24/18/12% buyer’s premium) sold on October 19.
![img_4-1.jpg](/media/20274/img_4-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131520137750000000)
George Bailey back at Dreweatts as end beckons for Bloomsbury Auctions
09 October 2017Update (July 2019): auctions resumed at Bloomsbury in 2018 following Gurr Johns' purchase of Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017. In February 2019 it expanded the number of sales at its London office at 16-17 Pall Mall. The original story is below.
![img_23-1.jpg](/media/19974/img_23-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131512440490000000)
Comets, astronauts and out of this world selfies
02 October 2017A ‘Glory of Science’ sale held by Bloomsbury Auctions (24/18/12% buyer’s premium) on September 14 included books, prints, photographs, letters, etc, and was one in which astronomy and space travel played a significant part where higher bids were concerned.
![img_6-5.jpg](/media/19244/img_6-5.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131502007570000000)
Stanley Gibbons gives up on Pall Mall space
18 September 2017Less than six months after holding its first auction in its Pall Mall home, Stanley Gibbons’ The Fine Art Auction Group (TEFAAG) has left the central London premises and is in the process of selling the lease.
![img_21-3.jpg](/media/17838/img_21-3.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131471872650000000)
Tolkien writes early verses to get into the Hobbit
14 August 2017Three of the poems featured in A Northern Venture…, a slim collection of verses by members of the Leeds University English School Association published by the Swan Press in 1923, added considerable value to this now rare little work.
![Space selfie](/media/17463/selfie-2-2302ap-26-07-17.jpg?rxy=0.51635514018691586,0.42083333333333334&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462556800000000)
First space self-portrait goes under the hammer at Bloomsbury Auctions
27 July 2017Among the lots at Bloomsbury Auctions’ upcoming sale, The Glory of Science, is ‘the first space selfie’.
![William Holland – John Bull 1797](/media/17411/caricatures-01-holland-john-bull-2302abweb-25-07-17.jpg?rxy=0.33164983164983164,0.38369304556354916&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462556760000000)
Six of the best – Caricatures from specialist sale at Bloomsbury Auctions
25 July 2017Bloomsbury Auctions have held specialist sales of caricatures since 2015 and the most recent took place earlier this month. The sale offered a mixture of around 30 lots of modern cartoons and 100 or so lots of much earlier material.
![img_58-1.jpg](/media/16048/img_58-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131423553060000000)
Erotic art sale at Bloomsbury Auctions offers 150 racy lots
19 June 2017“All art is erotic,” remarked the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, one of art’s great womanisers.
![stanley gibbons](/media/15823/stanley-gibbons-baldwins-2297ne-12-06-17.jpg?rxy=0.094276094276094277,0.66498740554156166&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462556520000000)
Stanley Gibbons up for sale amid launch of strategic review
12 June 2017Stamps and coin dealership Stanley Gibbons Group, parent of book auctioneers Bloomsbury, has put the company up for sale following discussions with a private equity firm.
![img_25-1.jpg](/media/14725/img_25-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131398357910000000)
Hubert Dingwall: Quixotic fancies and English fairies
22 May 2017The late Hubert Dingwall began a lifetime of book collecting in 1935 with the purchase of a vellum bound copy of the second part only of a 1697 Antwerp edition of Don Quixote for one shilling and sixpence.
![pen](/media/12538/signature-2287ap-31-03-17.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462556200000000)
Christopher Lee’s collection of pens to be auctioned at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury
03 April 2017A consignment of 16 pens from the collection of Christopher Lee, the distinguished British actor who played Dracula in nine films, is to go under the hammer at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury.
![13-11-05-2115NE04A.jpg](/media/2165/13-11-05-2115ne04a.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=125&height=125&rnd=131462558940000000)
Rome deal for Dreweatts & Bloomsbury
05 November 2013Dreweatts & Bloomsbury auctions have joined forces with Philobiblon, a leading Italian antiquarian books and manuscripts specialist, to offer monthly valuation events, auctions and fine art exhibitions in Rome.
![the saleroom](/images/Top-Banner-300-x-93px_v2.jpg)
- Adam Partridge London
- Antiques & Fine Art With Asian Art
- 03 Sep 2024 - 10:00 AM
- McTear's
- Antiques & Interiors
- 05 Sep 2024 - 09:30 AM
- Adam Partridge Liverpool
- Photographic & Scientific Equipment With Antiques & Collector's Items
- 05 Sep 2024 - 10:00 AM
- W&H Peacock
- Antique Furniture, Collectables, Selected Toys, Jewellery & Watches
- 06 Sep 2024 - 09:30 AM
- Unique Auctions
- Antiques, Jewellery, Furniture & Collectables
- 07 Sep 2024 - 09:00 AM
- Anthemion Auctions
- Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Books & Sporting
- 11 Sep 2024 - 09:00 AM
![the saleroom](/images/Bottom-Banner-300-x-93px_v2.jpg)
News
-
- Art finance
- Auctions
- Brexit
- Buyer's and seller's premiums
- Coronavirus
- Delivery and Shipping
- Education and Training
- Endangered Species
- Events and conferences
- Industry data
- Insurance
- Internet
- Law, crime and regulation
- Museum acquisitions
- Museum deaccessioning
- Obituaries
- Premises and Property
- Private Sales
- Recruitment
- Restoration
- TV shows
-
- 1818 Auctioneers
- Adam Partridge
- Adam's
- Addisons
- Ader
- Aguttes
- Alastair Gibson Auctions
- Alcala Subastas
- Aldridges
- Amersham Auction Rooms
- Anderson & Garland
- Andrew Smith & Son
- Anthemion
- AntikBar
- Antony Cribb
- Artcurial
- Arthur Johnson & Sons
- Aston's
- Auction Team Breker
- Auctionata
- Auctioneum
- Babuino
- Bainbridge Adam Partridge
- Baldwin's
- Bamfords
- Barbara Kirk
- Barbers
- Batemans
- BBR Auctions
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Beaussant Lefèvre
- Bellmans
- Bentley’s
- Biddle & Webb
- Bigwood
- Bishop & Miller
- Bleasdales
- Bloomsbury Auctions
- Boldon Auction Galleries
- Bonhams
- Bonhams Skinner
- Bosleys
- Bourne End Auction Rooms
- Brettells
- Brighton General Auctions
- Brightwells
- Bristol Auction Rooms
- Brown & Co
- Bruun Rasmussen
- Burstow & Hewett
- Byrnes
- C&T
- Cambi Casa d'Aste
- Canterbury Auction Galleries
- Capes Dunn
- Catherine Southon
- Cato Crane
- Chalkwell
- Charles Miller
- Charles Ross Auctioneers
- Charterhouse
- Cheffins
- Chilcotts
- Chippenham Auction Rooms
- Chiswick Auctions
- Chorley's
- Christie's
- Clark & Simpson
- Clars Auction Gallery
- Clevedon Salerooms
- Comic Book Auctions
- Cotswold Auction Company
- Cottees
- Cowans
- Criterion
- Crow’s Auctions Gallery
- Curated Auctions
- Cuttlestones
- Czerny
- David Duggleby
- Dawsons
- Denhams
- Dominic Winter
- Dore & Rees
- Dorotheum
- Doyle New York
- Dreweatts
- Duke's
- Durrants
- Eastbourne Auctions
- Eldreds
- Elmwood’s
- Elstob Auctioneers
- Ewbank's
- Featonby's
- Fellows
- Fieldings
- Fine Art Auction Group
- Fine Art Bourse
- Flints Auctioneers
- Fonsie Mealy
- Forum Auctions
- Frank Marshall
- Freeman's
- Freeman's Hindman
- Gardiner Houlgate
- Gary Don
- George Kidner
- Gerrards Auction Rooms
- Gildings
- Golding Young & Mawer
- Gorringes
- Graham Budd
- Grand Auctions
- Great Western Auctions
- Greenslade Taylor Hunt
- Gros & Delettrez
- H&H Classics
- Halls Fine Art
- Hampstead Auctions
- Hannam’s
- Hansons
- Harper Field
- Hartleys
- Henry Adams
- Henry Aldridge & Son
- Heritage Auctions
- Hermann Historica
- High Road Auctions
- Hindman
- Holloways
- Holt's
- Hôtel Drouot
- Hotlotz
- Humbert & Ellis
- Hutchinson Scott
- Jacobs & Hunt
- John Nicholson
- John Pye Auctions
- Jones & Jacob
- JS Fine Art
- Jubilee Auction Rooms
- Juliens
- Kerry Taylor
- KettererKunst
- Keys
- Kidson-Trigg
- Kinghams
- Kings Russell
- Knights Auctions
- Knowle Auction Rooms
- Koller
- Lacy Scott & Knight
- Laidlaw
- Lawrences of Bletchingley
- Lawrences of Crewkerne
- Lay’s Auctioneers
- Lempertz
- Leonard Joel
- Lindsay Burns
- Littleton
- Lockdales
- Locke & England
- London Auctions
- Lots Road Auctions
- Louis Taylor
- Lyon & Turnbull
- MacDougall's
- Mallams
- Mander
- Marlows of Stafford
- Martel Maides
- Maxwells
- McTear's
- Mellors & Kirk
- Michael Bowman
- Millon
- Minster Auctions
- Mitchells
- Moore Allen & Innocent
- Morphets
- Morton & Eden
- Mossgreen
- Mulberry Bank Auctions
- Mullock Jones
- Nagel
- Nesbits
- Netherhampton Salerooms
- Nicholas Mellors
- Nigel Ward
- Noble Investments
- Noonans
- Olympia Auctions
- Omega Auctions
- Onslows
- Osenat
- Paddle8
- Parker Fine Art Auctions
- Paul Beighton Saleroom
- PBA Galleries
- Peter Francis
- Philip Serrell
- Phillips
- Piasa
- Pierre Bergé & Associes
- Piers Motley
- Plymouth Auction Rooms
- Potter & Potter
- Potteries Auctions
- Rago Auctions
- Railtons
- Ramsay Cornish
- Reeman Dansie
- Rendells
- Richard Edmonds Auctions
- Richard Winterton
- Ritchies
- RM Sotheby’s
- Rogers Jones
- Roma Numismatics
- Roseberys
- Ross’s of Belfast
- Rowley's
- Rushbrooks
- Ryedale
- Semley
- Sheffield Auction Gallery
- Sheppard’s
- Silverwoods
- Sloane Street Auctions
- Sotheby's
- Sovereign Rarities
- Special Auction Services
- Spicers
- Spink
- St Jamess Auctions
- Staceys
- Stanley Gibbons Group
- Sterling Vault Auctioneers
- StockholmsAuktionsverk
- Stride & Son
- Summers Place Auctions
- Swan Fine Art Auctioneers
- Swann
- Sworders
- Tajan
- Tamlyns
- Tayler and Fletcher
- Taylor's Auctions
- Tennants
- The Pedestal
- Thimbleby & Shorland
- Thomas Del Mar
- Thomas N Miller
- Thomas R Callan
- Thomas Watson
- Thomaston Place
- Thomson Roddick & Medcalf
- Thomson Roddick Scottish Auctions
- Timeline
- Toovey's
- Trevanion
- Truro Auction Centre
- TW Gaze
- Unique Auctions
- Vectis
- Veritas
- W&H Peacock
- Wallis and Wallis
- Warren & Wignall
- Watches of Knightsbridge
- Wellers
- Wessex Auction Rooms
- Whitton & Laing
- Whittons
- Whytes
- Wilkes & Curtis
- Wilkinson's Auctioneers
- William George & Co
- Wilson55
- Woolley & Wallis
- Wotton Auction Rooms
- Wright Marshall
-
- 1stdibs
- Advertising Standards Authority
- Antiquarian Booksellers Association
- Antique Young Guns
- Antiquities Dealers’ Association
- Art Business Conference
- Art Fund
- Art Loss Register
- Art Recovery International
- Art UK
- Arts Council England
- Assay Office
- Auction Technology Group
- BADA
- BAMF
- CADA
- CINOA
- Company of Arts Scholars
- DACS
- DEFRA
- DMG
- EBay
- Hiscox
- LAPADA
- Lot-tissimo
- National Trust
- NAVA
- Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association
- RICS
- Society of London Art Dealers
- SOFAA
- the saleroom
- Triple-A Auctioneers
-
- Adams Antiques Fairs
- Affordable Art Fair
- Alexandra Palace fair
- Antiques Centres
- Antiques Dealers Fair Limited
- Ardingly Fair
- Armchair Art Fair
- Art & Antiques for Everyone Fair
- Art Antiques London
- Art, Antiques & Interiors Expo
- Arthur Swallow Fairs
- Bath Decorative Antiques Fair
- Battersea Decorative Fair
- Bermondsey Market
- Book Fairs
- BRAFA
- British Art Fair
- Brussels Fairs
- CADA Fair
- Car Boot Fairs
- Clarion Events
- Continuity Fairs
- Cooper Events
- Ephemera fairs
- Fine Art Asia
- Fine Arts Paris
- Firsts
- Florida Fairs
- French Fairs
- Frieze
- Frieze Masters
- Galloway Antiques Fairs
- Harrogate Fairs
- Hatton Garden
- Haughton Fairs
- Hong Kong Fairs
- IACF
- Jaguar Fairs
- LAPADA Fair
- Lincolnshire Antiques and Home Show
- London Original Print Fair
- Masterpiece
- Miami Fairs
- Midcentury Modern
- Modern British Art Fair
- NEC Birmingham
- New York Fairs
- Newark Fair
- Newbury Antiques and Collectors Fair
- Olympia Fair
- PAD London
- Palm Beach Fairs
- Paris Biennale
- Paris Fairs
- Paris Parcours
- Paris Tableau
- Penman Fairs
- Philadelphia Fairs
- Photography fairs
- Regional Fairs
- Salon du Dessin
- Sandown Park Racecourse Fair
- Showground Fairs
- Swinderby Fair
- TEFAF
- The Open Art Fair
- The Treasure House Fair
- Winter Antiques Show
- Works on Paper Fair
-
- Alfred Taubman
- Bendor Grosvenor
- Bill Ruprecht
- Charles Hanson
- Charlie Ross
- Cornelius Gurlitt
- David Lester
- Ed Dolman
- Eric Knowles
- François Pinault
- Ingrid Nilson
- Lennox Cato
- Lord Ashcroft
- Marco Forgione
- Mark Law
- Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani
- Simon de Pury
- Sue Ede
- Tad Smith
- Tim Goodman
- Victoria Borwick
-
- Abbott and Holder
- Agnews
- Alastair Dickenson
- Andrew Sim
- Blairman
- Carter Marsh
- Colnaghi
- Daniel Katz
- Dickinson
- Fabrizio Moretti
- Ian Towning
- Johnny Van Haeften
- London Silver Vaults
- Mallett
- Mark Weiss
- Partridge Fine Art
- Petworth Antiques Dealers
- Philip Mould
- Pimlico Road Dealers
- Richard Green
- Robert Young
- Roger Keverne
- Rupert Maas
- SJ Phillips
- Wartski
-
- A Lawyer Writes
- Around the Auction Houses
- Art Market
- Auction Reports
- Bid Barometer
- Books and Works on Paper
- Dealers' Diary
- Fairs, Markets, Shops and Centres
- Features
- Front Page and News
- International (print edition)
- Interviews
- Letters to the Editor
- News in Brief
- Obituaries (print edition)
- Opinion
- Pick of the Week
- Precious Metals Prices
- Previews
- Soapbox
- Special Reports
- Then & Now
Categories
-
- Arms, Armour & Militaria
- Bank notes
- Books & Periodicals
- Cameras & Camera Equipment
- Classic Cars, Motorcycles & Automobilia
- Coins
- Collectables
- Entertainment Memorabilia
- Kitchenalia
- Maps
- Models, Toys, Dolls & Games
- Musical Instruments & Memorabilia
- Scientific Instruments
- Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment
- Stamps
- Taxidermy & Natural History
- Tools
- Wines & Spirits
- Writing Instruments