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Science, fantasy and horror was the principal theme of a PBA Galleries (20/15% buyer’s premium) sale of October 5, though there were also books to appeal to broader literary tastes.

A good-conduct guide for princes and rulers that focuses on the government of self, the family and the civil authorities proved particularly topical at a New York auction on October 17.

A coalition of auction houses and book dealers has succeeded in rewording a controversial new law governing the sale of autographed collectables in California.

The celebrated Columbus letter announcing his discovery of a New World, sold for $620,000 (£462,000), was very much the star turn at Bonhams New York (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on September 26 (see ATG No 2313).

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi will more than double the Old Master auction record when it is offered at Christie’s New York next month.

“My lord, because I know that you will take pleasure in the great victory which our Lord has granted me on this voyage, I write you this letter, by which you will learn how… I crossed to the Indies, where I found many islands populated with innumerable inhabitants; and I have taken possession of all of them…”

TEFAF’s move onto the New York scene, with a spring and autumn fair in the heart of Manhattan, swings into its next stage with the second edition of TEFAF New York Fall from October 28-November 1.

A 130-lot collection of studio pottery, featuring many of the best-known British names in the field, both past and present, was the focus of Cottone’s (18% buyer’s premium) sale of the estate of Annette McGuire Cravens in Geneseo, New York on September 22.

The Master Drawings New York (MDNY) initiative has expanded its brief for 2018 to include painting and sculpture dealers among its 30 participants for the first time.

An exceptionally rare bird’s eye view of Chicago before the devastating fire of 1871 that destroyed so much of the old city was sold for $160,000 (£118,520) by local saleroom Leslie Hindman (20/20/12% buyer’s premium) on September 15.