Books and Works on Paper

Forgotten today, a collection sold in Somerset remembers a multi-talented showman and author

Letter sent from a very young Charles to his grandma with doodles and kisses emerges at auction

Inscribed as a gift and sent with his kind regards to Miss Anne Stephenson, the daughter of his aunt and uncle, Abigail and Samuel Longfellow Stephenson, an 1868 edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 'The Courtship of Miss Standish and other Poems' was offered in a sale held by Sarasota Auctions (26% buyer’s premium).

The dust jacket in those familiar red, black and yellow colours favoured by the publisher, Gollancz, had a few shortcomings in terms of condition, including some chips and losses, but this ‘Just out!’ 1935 first of 'Gaudy Night', signed by its author, Dorothy L Sayers, was bid to £2100 on March 3.

Offered as part of a March 2 sale held by Heritage (20% buyer’s premium) that was billed as a Pulp Magazine Showcase was this October 1919 issue of 'The Thrill Book'.

Shown here is what would be an arachnophobe’s nightmare: one of the 29 hand-coloured engraved plates that illustrate a copy of John Blackwell’s 'History of Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland'.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions

Shrewsbury sale offered rare opportunity to bid for a letters by the great writer and lexicographer

First published in 1755, Samuel Johnson’s 'A Dictionary of the English Language' had taken eight years to compile with six helpers.

Complete with the often missing dust jacket and entirely unrestored, as the cataloguer’s notes were pleased to point out, a 1925 Hogarth Press first of Virginia Woolf’s famous novel Mrs Dalloway was offered as part of a March 2 sale at Swann Galleries (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) of New York.

A sale held by Martel Maides (20% buyer’s premium) of Guernsey to disperse the contents two island homes included some 60 or more single and multiple lots of books, a number of which boasted special bindings.

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Middle-Earth history works edited by Christopher and two copies of The Hobbit with interesting links

A handful of lots featuring communications between an actress, Miss Alice Bowes (1889-1969), and George Bernard Shaw featured in a Mullock’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale.

Sold at the high-estimate £3500 at a Kent auction was a German facsimile edition of the Lindisfarne Gospels.

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The work of illustrator Robert Gillmor graces many books from a well-known natural history series

A pair of football programmes proved the pull of early Manchester United memorabilia remains strong among collectors

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.