Books and Works on Paper

Thought by the auction house to be an early copy, a letter that details the horrors of the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’ in 1756 was sold for £2900.

Highlights including signed opera score from a varied auction held in North Yorkshire

Running to over 150pp in all, an archive of 42 love letters sent by Bob Dylan to a high school sweetheart, Barbara Ann Hewitt, featured in a November 17 Marvels of Modern Music sale held by RR Auctions of Amherst, New Hampshire.

“We have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen.”

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

While a Beano No 1 will always take the headlines, not so well-known titles can also impress

Bonhams New York (27.5/26/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) had bidders hooked by the angling books included in its wide-ranging November 15 auction.

“Yesterday put an end to the business of the Federal Convention. Enclosed is a copy of the Constitution it agreed to recommend.”

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Illuminated manuscript c.1470 is a highlight in Gloucestershire saleroom

The sale at Minster Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in Leominster on November 24 included a copy of an important work on neoclassical interiors.

The creation of James T Palmatary, the engraved and framed birds-eye view or plan of Chicago of 1857 pictured above is almost 7ft wide.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

While this 1672 first did not quite hit the high of pre-sale hopes, it was still top lot of the Shrewsbury sale.

In terms of numbers, both in component parts and the sum achieved, a collection of over 200 miniature books published by David Bryce of Glasgow (1845-1923) was a stand-out lot in a recent London sale.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.

Calculations on planetary movements rise to the occasion in New York saleroom

A few copies have made a little more, but the example of the original, 1826, folio edition of Jacob George Strutt’s 'Sylva Britannica, or Portraits of Forest Trees…' included in a November 8 sale at Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) sold for £3500 (guide £600-800).

Offered as part of a series of sales held by Reiss & Sohn (19% buyer’s premium) of Königstein im Taunus was an exceptionally early cookery book.