Among the 1100 lots are a library of books from the late Dr MacDonald Critchley CBE and pictures from Dr Mohammed Said Farsi.
Dr Critchley lived at Nether Stowey near Bridgwater and Charterhouse was instructed by the executors to auction his library. In practice, he was a specialist neurologist and a founder member of The British Migraine Trust. A published scientist, he amassed a large library of books relating not only to the study of neurology and phrenology, but also Dylan Thomas and Charles Dickens.
One of the stand-out lots in this Dorset sale, estimated at £1000-2000, is The Nonesuch Dickens – a 25-volume set printed in 1937-38.
Of this limited edition of 877 sets, 66 sets were destroyed in 1940 when a bomb hit the bindery.
Dr Farsi was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
After his studies in Alexandria, he returned to his hometown of Jeddah as a qualified architect and entered government service in 1963. He quickly rose through government and was appointed planning officer for the Kingdom of Western Saudi Arabia.
As an art collector, Dr Farsi’s vision as a city planner was to integrate important contemporary art into public spaces, and he commissioned works by artists including Henry Moore.
Entered into the auction from Dr Farsi are nearly 100 pictures estimated from £100 to the low thousands.
