Antiquarian Book Auction Review
Richard Bearne, Chairman and Head of the Books Department, reviews some of the interesting
lots sold in our March 2015 Antiquarian Book Auction. Bidders faced stiff competition
for several lots and a number of items far exceeded their pre-sale estimates.
The Raswan Index and Handbook For Arabian Breeders (BK13/262) by Carl Raswan (1893-1966)
sold for £1,800 in the Spring 2015 Antiquarian Book Auction, which includes books,
maps and prints.
The
Spring 2015 Antiquarian Book Auction
provided the usual excitement with some good results being achieved, some of which
are reviewed here.
Carl Raswan's The Raswan index and Handbook for Arabian Breeders
(BK13/262) fetched £1,800. Raswan lived from 1893 till 1966. He was a great connoisseur
of horses and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of them. He was constantly trying to
find the perfect horse and, partly inspired by the writings of Lady Anne Blunt (an
important British Arabian horse breeder), he became immersed in the culture of Arabia
and Arabian horses.
Eventually Raswan settled in America and continued his work there. He even changed
his surname to Raswan from Schmidt after a favourite horse. Towards the end of his
life, Raswan began to put together an extensive list of Arabian horse bloodlines,
published in several volumes over several years (and indeed the last ones posthumously).
It remains an important work of reference for Arabian horse breeders to this day.
The wallpaper designs by the modernist architect Le Corbusier for Swiss manufacturer
Salubra (BK13/11) attracted a lot of attention realisng £1,200.
The volume of
wallpaper designs by Le Corbusier
(BK13/11), commissioned by Swiss manufacturer Salubra. Le Corbusier was
a modernist architect whose designs attracted approbation and derision in equal
measure. There can be no question that he was influential. This series of designs
was published in 1959 and was the second produced by Le Corbusier, the first having
been published in 1932. It unsurprisingly exceeded its estimate of £500-£700 and
achieved a hammer price of £1,200.
Rome has a fascinating underground world which is sometimes overlooked by contemporary
tourists. It includes catacombs and villas which have been excavated over the years.
Some of the earliest work in this regard was undertaken by Antonio Bosio
and his extraordinary archaeological achievements were recorded in the work
Roma Sotterranea
(BK13/81), which was published three years after his death in 1632. Lavishly illustrated,
the copy in this sale fetched £900.
The copy in the sale of the Roma Sotternea by Antonio Bosio (BK13/81), published
in 1632, fetched £900 in the Antiquarian Book Auction.
Early and interesting photography plays an increasingly important part in these
sales: one such lot was a group of 32
19th century photographs of India
(BK13/312) including principally military or architectural subjects. These may well
have been produced professionally at the time by Frith or a similar company and
were mostly fairly faded with some tears. Still, their early date (probably the
1860s) and the wonderful insight they gave into colonial India ensured stiff competition
at the auction. In the end they achieved a hammer price of £1,600. Another work
which attracted attention was a work containing photographs of the
Mandalay and
Upper Burmah Expeditionary Force by Col Robert Blackhall Graham
(BK13/309). Despite being somewhat affected by damp, this volume fetched £1,000.
The collection of 19th century photographs of India (BK13/312) sold well for £1,500.
The photographs of the Mandalay and Upper Burmah Expeditionary Force by Col Robert
Blackhall Graham (BK13/309) also attracted attention from bidders, selling for £1,000.
Book sales
include all kinds of printed matter quite apart from books, and a particularly charming
example of this is a
child's game in the form of a horseman
(BK13/43), made out of painted cardboard. The horseman sits astride his steed, which
stands up by means of slots in a stand. There are then different costumes for both
the rider and horse that are slipped over them. This game was made in Austria, probably
in the 1860s, and was in remarkably fresh condition, which resulted in it selling
for £310.
Maps are also an expanding section of these sales and good copies of maps by the
great cartographers continue to sell well. This sale also had the added benefit
of a depiction of our own home county. The
map of Devon by John Speed
(BK13/362) was highlighted with bright and attractive colours and fetched £520.
An early childhood game made of out of painted cardboard (BK13/43), which falls
within the ambit of such sales, sold for £310.
A circa 1610 map of Devon (BK13/362) by the cartographer John Speed realised £520
in the Spring 2015 Books, Maps and Prints Auction.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Antiquarian Book Auctions
- Rare Book Auctions
- Carl Raswan (1893-1966)
- Salubra
- Le Corbusier
- Antonio Bosio
- Col Robert Blackhall Graham
- John Speed
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