Autumn 2017 Antiquarian Book Auction Review
Rachel Littlewood reviews a buoyant auction of books, prints, maps and photographs
that saw some excellent results, including £5,200 for a rare photograph of Charles
Darwin.
A rare photograph of Charles Darwin (BK18/336) fetched £5,200.
The Autumn 2017 Antiquarian Book Auction
on 6th September 2017 proved to be buoyant throughout, with a few unexpected results
along the way.
A photograph of Charles Darwin (BK18/633) by Maull
& Polyblank measuring 200x150mm exceeded all expectations, selling for a healthy
£5,200.
There was a lot of interest as expected in Mary Elliott's Book of Birds and Beasts
(BK18/40) with 48 hand coloured plates including one of a Duck Billed Platypus.
After fierce bidding from telephones, in the room and on the Internet, the hammer
finally went down at £1,150. A little less expected was the interest in Newbery
and Carnan publishers The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, otherwise called Mrs Margery Two-Shoes
(BK18/51), which lacked four pages and still sold for £1,250.
Mary Elliott's Book of Birds and Beasts (BK18/40) realised £1,150.
Mrs Margery Two-Shoes (BK18/51) went under the hammer for £1,250.
Another lot, which was anticipated to sell well and did not disappoint, was the
peep view of the First Rail Road in Germany between Nuremberg and Furth (BK18/53)
– hand coloured engraving in seven sections incorporating the inside rear cover
and front cover in the design. Nuremberg to Furth was the first German railway operating
by steam and this unusual item, in good condition sold for £1,250.
A New and Curious Map of the World by Richard Marshall
(BK18/710) exceeded expectations – Illustrated with the Constellations of the Celestial
Globe and Systems of the most Celebrated Philosophers, this scarce celestial map
realised £2,600.
Peep View of the First Rail Road in Germany between Nuremberg and Furth (BK18/53)
sold for £1,250.
New and Curious Map of the World BK18/710) by Richard Marshall attracted a winning
bid of £2,600.
A manuscript school book (BK18/645) with
over 60 pages of geography, sciences, arithmetic, astronomy etc on paper with decorative
page headings heightened in colour, loose in vellum proved popular. Dating from
the mid 18th Century, this unique lot sold for £2,100, whilst three large engravings
from the publishers
John Boydell
(BK18/673) titled Thunder Storm (1773), Hagar Directed by the Angel to
the Well (1773) and Europa Point, Gibraltar (1773) sold for £1,900.
Entries are currently invited for the next Antiquarian Book Auction to be held on
14th March 2018, which includes the archive of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
and his writing desk.
A manuscript school book (BK18/645) sold for £2,100.
Three large engravings (BK18/673) by John Boydell sold for £1,900.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Antiquarian Book Auction
- Charles Darwin
- Mary Elliot
- Newbery and Carnan
- Richard Marshall
- John Boydell
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