Collectables

The industry-standard reference book for British coins has been sold by Spink to fellow London numismatic dealership and auction house Sovereign Rarities.

Relics from the dawn of the electro-magnetic telephone created a sensation when they appeared for sale in Massachusetts.

When 2000AD made its debut the year itself was still 23 years away.

Sought-after book of recipes including a puff-pastry print first was intended for the use of his pupils

Toy specialist Lankes (25% buyer’s premium) in Döhlau, Germany auctioned the extensive inventory of the private museum in Prague belonging to Ivan Steiger, who is equally well-known as a caricaturist and a collector of toys.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish book and works on paper sales

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Daniel Daulby of Liverpool, a brewer and collector of prints and drawings, was also a compiler of a catalogue of Rembrandt etchings.

The commercial fortunes of a 19th century map of the Arctic offered at Cheffins (25% buyer’s premium) this month were boosted greatly by its annotations.

Varied group of items related to the poet appeared for sale in Somerset

Ceramic phrenology heads have become ubiquitous following numerous reproductions. However, original 19th century models are much harder to come by.

Dating from March 1-October 13, 1748, a journal for sale at London maritime specialist Charles Miller’s auction on April 23 was written by Admiral John Byng (1704-57) during the final negotiations of the failed Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and some eight years before his infamous actions off the coast of Minorca.

The invention of the megalethoscope by the Swiss-Italian optician and photographer Carlo Ponti greatly enhanced the experience of viewing photographs.

Austin Farahar, head of cameras and photography at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium), was recently contacted by a budding documentary photographer in Vienna who had received a collection of old cameras from his in-laws.

Perfect to impress your friends and family – or annoy them – many vintage jukeboxes can be bought at auction for three or four figures depending on age, model and condition.

Once ubiquitous in British seaside resorts in their day, many pre-war amusement arcade machines are now so rare that just a handful are recorded.