The cover of dealer Michael Baggott’s latest book As Found (Def: in an imperfect state; distressed through the passage of time) A Lifetime of Antiques.
Silver dealer Michael Baggott has picked up his quill again and returned to writing.
He published his first work of fiction, a compilation of spooky tales called The Hawthorn Cross & other Antiques Ghost Stories, in 2020.
This time he has returned with As Found (Def: in an imperfect state; distressed through the passage of time) A Lifetime of Antiques.
Baggott said: “This is not my life story… This is the story, or more correctly stories, of when my life collided with that wonderful, exotic, enticing, confusing, corrupting and out and out bewildering world of antiques.
“From bustling early morning street markets, to the most prestigious auction houses in the world and from there to the fantasy world of television. It’s all here, the heroes, the crooks, the fools, the liars, the villains, the artists and the piss artists.
“The only thing to add is this, every single word of it happened, every single word is TRUE.”
Baggott’s book is available via yorkbookshop.com, gardeners.com and Amazon.
ATG stardom
James Braxton with his new book Barty - A tale of a stolen bronze.
Antiques specialist James Braxton has also entered the world of publishing. His first book Barty - A tale of a stolen bronze is a fictional story of a stolen item, and the race to recover or replace it.
Braxton says one of his principal characters is Mercy Penfold who heads up the ‘Stolen Pages’ in the Gazette and is promoted to ‘Auction Reporting’ in his second book, which is currently in draft form which he hopes to complete for the autumn. Braxton has self-published the novel and is undertaking a series of promotional events for the launch. He published a short print run for the Ceylon Literary Festival, Sri Lanka, in February and is producting his first reprint, which will be available from mid-May.
It is available to buy via jamesbraxton.com
Braxton adds: “The last time I appeared in the ATG was in January 1991 when I won the Antiques Trade Gazette prize for the best final exam for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Fine Arts & Antiques.”
James Braxton and friends at his book launch in Hastings with a magnum of 'Barty's Burgundy’ (named after the principal character in his book).
The first UK book launch held by Braxton was an event in Hastings last week. As part of the event a magnum of 'Barty's Burgundy’ (named after the principal character in the book) was sold for £500 on behalf of a local charity, ‘Warming up the Homeless’.
The first UK book launch held by Braxton in Hastings last week.
