Latest News Articles by Ian McKay
English 17th century works play their part in New York
15 May 2023Early English plays provided the principal attraction in a US saleroom
Victoria and Albert royal wedding procession depicted on a 19ft folding strip
15 May 2023Shown here are pages from an extremely long, hand-coloured aquatint record on one continuous folding strip just a little over 4in tall, but a work that would extend to around 19ft (5.8m) if fully opened.
British and Irish book auctions: May 16-27, 2023
15 May 2023Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions
Waugh, witch and Wheatley
08 May 2023West Sussex sale highlights – including a work detailing author’s obsession with bricklaying as a hobby
Wonderful selection from leading Arthur Rackham collector
08 May 2023More than 50 lots featuring the illustrative work of Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) were offered in the extensive book section of a March 24 auction.
Bookplate boosts Sackville-West debut novel result
08 May 2023The best-selling lot in a recent Carlisle auction was a 1919, Collins first of Heritage, the debut novel of Vita Sackville-West, who at that time was better known for her poetry.
Recreational maths: Handwritten Alan Turing document sold at Bonhams
08 May 2023When the Bletchley Park boffins were taking a break from code-breaking in the Second World War, complicated puzzles were one of the diversions.
British and Irish book auctions: May 9-20, 2023
08 May 2023Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.
Story of the start of slave trade abolition in Britain
01 May 2023Work published in 1808 is one of the highlights of a wide-ranging sale held in Gloucestershire
The 500th and final edition of a very special Endymion
01 May 2023Illustrator John Buckland-Wright’s own specially bound and annotated copy of the 1947, Golden Cockerel Press edition of John Keats’ Endymion topped a sale.
British and Irish book auctions: May 2-18, 2023
01 May 2023Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions
Books and works on paper calendar, April 25-May 11, 2023
24 April 2023Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions
Logical origins of our digital world
24 April 2023Boole’s 1847 paper would ‘find widespread use in the design of computers and communication systems’
British and Irish book auctions: April 18-28, 2023
17 April 2023Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions
Surely you know Albert Smith?
17 April 2023Forgotten today, a collection sold in Somerset remembers a multi-talented showman and author
Lots of love from the future king
10 April 2023Letter sent from a very young Charles to his grandma with doodles and kisses emerges at auction
Longfellow popular in Florida
10 April 2023Inscribed as a gift and sent with his kind regards to Miss Anne Stephenson, the daughter of his aunt and uncle, Abigail and Samuel Longfellow Stephenson, an 1868 edition of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 'The Courtship of Miss Standish and other Poems' was offered in a sale held by Sarasota Auctions (26% buyer’s premium).
Sayers serves £2100 Gaudy Night feast
10 April 2023The dust jacket in those familiar red, black and yellow colours favoured by the publisher, Gollancz, had a few shortcomings in terms of condition, including some chips and losses, but this ‘Just out!’ 1935 first of 'Gaudy Night', signed by its author, Dorothy L Sayers, was bid to £2100 on March 3.
High standard thrills at Heritage Auctions
10 April 2023Offered as part of a March 2 sale held by Heritage (20% buyer’s premium) that was billed as a Pulp Magazine Showcase was this October 1919 issue of 'The Thrill Book'.
Webs of intrigue from spiders and a controversial cleric
10 April 2023Shown here is what would be an arachnophobe’s nightmare: one of the 29 hand-coloured engraved plates that illustrate a copy of John Blackwell’s 'History of Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland'.