Latest News Articles by Ian McKay
An easier US election to sort out
07 December 2020Letter informs George Washington of his election to the presidency.
British and Irish book auctions, December 8-15, 2020
07 December 2020Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions.
Wallis cracks it in the saleroom
30 November 2020Unpublished work by mathematician John Wallis who was also a major influence in code breaking sells at Dominic Winter
Debut with lots of Biblical proportions
30 November 2020A single leaf from a Gutenberg Bible that sold for a higher than expected $65,000 (£50,980) in a Philadelphia sale this autumn.
Sang collection of historical documents returns to Sotheby's New York
30 November 2020Several decades on from the last of the five major auctions Sotheby’s held to disperse items from the remarkable collections of American historical documents and letters formed by Philip (1902-75) and Elsie Sang (1906-97), a further selection appeared at Sotheby’s New York (26/20/13.9%).
British and Irish book auctions: December 2-12, 2020
30 November 2020Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.
Pioneering Arabic printing and a kind of magic in Edinburgh sale
23 November 2020Edinburgh auction offered 1592 book from first European press dedicated to such a typeface.
Bobby meets his ‘Boswell’
23 November 2020Top lot in a golfing sale at PBA Galleries (20/15% buyer’s premium) was a 1927 first of Down the Fairway: The Golf Life and Play of Robert T Jones, Jr.
How Poe’s $3 became $60,000
23 November 2020Two very different manuscript lots provided the high spots of a sale in Westport, Connecticut
Buyer brings home the bison
23 November 2020Three of the lots noted here from a Chicago sale of books, manuscripts, pictures and prints sold at record sums – and the fourth brought a price that has only once been bettered.
America’s undeclared war with France
23 November 2020Estimated at just $5000 or so but sold at $110,000 (£85,270) in an October 2-3 sale at Brunk Auctions (23% buyer’s premium) in Asheville, North Carolina, was an extensive archive of documents and letters relating to the career of Captain James N Sever.
British and Irish book auctions: November 24-December 5, 2020
23 November 2020Our regular listing of UK and Irish book auctions.
Bristol auction includes a lot of local interest
16 November 2020Offered as part of a sale held in Bristol were two copies of 'The Merchants Avizo….', a work by a local man, John Browne.
Leaves and butterflies make a natural fit in US saleroom
16 November 2020With only eight of the 178 lots offered left on the shelves at the day’s end and a top lot in the six-figure bracket, a Doyle (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) online auction was certainly a success.
British and Irish book auctions: November 17-December 3, 2020
16 November 2020Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions.
Works hailing from across the Atlantic shine in Chicago
16 November 2020Chaucer and Shakespeare, Darwin and Tolkien were among the big-name and more expensive lots sold as part of the Gerald and Barbara Weiner library at Hindman (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.
Sticky situation is resolved
09 November 2020An 1859 first of Darwin’s seminal work shrugs off condition issues to be a best-seller
Beyond Browning in Somerset
09 November 2020Principal attraction in a Crewkerne book sale at Lawrences (25% buyers premium) was the Browning family archive that featured as Pick of the Week in ATG No 2459, but three other items from that 370 lot sale are noted here.
Rowlandson ‘Miseries of Travelling’ plate sells in Surrey
09 November 2020‘Miseries of Travelling’ is one of the 50 hand-coloured plates that make up an 1808 first edition of Thomas Rowlandson’s 'Miseries of Human Life' – in this instance “Unpacking up your clothes for a journey because your servant is a fool…”.
British and Irish book auctions: November 9-28, 2020
09 November 2020Our regular listing of British and Irish book auctions. While care has been taken in compiling these previews, we strongly advise that you also check with the saleroom concerned in case of cancellations or postponements because of the latest Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.