The maps of the Aikin volume were split at the folds and a lower than hoped for bid of £200 finally secured it, but a much higher than expected £230 was taken on a 1939 Kelly’s Directory of the Wine, Spirit and Brewing Trades. The pictorial cloth boards were loose, but the contents of this 740pp directory were in good condition.
Cards, autographs and assorted ephemera made up the bulk of the sale and an original Andy Capp strip cartoon from a 1992 issue of The Daily Mirror, inscribed “Best Wishes Reg Smythe”, sold at £270, while Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature on an election postal cover of 1932, one that featured portraits of Franklin and his Vice-Presidential running mate, John Garner, brought a bid of £250.
An album of the 1930s containing nearly 500 signatures of footballers was sold at £400.
Acorn Auctions, Manchester, February 6,
Buyer’s premium: 8 per cent
Andy Capp and Roosevelt
UK: BOOKS were not really the main attraction in this sale, although it did contain a 1795 first edition of John Aikin’s illustrated Description of the Country... round Manchester. This was, however, an ex-library copy that had been rebound and had its share of stamps.
