International

In her talk titled 'Grey Matter – Detecting Stolen Books in Circulation' at a recent symposium organised by ILAB, Margaret Ford of Christie’s set out her own five-point plan to address the problem of stolen books – or books with title issues – in the market.

Old cookery books are more than simply receptacles of food history. They speak of technological change, the availability and discovery of ingredients that came with the expansion of the known world and how the social standing of the cook or chef changed over time. They are also very much in collecting vogue.

Forthcoming buying opportunities in the UK and around the world.

In the wake of more high-profile book thefts, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is tackling head-on the sometimes thorny issue of provenance.

ATG's pick of items sold recently at books and works on paper auctions.

In US collecting circles the ‘Anson-Ewing Burke Ale poster’ is spoken of in hushed tones. When an example was sold by New Jersey baseball memorabilia specialist Robert Edwards Auctions for $188,000 in 2008, it was described as the best-preserved of only three known. More recently in February another was sold for $96,000 at Heritage Auctions in Dallas.

Some eye-catching individual prices punctuated the latest Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art sales in New York, helping to lift the year-on-year total .

This intricately detailed model of an English butcher’s shop, below, is part of a group of items consigned from the estate of a private collector to the June 15 auction of toys held by Pook & Pook in association with Noel Barrett.

A group of 15 works on paper by Salvador Dalí (1904-89) which were produced as Christmas card designs will be offered in Paris this summer. They are estimated to raise up to €1m at Artcurial’s Modern and Impressionist Art auction in Paris, writes Alex Capon.

Two impressive golden bowls presented by the king of Siam to an enterprising Danish admiral, businessman and politician star in Bruun Rasmussen’s May 28 auction in Copenhagen.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

The American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) is best known for the high-society ‘swagger’ portraits that had earned him fame and fortune, but the watercolours he produced in greater number are more commonly available at auction.

One of the more successful acts in a recent American magic and conjuring sale involved the appearance among the literary contributions of a doubly inscribed copy of Harry Kellar’s 'A Magician’s Tour' of 1886.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from May 21-June 2, 2019.

Morphy Auctions has taken a stake in the Antique Arms Show in Las Vegas.