News

Delays and overspends on the Great Western route out of London are frustrating but letters up for auction on April 29 reveal that things didn’t always go smoothly even for the brilliant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The appetite for collecting Titanic memorabilia remains huge judging by the latest dedicated auction in which a fur coat worn by a member of the crew was offered.

As with Bomber Command and the ‘Forgotten Army’ in Burma, certain British units in the Second World War can often be overlooked and the participants felt ignored.

The largest gold sovereign hoard ever found has been declared treasure but mystery surrounds the identity of the rightful heirs to the trove of gold coins.

Psycho must have been a frightening enough film in its day even without a menacing poster that greeted cinema-goers.

Willem Janszoon Blaeu (c.1570-1638) of Amsterdam and his son, Joan (1596-1673), were the leading figures in the atlas and map publishing world in an age when that Dutch city was the centre of European cartographic achievement.

Members of the trade had plenty to say this week - only some of it serious - in response to the government’s announcement of a general election. Others reacted to revolving doors at the major auction houses and the presence of top-quality pieces at provincial auction houses.