It will be offered at Forum Auctions’ Fine Books and Works on Paper auction on March 30 at The Westbury Hotel in central London, estimated at £1000-1500. The ear trumpet has good provenance and was owned by a now deceased collector.
It was consigned with a collection of Waugh first editions and letters and comes with letters of provenance from son Auberon Waugh who described it as a “disgusting object” but acknowledged it “may be of some whimsical interest to an obsessive collector”.