Thirty years have passed since the late Dominic Winter set up his own saleroom in Swindon, having for many years previously run the book department at Taviner’s in Bristol. The move to the present South Cerney rooms came in 2006.
Winter’s achievements and his untimely death just four years ago were marked in the introduction to the catalogue of a 30th anniversary sale held by Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) on September 12.
Although the lot bearing the highest estimate, a rare 18th century pack of playing cards featuring maps of English counties that was previewed in ATG No 2357, failed to find a buyer, there were plenty of others that sold well.
Bid to £9800 was an autograph lot, of a very different nature, a letter addressed in 1952 by CS Lewis to some of the pupils of Grittleton House, a private co-educational school in Wiltshire.
Writing in response to the fan letter they had sent after reading his first two Narnia books, Lewis responds warmly to their questions and goes into some detail about his future plans, beginning: “Like you, I am sorry that Peter and Susan are not going back to Narnia, but I think, being the two eldest, they are now getting to the age at which people stop having that sort of adventure for a time – they may start having it again later, but not for some years.
“The new book is called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lucy and Edmund find Caspian (now King of course) on board ship, sailing to the Eastern end of the Narnian world…
”I do hope you will all like it. I intend to have seven of these stories altogether – that is, four more after the next one. They will be called The Chronicles of Narnia.”
The will of the kynge
A near contemporary copy of ‘The last wyll and testament of Kynge Harry the eyghte…’, accomplished in a neat secretarial hand, took £6500. Said to have once formed part of the vast collection of manuscripts amassed in the 19th century by Thomas Philipps, it is undated but may have been produced around 25 years after Henry’s death in 1547.
A bid of £9200 was taken on an 1827 first of C&J Greenwood’s great Map of London…. It comprises three linen-backed, sectionalised and handcoloured engraved map sheets by James and Joseph Neale housed in a contemporary green morocco gilt box that together measure just over 4ft x 6ft (1.25 x 1.88m).
The day’s highest bid of £24,000 went to an 1842-49 first of Roberts’ The Holy Land…, the 241 litho plates all with later hand colouring.
Others lots from this sale will feature in a forthcoming issue.
