Three-volume, 1893-94, Dent edition of Sir Thomas Malory’s The Birth, Life and Acts of King Arthur… bound in 1895 – £11,000 at Tennants.
Sold at £11,000 at Tennants (20/22% buyer’s premium) on January 14 was a three-volume, 1893-94, Dent edition of Sir Thomas Malory’s The Birth, Life and Acts of King Arthur, of his Noble Knights of the Round Table… in which the text for that 1485 edition printed by William Caxton is “now spelled in modern style” and accompanied by the illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley.
Originally issued in wrappers, but bound in 1895 by Rivière in blue crushed morocco with Art Nouveau floral decoration to the covers and spines, this was one of 30 copies from that edition of 300 that were by Ian McKay printed on Dutch handmade paper.
Fairy tales
English Fairy Tales of 1890, bound in 1898 – £950 at Tennants.
Bound by Rivière in brown crushed morocco gilt were three volumes of fairy tales printed on Japanese vellum and illustrated with wood engraved plates by John D Batten.
Pictured above is one of just 80 copies of English Fairy Tales of 1890, bound in 1898. Signed by the illustrator and the publisher, David Nutt, as well as containing an autograph letter by Batten, it sold at £950.
Similarly endorsed copies of More English Fairy Tales of 1894 and Indian Fairy Tales of 1898 realised £900 and £700 respectively in this Leyburn auction.
