Offered as part of an Anderson & Garland (25% buyer’s premium) sale on November 29, it comprises, within a slim pink cardboard box, or folder with a printed black on green title, six little blue folders labelled ‘Le Portrait’, ‘Le Temple de Diane’, ‘Méphistophélès’, ‘La Tentation’, ‘La Française’, and ‘Le Fleurs’.
They contain miniature cards, each presenting a character standing in front of a door that, when opened, reveals a second character and then, via a transparency revealed when held up to the light, a third – hence the Doubles Surprises wording of the title. They are undated but thought to be from c.1840.
A New York Public Library video features a similar booklet acquired for the Pforzheimer Collection.
Fewer than five examples are believed to have survived.
This rarity had been found among items from a house clearance that had been donated to Tynedale Hospice at Home, a charity that offers bereavement support to families in the region.