Latest News Articles by Ian McKay
Origin of Species takes record result in US sale
24 June 2019Uncut and partially unopened, a truly exceptional presentation copy of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species… sold for a record $400,000 (£316,353) in a recent US sale.
Boar binding brings a bard connection
24 June 2019A poet and dramatist, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was once considered by many to be the true author of Shakespeare’s plays.
Thumb nails Hawkings at four figures
24 June 2019Bearing a thumbprint on the title-page – along with a note by a secretary, Susan Macey, witnessing it as genuine – a 1988 UK edition of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief of History of Time… was estimated at £200-400 but sold for £3000 in a May 30 sale.
Single buyer reunites second Dandy and jumping frog toy
24 June 2019Pictured here is the front page of the scarce second issue of Dandy, published in January 1937, along with an even rarer example of the jumping frog toy that was given away with the comic as a promotion.
British and Irish book auctions, June 15-July 7, 2019
24 June 2019ATG's listing of British and Irish book auctions held from June 15-July 7, 2019.
Beethoven relic locks in an £28,000 result
24 June 2019Locks of Beethoven’s hair are known to have been taken from the composer on his deathbed in 1827, but an earlier and substantial sample featured in a recent London sale. Sold for £28,000 at Sotheby’s (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) against an estimate of £12,000-15,000, it is certainly a well-documented souvenir.
Churchill goes into sale battle
17 June 2019Inscribed by Winston Churchill “…For Mrs Johnston in these great days”, a 1941 (second) edition of 'Into Battle', the first of a number of collections of his wartime speeches to be published, was part of a lot that sold for a higher than predicted £3000 in a Surrey sale.
British and Irish book auctions from June 18-29, 2019
17 June 2019ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 18-29, 2019.
Astronomical works on comets and the planet Saturn achieve high sums in German sale
17 June 2019Two astronomical works dating from the 17th century were among the more successful works in a recent German auction.
Signed photo is a Curie curiosity
17 June 2019Bid to a much higher than expected $23,000 (£17,970) in a Massachusetts auction was the signed photograph of Marie Curie shown here.
Early Golf magazine sells a fair way above guides
17 June 2019Early magazine runs brought some unexpectedly high prices in the latest of the regular golfing literature sales held by a Californian saleroom.
Spike Milligan-dedicated work to Harold Wilson sets record at Hansons' auction
17 June 2019In the dispersal by Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) of the collections of Harold and Mary Wilson, the book section included copies of John Maynard Keynes’ 'General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money' of 1936 and 'A Treatise on Money' of 1933.
An Egyptian expedition in Los Angeles
17 June 2019A set of the monumental 'Description de l’Égypte…' in its specially made case was sold last month in a US sale.
Alfred Russell Wallace's evolution of a work on palm trees
10 June 2019A Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale of May 30 ran to well over 540 lots in all, but it was very early in proceedings that a much, much higher than predicted bid of £26,000 was made on an 1853, presentation first of 'Palm Trees of the Amazon and their uses.
Greek philosopher gets his house in order
10 June 2019Early printed books, among them a Bible of 1476, were a notable feature of a recent West Sussex sale.
Gaston Leroux’s 'The Phantom of the Opera' makes a very real result at Swann auction
10 June 2019Sporting a torn and defective but rarely seen dust jacket, a 1911, first American printing of Gaston Leroux’s 'The Phantom of the Opera' sold for $10,000 (£7750) in a recent New York sale.
British and Irish book auctions: June 11-21, 2019
10 June 2019ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from June 11-21, 2019.
Staying alive by the grace of god
03 June 2019Pamphlet in later royal binding offers thanksgiving for James I’s survival of Gunpowder Plot.
Aviation gives a £21,300 sale lift at Dominic Winter
03 June 2019Part of the flying section of the most recent of the Military, Aviation & Transport History sales that are a regular feature of the calendar at Dominic Winter offered a collection of ephemera related to the earlier years of European civil aviation.
Book sums up the ‘birth of modern business’
03 June 2019A book billed as the work that marked the birth of modern business will be the subject of a single-lot auction at Christie’s New York on June 12.