Manuscript

Dating from March 1-October 13, 1748, a journal for sale at London maritime specialist Charles Miller’s auction on April 23 was written by Admiral John Byng (1704-57) during the final negotiations of the failed Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and some eight years before his infamous actions off the coast of Minorca.

Chicago sale offers more than 300 works related to the British author amassed by US collectors

Rediscovered books and manuscripts that once belonged to former antiquarian book dealer John Percival Love and had been stored away in a bank vault for nearly 50 years captivated collectors and the trade alike at auction.

An original watercolour of the 'Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry fetched nearly 10 times its low estimate, selling for a record £240,000 hammer.

The music memorabilia sale at Omega (28.8% buyer’s premium inc VAT) on November 29 included the handwritten lyrics to two tracks on David Bowie’s 1972 classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The handstitched booklet titled Balls & My Partners, 1844-1845 was written by Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Seymour (1825-77) as she enjoyed the life of a debutante.

Newly discovered papers show how renowned mathematician and his collaborator worked hand in hand

Astronomical manuscript for sale includes illustrations by scientist who was in fact an insurance broker

From 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' to 'The Last Duel', films nearly always depict the Middle Ages as dark, dingy and beset by bad weather.

Wide-ranging items from Christopher Foyle of bookshop fame generate a white-glove sale in Gloucestershire

One of two texts in a single volume revealed after eager bidding to be by Hungarian Jesuit

An 18th century copy of Tikkunei Shabbat (an amalgam of Hebrew prayers and devotions for the Sabbath) sold for £57,000 to an international phone bidder at Hansons on September 5.

Robert Weaver, a teacher and keeper of the Fellows’ Library at Dulwich College in south London, has collected medieval manuscript fragments for close to 50 years

A previously unrecorded 18th century manuscript containing 75 pieces of traditional Scottish music sold for £5000 at Lyon & Turnbull (plus 26% buyer’s premium).

This medieval document with a royal seal attached amounts to a pardon granted by Henry IV (1367-1413) to John Barlawe of the manor of Barlow in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy (now suburban Manchester).