Philip Smith’s Lord of the Rings book wall, a new type of art object, sells for £130,000
A small selection of striking and dramatic bookbindings by Philip Smith offered at Sotheby’s as part of their July 10 English Literature & History sale was not a complete success. In fact, five of the six lots failed to sell, but the most important of them, catalogued as “the greatest and most celebrated postwar English bookbinding” brought a bid of £130,000 from a collector.
This was still £20,000 under the low estimate, but how does one value something as singular and extr…