Anglo-Irish novelist Iris Murdoch owned this first edition of The Sun my Monument, above, by poet Laurie Lee (1914-97).
The book is inscribed in her hand with Iris Murdoch, London, Sept 5 1944 (also shown), predating the publication of her own first novel by over a decade. It is valued at £150-200 in an online sale of modern first editions on March 28 at Bloomsbury Auctions in Pall Mall, London.
dreweatts.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
The distinctive ‘clacking’ sound emitted from rattles such as this one above was used by air raid wardens to warn of an air or gas attack during the Second World War. After the war, the rattles became a common sight in the hands of supporters on the terraces at football matches.
This wooden air raid warden gas rattle, bearing the words Boston United, is priced at £125 from Manfred Schotten Antiques, specialist in antique sporting items based in Burford, Oxfordshire.
This c.1930s flea circus kit above contains chariots, a high wire, tricycle, balancing beam and other tools of the trade.
The box is inscribed Mr E Bradley-Warren’s Flea Circus and comes with a book on the flea, titled Pulex Irritans, and postcards with names of the diminutive performers including Risko, Victor, Samson and Delilah and Bonzo.
In ‘original and untouched’ condition, the lot is estimated at £200-400 in a sale of art and antiques at Epping saleroom Boningtons in Essex on March 20.
boningtons.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
The House and Garden sale at Mallams in Abingdon on March 18-19 will include a group of original London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company posters, which are in fine condition having languished in a cellar. Some are wrapped in their original posting paper complete with LMS labels.
Six of the seven are by Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971) – the graphic artist who helped develop ‘dazzle’ camouflage soon after the First World War. Pictured above is Iona, a 3ft 3in x 4ft 1in (1.01 x 1.26m) coloured lithographic poster, signed and dated 1928.
Estimate £200-400.
mallams.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
