Thursday, May 08, 2014

Unseen First Edition Set of Brontë Sisters' Works Estimated to Sell for £60,000 – 80,000 & other antiquarian book news


Mystery Solved

The case of the ‘mystery marginalia’ began when the University of Chicago Library received a donation of Homer’s works from collector M. C. Lang in 2007. The collection included a 1504 Venetian edition of the Odyssey containing handwritten annotations in an unknown script. The annotations were thought to date back to the mid-19th century, but nothing else was known about them.

In the hope of cracking the code the Library publicised a $1,000 dollar prize and linguists, classicists and amateur sleuths all tried their best to no avail. The winner was a computer engineer, Daniele Metilli. Metilli identified the mystery script as a system of shorthand invented by Jean Coulon de Thévénot in the late 18th century.

Metilli is continuing to work on the annotations, and hopes to discover the identity of their author and an explanation for why the coded notes only exist in one section of the text.
———————————

Unseen First Edition Set of Brontë Sisters' Works Estimated to Sell for £60,000 – 80,000


BloomsburyIn the week following the 198th birthday of Charlotte Brontë, a complete first edition set of the novels by the three Brontë Sisters will be offered for sale for the first time in a sale of Important Books and Manuscripts, held by Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions on Monday 19th May at their saleroom in London’s Mayfair. Published under the sisters’ pseudonyms, the complete set includes one on the most famous novels in the English language, Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë. The other works comprise Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, 1847; Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë, 1847; The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Brontë, 1848; Shirley, by Charlotte Brontë, 1849; Villette by Charlotte Brontë, 1853; The Professor, by Charlotte Brontë, 1857; The Brontë Family with special reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë, 1886.

The sisters started writing at a young age to escape the tragedy of their mother’s death and the death of their two older sisters. They also took inspiration from the countryside around their home in the village of Haworth, Yorkshire, where they lived with their brother Patrick Bramwell.

In 1846 they devised pen names that would disguise their gender whilst preserving their initials, thus Charlotte, Emily and Anne became Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. ‘Bell’ was the middle name of Haworth’s curate Arthur Bell Nicholls, whom Charlotte later married.

The set was collected by American lawyer Thomas Lincoln Chadbourne (1871-1938), founder of Chadbourne & Parke, it was passed to his daughter Marjorie Chandbourne, and then by descent in the family. It is the first time they have ever been offered as a collection at auction, and together they are estimated to sell for £60,000-80,000. [Lot 67]

Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK, is now open

British LibraryComics Unmasked is the UK's largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics, showcasing works that uncompromisingly address politics, gender, violence, sexuality and altered states. It explores the full anarchic range of the medium with works that challenge categorisation, preconceptions and the status quo, alongside original scripts, preparatory sketches and final artwork that demystify the creative process.

The exhibition of comics features iconic names such as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe), as well as rare and little-known historical comics from the Library's rich collections.

Discover the subversive and revelatory world of comics, from the earliest pioneers to today's digital innovators.

Find out more about the exhibition, tours and accompanying events – and book tickets at www.bl.uk/comics-unmasked
———————————


Dylan Manuscript Will Lead Inaugural Rock & Roll History Sale On 24 June 2014

On 24 June Sotheby’s will stage Presley to Punk: A Rock & Roll History – a sale of rock and pop music material that will showcase important manuscripts and objects as pieces of 20th century cultural history. The auction will be led by Bob Dylan’s original hand-written lyrics for the 1965 epic Like A Rolling Stone (estimated to fetch $1-2 million) – the most significant popular music manuscript ever to appear at auction and the song that transformed Dylan from a folk singer to a rock icon.

Since ushering in a new musical era in the 1960s, Like A Rolling Stone has proved overwhelmingly popular, topping Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In this near complete four-page working draft the distinctive often repeated ‘how does it feel’ lyric is clearly visible alongside unused lines, stray thoughts on American cultural imagery, and interesting doodles. Further Dylan lyrics to be offered include the original working manuscript comprising the final lyrics for A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (est. $400/600,000) while the sale will also include significant pieces relating to The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell.

Richard Austin, the expert in charge of the Presley to Punk sale commented: “This is the Holy Grail of rock lyrics. The release of Like A Rolling Stone irreversibly changed post-war music history. With one song, Bob Dylan elevated rock music from mere ‘pop’ to the medium though which youth culture expressed itself. The lyrics set down on these four small sheets of paper are a near complete rendering of the song that resonated like no other, influencing the course of pop music for the next 50 years.”

Before the release of Like A Rolling Stone, music charts were overrun with short and sweet love songs, many clocking in at three minutes or less. By contrast to this light pop, Dylan sets out to tell the story of Miss Lonely, a once high rolling character now fallen on hard times. Rather than writing an ode to her misfortune, Dylan penned a sneering rebuke to her previous high society pretensions. By defying convention and going electric with six and a half minutes of dark, brooding poetry, Dylan rewrote the rules.

Although Like A Rolling Stone was kept off the top of the Billboard chart by The Beatles Help, the reach of the song can be seen in the bands and artists it influenced, from Jimi Hendrix to David Bowie to Bob Marley & the Wailers to Green Day, all of whom have famously released covers of the song. In 2005 Martin Scorsese chose a line from the song as the title for his documentary about Dylan No Direction Home and Dylan finally released an official video in 2013. A handwritten version of the song's chorus is in the Dylan collection of The Morgan Library and Museum in New York. 

To Contact Ibookcollector
Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press. 

No comments: