Antiquarian Books News from Ibookseller

Dominic Winter – Auction preview

Dominic Winter's first book auction of the autumn season is on Wednesday 17 September and comprises 684 lots. The sale comprises Travel, Atlases & Exploration, British Topography, Natural History, Maps, Decorative Prints & Original Art, Periodicals, Antiquarian, Science & Medicine, The Philosophy Library of L.J. Cohen, Art Reference, Book Furniture and general categories.

Featuring prominently in this auction also are 170 lots from the Anthony Gasson Opera Collection (Part I): Opera & Music History Books, Paintings & Prints, Sculptures, Bronzes & Medals, Autographs & Photographs. This amazing collection of some 50,000 items collected by optometrist Anthony Gasson over many decades is now being dispersed. The British Library and Victoria & Albert Museum have picked a few select items but the heart of the collection remains intact. On offer in Part I are original portraits of Elizabeth Billington, Enrico Caruso, Frederick Delius, George Frideric Handel, Maria Malibran, Giacomo Meyerbeer, John Braham, Luciano Pavarotti, Gioachino Rossini [see illustration] (1792-1868, Lifesize three-quarter length portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1828 £15,000-20,000), Richard Strauss, Joan Sutherland, Gaspare Spontini, Giuseppe Verdi and Adolphe Yvon. Also on offer are letters, photographs and signed items by, among others, Gaetano Donizetti, Kathleen Ferrier, Kirsten Flagstad, Charles Gounod, Maria Malibran, Jules Massenet, Nellie Melba, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Jacques Offenbach, Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, Igor Stravinsky, Luisa Tetrazzini, Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner.

For further information and online catalogues, and to follow us on Facebook or twitter, please visit our website or contact the auction offices: Dominic Winter (Auctioneers) Ltd., Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ. Tel: 01285 860006. Email: info@dominicwinter.co.uk

Select entries for our 8/9 October books, maps, art & antiques, photography sale invited. Specialist themes are Natural History & Sporting, China & The Far East.

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Mini Sherlock

A miniature Sherlock Holmes book written exclusively for Queen Mary’s dolls’ house is to be published for the first time in its original format.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who worked as a GP in Plymouth, penned the story by hand in a tiny tome measuring 1.5in by just over 1in.

It is a little-known tale written in 1922 in black ink over 24 pages, about how Dr Watson tries out his powers of deduction on Holmes – only to get things completely wrong.

How Watson Learned The Trick is one of more than 200 tiny books produced by some of the most famous British authors of the early 20th century for the dolls’ house – on permanent display at Windsor Castle.

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Prayerbook sells for £9m

An Australian tycoon has paid nearly £9 million for a legendary prayer book that was once stolen by Hitler. The cover is lined with gold and the pages are made of animal skin. Only one copy of the book exists and every one of the 67 paintings inside is considered a masterpiece. Little is known as about its origins, and it disappeared for 350 years after the Renaissance.

The Rothschild Prayerbook was created during the 16th century but is surrounded by mystery.In the early 20th century it was bought by the Rothschilds, one of the wealthiest families in the world, until Hitler looted it as the Nazis stole art from across Europe. In 1942 it was sent to Vienna, but after the war Austria refused to return the book to the Rothschilds and it stayed locked in a vault seen by only a handful of people.

Seven years later the family finally got hold of the book again and it was auctioned at Christies in London to an anonymous buyer. It resurfaced in 2013 in New York to be auctioned again. This time it was sold to an Australian billionaire, who until now has not been identified. The new owner paid $15.5 million Australian dollars (just under £9m) making the prayerbook one of the most expensive manuscripts in the world

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