Auction record for "The Hobbit"
On the 4th June 2015,
Sotheby's in London sold a first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The
Hobbit" from 1937 for a new world record price of £137,000, more than
doubling its pre-sale estimate of £50,000-70,000.
The recipient of this copy was Miss Katherine ("Kitty") Kilbride (1900-1966) who had been one of Tolkien's first students at Leeds University in the 1920s. Kitty Kilbride was, recalled her nephew, "…an invalid all her life and was much cheered by his [Tolkien's] chatty letters and cards. …books were given to her as they were published". Her set of The Lord of the Rings (inscribed to "C.M. Kilbride") was sold in these rooms 19 July 1982, lot 315 and, later, Sotheby's New York, 10-11 December 1993, lot 581. An autograph postcard to her, dated 24 December 1926, was sold at Bonham's, 12 June 2012, lot 150. Kilbride's letter of acknowledgement for the present volume is preserved in the Tolkien papers in the Bodleian Library (MS.Tolkien 21, f.66). She notes "what fun you must have had drawing out the maps".
The previous world record for a copy of the "Hobbit" was £50,000 set in 2008.
The recipient of this copy was Miss Katherine ("Kitty") Kilbride (1900-1966) who had been one of Tolkien's first students at Leeds University in the 1920s. Kitty Kilbride was, recalled her nephew, "…an invalid all her life and was much cheered by his [Tolkien's] chatty letters and cards. …books were given to her as they were published". Her set of The Lord of the Rings (inscribed to "C.M. Kilbride") was sold in these rooms 19 July 1982, lot 315 and, later, Sotheby's New York, 10-11 December 1993, lot 581. An autograph postcard to her, dated 24 December 1926, was sold at Bonham's, 12 June 2012, lot 150. Kilbride's letter of acknowledgement for the present volume is preserved in the Tolkien papers in the Bodleian Library (MS.Tolkien 21, f.66). She notes "what fun you must have had drawing out the maps".
The previous world record for a copy of the "Hobbit" was £50,000 set in 2008.
———————————
Major Engels' Archive Exposing The Notorious Infighting Of First International
On Sale at Bonhams.
On Sale at Bonhams.
An
extraordinary historical archive charting the struggle for power between the
Marxist Central Council of the First International is just one of several
exceptional highlights in a remarkable Fine Books & Manuscripts auction to
be held at Bonhams on 24th June. Estimated at 
£100,000 – £150,000,
the papers of Friedrich Engels, acting as the Corresponding Secretary for First
International, reveal the day-to-day infighting between the Marxist consortium
in London and the Bakuninite factions that were rapidly gaining a stranglehold
in Spain and Italy. A struggle which, coming as soon as it did after the fall
of the Paris Commune, was to bring the First International to an end. As well
as exposing the ‘red and black divide’, the archive also offers a unique
insight in to Marx’s development of Das
Kapital and The
Communist Manifesto.
Also being offered in the sale are the journals of the pioneering explorer, Captain Albert Hastings Markham. Documenting a series of his travels over a total of 19 volumes, they record every detail of his incredible experiences – from well-known treks as part of The British Arctic Expedition to his lesser known adventures in the infamous den of iniquity that was the Wild West frontier town, Dodge City. As a collection, the journals are expected to reach between £175,000 and £260,000.
For more information visit: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22714/
£100,000 – £150,000,
the papers of Friedrich Engels, acting as the Corresponding Secretary for First
International, reveal the day-to-day infighting between the Marxist consortium
in London and the Bakuninite factions that were rapidly gaining a stranglehold
in Spain and Italy. A struggle which, coming as soon as it did after the fall
of the Paris Commune, was to bring the First International to an end. As well
as exposing the ‘red and black divide’, the archive also offers a unique
insight in to Marx’s development of Das
Kapital and The
Communist Manifesto. Also being offered in the sale are the journals of the pioneering explorer, Captain Albert Hastings Markham. Documenting a series of his travels over a total of 19 volumes, they record every detail of his incredible experiences – from well-known treks as part of The British Arctic Expedition to his lesser known adventures in the infamous den of iniquity that was the Wild West frontier town, Dodge City. As a collection, the journals are expected to reach between £175,000 and £260,000.
For more information visit: http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22714/
———————————
Caricatures: Napoleonic and Georgian Social & Political Satire
LONDON, Maddox Street – 200 years after the
Battle of Waterloo and the death of James Gillray, Bloomsbury Auctions
celebrate political and social cartoons with their auction of Napoleonic &
Georgian Social and Political Satire. The sale on Thursday 25th June at
Bloomsbury House, London, includes the studiously compiled collection of Lord
Baker, which takes the buyer on a visual, chronological tour through the
Napoleonic era.
Long known for his fascination for, and expertise in, the English caricature, Lord Baker’s comprehensive Napoleon collection opens the sale with the earliest appearances of Napoleon in English caricature, both by Isaac Cruikshank, who had clearly never actually seen his subject [Lots 1 & 2].
Many are still very funny to modern sensibilities, such as James Gillray's comparison of a French gentleman of the court and one of the revolution, the latter inviting the former to 'baiser mon cul' [Lot 10, estimate £400-600], or Rowlandson's The Dunghill Cock and Game Pullet, full of bawdy double entendres [Lot 72, estimate £300-500].
But others carry much weightier purpose, such as Gillray's Consequences of a Successful French Invasion [Lot 4, estimate £1,000-1,500], commissioned to illustrate propaganda pamphlets as conflict loomed.
Long known for his fascination for, and expertise in, the English caricature, Lord Baker’s comprehensive Napoleon collection opens the sale with the earliest appearances of Napoleon in English caricature, both by Isaac Cruikshank, who had clearly never actually seen his subject [Lots 1 & 2].
Many are still very funny to modern sensibilities, such as James Gillray's comparison of a French gentleman of the court and one of the revolution, the latter inviting the former to 'baiser mon cul' [Lot 10, estimate £400-600], or Rowlandson's The Dunghill Cock and Game Pullet, full of bawdy double entendres [Lot 72, estimate £300-500].
But others carry much weightier purpose, such as Gillray's Consequences of a Successful French Invasion [Lot 4, estimate £1,000-1,500], commissioned to illustrate propaganda pamphlets as conflict loomed.
When
the threat of invasion became far more real, in 1803, Gillray produced the
first of a wave of caricatures aimed at encouraging new volunteers, including French Invasion or Buonaparte Landing
in Great Britain [Lot 24, £800-1,200]. This supreme master of
the art produced the apotheosis of English satires of the period, The Plumb-pudding in Danger
two years later [Lot 51, estimate £3,000-5,000], which graphically depicts Pitt
and Napoleon carving up the world between them.
The catalogue's narrative theme takes us through the major events of the era via individual prints, many group lots, and occasional published series, such as Gillray's Egyptian Sketches from 1799 [Lot 8, estimate £2,000-3,000], and Cruikshank's series of versions of Russian caricatures from 1813 [Lot 82, estimate £1,000-1,500]. Napoleon's marriages, exile and escape from Elba, eventual defeat at Waterloo, and final banishment to St Helena are all comprehensively covered.
The second half of the catalogue provides an excellent insight into the role of caricature and satire in Georgian England [Lots 112-214], including observations on the fashions of the period such as George Cruikshank's Monstrosities of Fashion [Lots 116 & 148] and the occasional deviation into French haute caricature courtesy of Godissart de Cari's illustrations for Martinet's Musée Grotesque [Lots 115, 125 & 186].
Thomas Rowlandson is handsomely represented throughout this section, including many of the etchings relating to the infamous Westminster Election of 1784 [Lots 168-171] that helped cement his reputation as a satirist, alongside fabulous original Rowlandson watercolours [Lots 129-132], a splendid print depicting a French dancing master and his family [Lot 196, estimate £600-800], and an extremely rare complete set of his etchings for Woodward's Matrimonial Comforts [Lot 197, estimate £4,000-6,000], illustrating the joys of married life…
For purveyors of pugilistic prints this sale also offers two of the earliest examples of sporting journalism with boxing broadsides illustrated by Gillray [Lots 180 & 181, both estimated at £300-500].
One of the more curious highlights of this sale is an album of watercolour landscapes by Joseph Crawhall II [Lot 126, estimate £3,000-4,000]; more known for his 'quaint cuts in the chap book style', the use of lighting and vivid colour for these landscapes perhaps prefigures the work of Crawhall’s son, the Glasgow Boys, and British artists working in the early part of the 20th century.
The catalogue's narrative theme takes us through the major events of the era via individual prints, many group lots, and occasional published series, such as Gillray's Egyptian Sketches from 1799 [Lot 8, estimate £2,000-3,000], and Cruikshank's series of versions of Russian caricatures from 1813 [Lot 82, estimate £1,000-1,500]. Napoleon's marriages, exile and escape from Elba, eventual defeat at Waterloo, and final banishment to St Helena are all comprehensively covered.
The second half of the catalogue provides an excellent insight into the role of caricature and satire in Georgian England [Lots 112-214], including observations on the fashions of the period such as George Cruikshank's Monstrosities of Fashion [Lots 116 & 148] and the occasional deviation into French haute caricature courtesy of Godissart de Cari's illustrations for Martinet's Musée Grotesque [Lots 115, 125 & 186].
Thomas Rowlandson is handsomely represented throughout this section, including many of the etchings relating to the infamous Westminster Election of 1784 [Lots 168-171] that helped cement his reputation as a satirist, alongside fabulous original Rowlandson watercolours [Lots 129-132], a splendid print depicting a French dancing master and his family [Lot 196, estimate £600-800], and an extremely rare complete set of his etchings for Woodward's Matrimonial Comforts [Lot 197, estimate £4,000-6,000], illustrating the joys of married life…
For purveyors of pugilistic prints this sale also offers two of the earliest examples of sporting journalism with boxing broadsides illustrated by Gillray [Lots 180 & 181, both estimated at £300-500].
One of the more curious highlights of this sale is an album of watercolour landscapes by Joseph Crawhall II [Lot 126, estimate £3,000-4,000]; more known for his 'quaint cuts in the chap book style', the use of lighting and vivid colour for these landscapes perhaps prefigures the work of Crawhall’s son, the Glasgow Boys, and British artists working in the early part of the 20th century.
To Contact Ibookcollector
Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press.
Ibookcollector © is published by Rivendale Press.
No comments:
Post a Comment