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English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations

RESULTS

Sotheby's sale saw international collectors acquire an array of historical documents, early English printing, first editions, literary manuscripts and letters, fine children's books and original illustrations. 

Sold by order of The 12th Duke of Northumberland and the Trustees of the Northumberland Estates, the auction's top lot (William Caxton's translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye) far exceeded pre-sale estimates by achieving £1,082,500. Further highlights of the sale included a fine copy of Shakespeare's Second Folio in an early binding, and a highly important collection of nearly 350 letters by Samuel Beckett to his close friend Henri Hayden.

OVERVIEW

This sale comprises an extensive selection of historical documents, early English printing, first editions, literary manuscripts and letters, fine children’s books and original illustrations. The highlight is a copy of the first book printed in the English language, William Caxton’s translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, which is one of a number of items sold by order of The Duke of Northumberland and the Trustees of the Northumberland Estates. Other items with this provenance in this sale include alchemical manuscripts, a manuscript work by William Tyndale, and two letters signed by Queen Elizabeth I. Complementing the Caxton and the Tyndale, but from a different source, is the Clumber copy of the second folio edition of the most important book in english literature, namely Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (1632, in an early 17th-century binding). Other significant items in the sale include a major collection of Aubrey Beardsley.