Rare Charles Darwin Manuscript Fetches £490,000

Nobel Medals for Physics awarded to Manne and Kai Siegbahn in 1925 and 1981. Estimate £150,000-250,000

A unique pair of Nobel Medals granted to Manne and Kai Siegbahn, two of the great experimental physicists of the twentieth century, and father and son. Manne Kai were both pioneers in spectroscopy, the study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation. Over 50 years separate their independent wins.

Manne and Kai Siebahn are one of only four fathers and sons to be Physics Nobel Laureates and their work traces the trajectory of a key branch of modern science from confirmation of abstruse theories to applications with profound effects on our daily lives. No other such pair of Nobel Medals has ever appeared together at auction.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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E.H. Shepard, The original map of The Hundred Acre Wood, 1926. Estimate £100,000-150,000

Probably the most famous map in English Literature, this illustration has been in a private collection for almost five decades. The map was featured on the opening end-papers of the 1926 first edition before being resurrected as the opening animation in the landmark Disney film Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Tree forty years later.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Oscar Wilde, First edition presentation copy of Salomé, 1893.
Estimate £15,000-20,000

A superb presentation copy inscribed by Wilde for Carlos Blacker. Blacker was as Wilde described the “truest of friends and most sympathetic of companions”. Wilde dedicated The Happy Prince (Lot 501) to Blacker. The inscription in this copy reads "To / Carlos Blacker | from his | affectionate | friend, | the author, | in esteem and | admiration".

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Charles Darwin, Autograph manuscript leaf from On the Origin of the Species.
Estimate £120,000-180,000

A leaf of Darwin’s manuscript for one of the most important scientific works of all time. This passage is a key moment in Darwin’s development of his argument and concludes his chapter on hybridism: “Finally, then, the facts too briefly given in this chapter, do not seem to me opposed, but rather to support the view that there is no fundamental difference between Species & Varieties." This is one of only eleven leaves of the working manuscript to remain in private hands.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Edmund Spenser, [Works], Inscribed by Chalres I, 1611.
Estimate £30,000-50,000

This copy of Spenser was read by King Charles I during his two years spent as prisoner. It bears the inscription of the captive King “Dum Spiro Spero” or “While I breathe I hope”. Charles’ copy of Shakespeare’s Second Folio also bears this inscription.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Paul McCartney, Autograph musical manuscript for Let's Love, 1974.
Estimate £4,000-6,000

McCartney arranged "Let's Love" in 1974 as the lead track in Peggy Lee's album of that name, after having created and performed it for her at the piano. Later that year he recorded the song at Abbey Road Studios and released it on his album Venus and Mars--Archive Collection.

An Autograph musical notation by McCartney is incredibly rare. Lyrics occasionally appear at auction but there is no comparable record for any musical notation by him.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Charles Lyell, Large album of drawings, photograph and prints.
Estimate £7,000-10,000

This auction presents an exceptional collection of material relating to the geologist Charles Lyell, directly from Kinnordy House. The current offering includes hundreds of letters by prominent nineteenth century figures to members of the Lyell and Horner families bound into a series of nine albums and inscribed copies of Sir Charles Lyell’s own books. Taken together, this group provides a rich insight into one of the giants of Victorian science and his remarkable family. This album records many of Lyell's major interests, with depictions of volcanic activity, especially in southern Italy, fossils, sights seen during his American tours, depictions of his native Scotland.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Philip Larkin, A series of Letter to Norman Iles, 1941-1982.
Estimate £10,000-15,000

This lot presents an exceptional series of letters to one of Larkin’s closest university friends. Norman Iles read English on a scholarship at Oxford and was Larkin’s tutorial partner. This series of letters maps the intense friendship of the two men through forty years. Starting in the early years of University, through the Second World War and charting their corresponding careers as writers, it serves as a remarkable and rare insight into the mind of the writer.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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William O'Domhnuill, Tiomna Nuadh - Bible, New Testament, Irish, 1602. Estimate £30,000-40,000

The incredibly rare first edition of the New Testament in Irish. The first idea of this was conceived and funded by Elizabeth I in 1567 when she paid for "the making of a caracter to print the New Testament in Irish".

It was not until the end of her reign that the book was printed, and even then it would seem that it was not until the reign of her successor that it was published. This copy, from the Macclesfield Library, is the only one to appear at auction in recent decades.

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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Arthur Rackham—Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 1935. Estimate £20,000-30,000

A finely bound edition of one of Rackham’s special deluxe copies. This is one of 10 copies that contains an original watercolour signed by the artist. The illustration shows a seated man reading a hair-raising book while his black cat, with arched back, spits at the devil who emerges from behind the chair. It is signed and dated "Arthur Rackham | 1935".

English Literature, History, Science, Children's Books and Illustrations
9-10 July | London

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