[Guinness, Sir Alec]

Literature (authors including Pepys, Swift, Milton, Dryden, Milton, Blake, G. Herbert, S. Johnson, Trollope, Hardy, R.L. Stevenson,  Proust, Shakespeare, G.B. Shaw, Dickens, T.S. Eliot, R. Frost, R. Lowell, W.H. Auden, R.S. Thomas, J. Updike, J. Cheever, G.K. Chesterton, J.M. Barrie, Tom Sharpe, Marcel Proust, numerous poetical and other anthologies (the war poets etc), detective novels), Religion, Philosophy and Myth  (many versions of the Bible, many works on Catholicism, Christianity and other religions, subjects including ancient Israel, Lourdes, the Catechism, the historical figure of Jesus, John Henry Newman, folklore, St. John of the Cross, the works of Plato, Augustine, John Knox, J.G. Fraser), Travel (the works of T.E. Lawrence, Doughty), Reference Sets (the Dictionary of National Biography, the Oxford English Dictionary, the New Cambridge Modern History, Copleston's History of Philosophy), Art and Aesthetics (the works of Ruskin), History (the works of Macaulay and Trevelyan), original bindings (a few sets in leather bindings), chiefly 8vo (c.1500)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The presentation copies include runs of works inscribed to Guinness by friends such as Alan Bennett (e.g. Habeas Corpus, 1973, "To Alec,  who made it so much | more than I could | ever have hoped for. | With love and gratitude | from Alan. | September 1973", also The Old Country, The Clothes They Stood Up In, Writing Home, Father! Father! Burning Bright), his biographer Piers Paul Read (at least seven works, inscribed), Sydney Cockerell, Bryan Forbes, Stephen Spender, Elizabeth Jennings (at least eight works) and Robert Graves (two works signed or inscribed). The set of Milton comprises Baskerville's 1758 editions of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regain'd.

Alec Guinness was one of the most literate, and most literary, actors of his generation. He maintained extensive reading notes throughout his life, and was deeply interested in and influenced by many forms of devotional and religious literature. He converted to Catholicism in 1956.