Shakespeare features in Shrewsbury books, coins and stamps auction
Famous names including William Shakespeare, Egyptologist Howard Carter, Louis Wain and tile designer William De Morgan feature in a books, coins and stamps auction in Shropshire on Wednesday.
One of the potential stars of Halls Fine Art’s auction at the Battlefield saleroom in Shrewsbury on Wednesday, November 15 is ‘A Picturesque Tour from Geneva to Milan. R Ackermann, 1820’ by Frederick Schoberl, which is expected to fetch up to £800.
Schoberl was an English journalist, editor, translator, writer and illustrator and this book has 36 superb hand-coloured plates. The book is being sold together with another Ackermann publication in a matching binding.
William Shakespeare is represented in the auction by a leaf from ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ from the Second Folio of 1632, which is valued at up to £200.
The first collected works of Shakespeare, commonly called the First Folio, was not published until 1623, seven years after his death.
“Had it not been for this book, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays would have been lost forever,” said Chris Moore, Halls Fine Art’s books, manuscripts and autographs specialist. “The book is arguably the most important volume in English literature and, on the rare occasions when copies come on the market, they sell for several million pounds.
“Copies of the Second Folio will often sell for considerably more than £100,000. A chance to own a page from one of the early folios is therefore the nearest most of us will ever get to these books.
“The Merry Wives of Windsor is one of the Bard’s most popular comedies and this leaf contains the line ‘I cannot tell what the dickens his name is’.”
Other interesting books include a 1923 first edition of ‘The Tomb of Tutankhamen’ by Howard Carter and A. C. Mace. This is only volume one – volumes two and three followed in 1927 and 1933 – but it tells the story of the preparatory work at Thebes, the discovery and opening of the tomb and the clearing of the antechamber.
The book is illustrated with 79 black and white plates, bound in the original brown cloth with a scarab design on the front cover and is expected to make up to £120.
An autograph letter signed by William De Morgan (1839-1917), noted for his galleons, fish, fantastic animals and birds and Islamic design patterns, is valued at up to £250.
What makes the letter – a brief note offering condolences to a friend – particularly desirable is that it is on Orange House Pottery, Chelsea, headed notepaper. De Morgan spent about 10 years at Chelsea in probably his most productive period as an art potter.
Louis Wain’s large format ‘In Cat and Dog Land’ from around 1905, has an estimate of £300-£500. “Wain’s books have frequently been read to pieces, but this is a very nice copy of one of his scarcer titles which includes 12 full-page chromolithograph illustrations,” said Mr Moore.
Another book certain to attract interest is Joseph Zaehnsdorf’s ‘The Art of Bookbinding, 1880’, bound in red morocco with a stunning geometric design on the covers. It carries an estimate of £200-£300.
