On Wednesday the 25th June, Yorkshire auctioneers Tennants, brushed away current economic fears with its most successful ever book auction. The Leyburn auction house was packed with prospective bidders and extra seating had to be rushed in at the last minute.
The leading attraction was a first edition of Jane Eyre. The 1847 three volume set, written by Yorkshire author Charlotte Bronte under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, was brought into the Leyburn auction centre by a member of the public. Book specialist Paul Hughes identified it as the rare first edition and advertised the book worldwide. ‘I believed that it would make up to £10,000 but I was delighted for the vendor when a phone bidder pushed the price to £17,500’.
A strong phone bidder also purchased two signed Beatrix Potter books for £2,200 and £1,600 as well as a first trade edition of Peter Rabbit for £1,300.
A first edition of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die was spotted in a box of mixed books brought in for valuation. A copy in the previous sale had sold for £2,600, but this copy in better condition sold for £4,000.
A major highlight of the sale was a collection of early nineteenth century albums containing drawings and paintings by a well travelled tourist. The tours included England, the Channel Islands, continental Europe and Ceylon. The work of an unknown amateur, they were offered in eight lots, with estimates reflecting the vendor’s desire to sell. However Mr Hughes felt that they had considerable potential, ‘I contacted everyone I could think of who might be interested, we placed illustrations online and sent images worldwide.’ By the viewing it was clear that others also appreciated the quality and the eight lots sold for £23,300, the majority going to a buyer in the room.
The same buyer purchased an extensive Carr family archive for £3,000. The sale also included very successful map, postcard and ephemera sections.
Rodney Tennant, head of the family firm said ‘we have worked hard to develop the Book Department at Tennants and our sales go from strength to strength, we are building up a substantial international following and have increased the number of sales to give clients a faster turnaround. For this sale we had on-line bidding, phone lines were booked to capacity at times, the room was packed and we sold 99% of the 316 lots.’
Tennants are now welcoming books for their late summer sale. Please contact Paul Hughes on +44 (0)1969 623780 for a free appraisal and valuation
