Bloomsbury’s two day auction of 26th and 27th September was a great success. ‘We were delighted with the two day sale of Architecture, Travel & Topoghraphy, Hunting & Shooting on the 26th and 27th September,’ said a spokesman for Bloomsbury Auctions.
‘The working library of the late Sir Howard Colvin, one of England’s great architectural historians, was very well received with prices going considerably over their estimates. It just goes to show that a collection based on deep knowledge and understanding, mixed with a passion for the subject will fly out of the saleroom even in difficult times.’ However the other aspects of the sale not in the collection, such as Travel & Topography and especially Hunting & Shooting, were also snapped up by avid buyers.
Amongst the Colvin collection, the magazines did particularly well. The Builder (1843-1883) with an estimate of £300-400 sold for £1200 (lot 33); a near set of The Gentleman’s Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer reached £7400 against an estimate of £4000-6000 (lot 101) and The Gardener’s Magazine vols 1-19 (lot 195) by John Claudius Loudon of 1828-43 sold for £1800 (estimate £200-300). Lot 102 was James Gibbs’ A Book of Architecture was estimated at £200-300, it made a resounding £1400. A similar result was for Illustrations of the New Palace of Westminster by Charles Barry (lot 165) which went for £1700 and was estimated at £300-400. I Quattro Libri dell’Architettura by Andrea Palladio (lot 238) bearing Colvin’s signature, eventually sold for £2800, well over its estimate of £300-400.
In the Travel and Exploration section of the sale, Cooper and Forshaw’s Kingfishers and Related Birds of 1983-94 (lot 417), one of 1000 copies signed by the author and artist , fetched £2800, well over the estimate of £800-1200. Photograph albums also fared very well; Hyderbad by Lala Deen Dayal (lot 636) sold for £5500, well over its estimate of £300-500. The same applied to the following lot, HRH Prince Albert Victor’s Visit to Hyderabad (Deccan) November 1889 (Prince Albert’s own copy) which made £4600 (estimate £500-750).
Auction info www.bloomsburyauctions.com