Auction News

Several people have asked how I got on at the auction I mentioned last week; and in honesty, it's only fair to update you having raised it.

Imagine a 1930s warehouse/workshop in ruralish Norfolk.  Three-quarters of the space is take up by trestle tables on which are piled hundreds of banana boxes (there's a dissertation to be written on the contribution made by Fyfes to the second-hand book trade).  There are about 40 cinema seats and room for the same number to stand.  It's well-lit, but not heated.  I had hoped the bad weather might have kept some  people away, but as Thermos flasks and car blankets appeared I realised that wasn't going to be the case.

Bidding was brisk and there seemed to be a number of telephone bidders (the bulk lots aren't on the internet).  There were very few unsold items and prices were more or less as I'd estimated at the viewing.  A slight surprise were three lots of motorcycling books which took off, but knowing how bike enthusiasts are, it wasn't a great surprise.

The lots I bought were almost exclusively twentieth century history.  Of note was a collection of works on and by Winston Churchill, intended to restock our recently depleted section on him, some interesting WWI titles from the 1920s and '30s, and a number of professional directories, school registers and knightages.

These will appear on the website in due course (though where I know of customers' interests, I have managed to pair some off - why not send me your Wants List?).