By Cathy Marsden, Head of Rare Books Department
For many readers, books provide a comforting escape into a different world. For others, they are an indispensable educational tool, and for some they simply sit on shelves to, in the words of Anthony Powell, “furnish a room”. However, it is undoubtably the case that a large collection of identical leather-bound tomes presents an intimidating façade. Unlike many other items, such as paintings or jewellery, books do not always have an aesthetic value, but are still highly collectible for their contents and rarity. One of the most exciting aspects of working in Lyon & Turnbull’s Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs Department is sifting through the shelves or piles of documents to find the gems!
I am reminded of a visit to an office in 2015, when I was asked to check through some papers “just in case”. In amongst the piles of old family documents sat two unassuming scrapbooks, full of letters. When I began to read through these, I realised that they were quite remarkable, telling the story of Robert Mossman, meteorologist on board the Antarctic Ship "Scotia", part of the Scottish Antarctic Expedition from 1902-1905. The letters, sent home to Mossman’s father and sister, formed an archive which would sell for £4,250* at auction.
On another occasion, on my hands and knees in an attic, I uncovered a tiny book entitled Narrative of a Voyage to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land published in 1822. Its pink paper covers suggested that the book had been bought at the time of publication and never rebound in the family’s library-style leather. It had simply been put to one side and forgotten about, but sold for £6,000*.
More recently, Lyon & Turnbull partnered with our sister-company, Freeman’s of Philadelphia, to sell a copy of the US Declaration of Independence, found buried in a pile of old family papers, for $4.42 million*!
In the June 2023 Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs sale, we had several books where the value lies predominantly in the author’s signature, hidden from view on the title-page: a later edition set (1967-1965) of the Lord of the Rings trilogy might appear unassuming but for Tolkien’s delightfully elfish script to each title-page, raising the value to £8,000-12,000. J.K. Rowling’s signature on a fourth impression of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone pushes the estimated value up to £2,000-3,000.
LOT 291 | TOLKIEN, J. R. R. (1892-1973) | THE LORD OF THE RINGS, SIGNED BY TOLKIEN IN EACH VOLUME | SOLD FOR £16,380*; LOT 302 | ROWLING, J. K. | HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE | SOLD FOR £2,016*
The moral of the story: that which could be easily overlooked on a superficial level can have immense monetary and historical value! It is certainly worth checking through the shelves of dusty books and piles of old papers.
Rare books and manuscripts carry the attraction of a ‘hidden surprise’ – imagine opening a flaky leather book to discover a vibrant, illuminated Book of Hours. It is true that very many books, and certainly countless reams of old family papers, carry little value, but the possibility of finding something beautiful, hidden and hitherto forgotten is absolutely addictive. It is one of the driving forces behind my work.
