COLLECTOR/Books: Of particular Irish interest in the sale is a newly discovered typescript of Samuel Beckett's Fin de Partie (Endgame), with revisions and other markings by the author.
A first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit inscribed by the author with a loosely inserted manuscript of a runic alphabet in Tolkien's hand will be auctioned next month.
It is expected to fetch £30,000-£50,000 sterling (€47,007-€78,345) at Sotheby's English literature sale on Thursday, July 11th and Friday, July 12th. Sotheby's holds the world record for a first edition of The Hobbit in a dust jacket, where a copy sold for £27,850 last December.
Of particular Irish interest in the sale is a newly discovered typescript of Samuel Beckett's Fin de Partie (Endgame), with revisions and other markings by the Irishman, estimated at £20,000-£30,000. George Bernard Shaw's typewriter - still in working order - is expected to fetch £2,000 to £3,000, while a leather portfolio stamped G.B.S. is estimated at £500 to £600.
Collections by enthusiasts of Charles Dickens, Graham Greene and Beatrix Potter feature strongly in the sale, as do illustrations such as Edward Detmold's portrayal of The Arabian Nights.
The presentation copy of The Hobbit reads "Aunt Jane from J.R.R.T. with love October 6th 1937" and was signed within a fortnight of its publication. His aunt, Emily Jane Suffield, with whom he stayed briefly in April 1904 when his mother became ill, is regarded as an important influence in Tolkien's literary development.
A letter from Tolkien to Mrs Mumby concerning her son's questions about The Lord of the Rings is estimated at £6,000 to £8,000.
He excuses his late response due to "overwork and ill health" and says that "satisfactory answers" to Stephen Mumby's questions "would take pages, and would I think not be really intelligible to him".
He says Stephen's questions about "ancient history... will all be made clearer when (if ever) I have time to complete and publish the legends of the earlier ages".
A highlight of the sale is a single-owner collection of works by Charles Dickens amassed over 40 years. The 250 lots include a series of Dickens's works in the original weekly parts, first editions of Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations in original cloth bindings. It includes beautifully bound and extra-illustrated editions.
The same collection includes first editions of all the novels by Jane Austen, collections of the Brönte sisters, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. The single collection is expected to realise some £500,000.
A further highlight, combined with a lovely collector's tale, is Vladimir Nabokov's Camera Obscura, estimated at £20,000 to £30,000. It was discovered at the vendor's parents' home following repairs to creaky stairs . The book came to light with a collection of newspapers when the builder smashed through a sealed wall to fix the stairs. Nabokov had been unhappy with the translation and prevented the edition being reprinted, preferring to wait for the publication in the US of his own translation Laughter in the Dark.
A library of works by Graham Greene is expected to realise more than £30,000, while a collection of first editions of Colin Dexter's first seven Inspector Morse novels, inscribed by the author, is expected to realise £7,000- £10,000.
One of the finest collections of Beatrix Potter books to come up for auction is expected to fetch in excess of £120,000. For instance, a copy of the first appearance in print of The Tale of Peter Rabbit is estimated at £35,000 to £45,000. The author had failed to find a publisher, and so she printed the book herself, producing 250 copies for family and friends.
A group of unpublished watercolours relating to The Arabian Nights by Edward Detmold (1883-1957) is estimated at £100,000-£150,000.
