Book Auctions

Lot Details Hammer Price
1 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS OF CAPTAIN THE HON. FITZWILLIAM ELLIOT (1849-1928)
Anglo-Zulu War 1879:
Seller: Clarke's Africana & Rare Books $20000

90th, you said it wouldn't happen, now whats going to happen to Daltons letter?

Cheers

Sold for 9000 US

Home > Past Auctions > Auction #35 > Military & Naval > Lot No. 10
PEN & PENCIL REMINISCENCES OF A CAMPAIGN IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Lucas (Captain Thomas J.)
Description:
Illustrated with Twenty-one Beautiful Colour-tinted Lithographs. By Captain Thomas J. Lucas, Cape Mounted Rifles.

35 pages of letterpress, hand coloured lithographic frontispiece, additional hand coloured title page and 19 hand coloured plates each with tissue guards, original brownstraight-grained cloth, covers blind stamped and titled and decorated in gilt on the upper cover and spine, all edges gilt, bookplate on the front paste-down endpaper and a corresponding small stamp below the date on the title page. The cloth is split and lifting for forty millimetres along the spine, top corner of the front free endpaper missing, the hinges are splitting and the binding has been strengthened (the original binding was made with gutta-percha – a latex solution derived from the Palaquium tree – which over time dries and cracks. Almost all books bound in this way in the 19th century now need the attention of a bookbinder), the frontispiece and title page are lightly foxed, some foxing on the other plates but this is mainly restricted to the backs of the plates, the hand colouring remains bright, the text pages are generally unaffected. Overall a good well coloured copy.
Details:
Publisher: Day & Son
Publisher Place: London
Date of Publication: No date (1861)
Overall Condition: Good
Size: 4to (290 x 210 mm)

Im assuming that either Steve or Les has been doing some retail therapy
  

No such luck her indoor's would have my face off.     
i acquired most of mine before the bankers went
mental. it's still a lottery out there with re-print's
and print on demand, but its a fact of life that
when people pass, invariably their collection's
soon follow!.

I bid on a few books, First eds, but the prices have gone stupid. Its not that long ago Les we were saying the bottom had dropped out of the market, but now?
By the way Ive just got Keith Smiths: Dead was Everything, looks like a rehash of his Studies in the Anglo Zulu wars with a few updates. Looking forward to getting into it on the weekend.

Cheers

I could never bring myself to pay those kind of prices. The fun for me is winkling out little gems - waiting for one to arrive at the moment. Association copy from the library of an  officer present at Ulundi, Camel Corps at Abu Klea, Guards in Boer War, Brigadier WW1. Will tell you more when it arrives, but any guesses as to identity?

Steve

As a guess Ronald Bertram Lane?

Good guess from the gentleman in green and gold, but nope.

Steve

Gordon-Gilmour?

And the cuddly toy goes to the gentleman at the Cape. Well done sir! Seems GG was quite a chap.

Steve

One hell of a guy. You missed out his Boer War experience Steve. He is on the forum some were Im sure.

Cheers

When it arrives, I'll make some photocopies.

Hi Springy
I was very surprised that the letters went for 20k USD , There is no doubt I would think that the Dalton letters will go for more !
Cheers 90th

PS . How did you get on with your two ?

one out of two, I got the expensive one.   

Dalton is going to go for 20 to 25000 quid

At least you got one , one is better than none , although it was a bit exy ! . Dalton will go for a LOT ! .
Cheers 90th

Hi Rusteze, I've Gordon-Gilmour's personal copy of The South African Campaign, 1879 by Mac & Shad with the same bookplate. Somewhere I have an actually photo of the man that I'll post. I think I put it inside his book--later... Isandula

Rusteze, Here's the albumen photograph of Gordon-Gilmour that I mentioned along with his bookplate in the Mac & Shad. Almost blundered on the Mac & Shad and let it pass, when Hatchard's offered it to me for 130 pounds as it mentioned one portrait missing. So I passed. Then I figured out that all copies were like this as the publishers could not find a portrait of one of the officers that was deceased in the campaign. So I rushed an overseas phone call to Hatchards who luckily still had the copy, and so swooped it up. Isandula
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Good score Steve! Isandula, well done that man!
that's a crazy price. they found good home's.   

That was a great find Isandula and thanks for sharing the photograph.

Springbok

Whoever paid $9000 for the Lucas book could have done rather better. Copy for sale at Quagga's ? in Cape Town for £550

Steve

Steve
It was 900US, approx. R9000.00 and It is the same book I believe. Quaggas in Kalk Bay had it on the open market a few weeks back for R9000.

Cheers