P.G. Wodehouse items attract new bidders to Freeman’s

A typescript of ‘Do Butlers Burgle Banks,’ which featured autographs revisions and annotations in pencil and ink by British author P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975), exceeded expectations to sell for $8,750. The lot included both U.S. and British first editions of the book. Freeman’s image

PHILADELPHIA – Freeman’s achieved a 96% sell-through rate for its May 7 auction of The P.G. Wodehouse Collection of William Toplis. The auction house is pleased to add this strong sell-through rate for a single-owner collection to its list of recent single-owner sale successes. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Composed of nearly 200 lots that included first editions, manuscripts, original art, sheet music, libretti, scripts, the comprehensive collection elicited interest from Wodehouse aficionados worldwide.

As a result of a robust digital marketing campaign combined with direct outreach to Wodehouse societies and collectors around the globe, 40% of buyers in this auction were new to Freeman’s – a statistic that is consistent with the company’s average for online auctions in 2020.  Aggressive and lengthy bidding wars erupted for many of the collection’s most covetable lots, driving selling prices far past their pre-sale estimates.

Many signed first editions of P.G. Wodehouse’s books attracted worldwide attention. Freeman’s image

Most notably, P.G. Wodehouse’s pocket watch, which was elaborately engraved with the author’s monogram, sold for over 10 times its high estimate to achieve $4,375. The sale was led by Lot 24: A corrected typescript of Do Butlers Burgle Banks, which featured extensive autographs revisions and annotations in pencil and red and blue ink by Wodehouse himself. The lot exceeded expectations to sell for $8,750.

P.G. Wodehouse’s 14K gold pocket watch, which was elaborately engraved with the author’s monogram, sold for $4,375. Freeman’s image

Selling works from private and corporate collections – whether as stand-alone single-owner sales or featured works within departmental auctions – is considered to be one of Freeman’s strongest areas of achievement. Recent successes include the Collection of Robert J. Morrison; the Collection of Richard E. Oldenburg; the Collection of Victor Niederhoffer; the Jeff Hunter Collection; and the Collection of Dorrance “Dodo” H. Hamilton.

For details on the P.G. Wodehouse items contact Darren Winston at dwinston@freemansauction.com.

View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/