A signed Bombay Edition set of the complete works of Rudyard Kipling. Estimate: £200-300. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.
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A prominent figure in the British arts scene Garland was best known as a theater director. As artistic director for the Chichester Festival Theatre from 1981 to 1985 and again 1990 to 1994, Garland directed more than 20 productions, and he is the only theater director to have had four plays running at the same time in London’s West End. He was also the driving force behind the Chichester Festival Theatre where he served as artistic director for many years and directed over 30 productions. In later life he turned his talents to film directing and won widespread praise for his 1971 television film, The Snow Goose, which earned a Golden Globe for “Best Movie made for TV” and was also nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy.
His collection of English literature and reference works include many copies signed with personal inscriptions to him by notable figures including Samuel Beckett, Sir John Betjeman, John Osbourne and Rex Harrison. The literature is mostly poetry and theater-related, but there are also private press and limited-edition works.
A signed Bombay Edition set of the complete works of Rudyard Kipling’s is a 31-volume limited-edition set. Printed by R. & R. Clark from the Florence Press Type, this Bombay edition is one of only 1,050 copies printed on handmade paper. It is estimated to sell for £1,000-£1,500. Also from his collection is a highly desirable limited-edition set of Thomas Hardy’s The Dynasts, one of only 525 copies to be signed by the author. This copy includes a signed etched portrait by Francis Dodd in pencil, printed in red and black, and estimated to sell for £200-£300.
Elsewhere in the sale the signatures of George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCarney and John Lennon are sold as written on the page of an autograph album, in card mount. These Beatles autographs are sure to go down well with any Beatles enthusiasts and carry an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.
A small sporting section boasts an enticing variety of materials on the subjects of angling, boxing, cricket, cycling, golf, hawking, shooting and even the more sedate pastimes of card playing. Of particular interest is a copy of the 1888 limited edition set of Izaak Walton’s The Compleat Angler. Described as “a celebration of the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse” the book was first published in 1653, but Walton continued to add chapters for more than 25 years. One of only 500 copies, the book is signed by the editor R.B. Marston, and estimated to sell for £200-£300.
Among the other rare items in the sale are The History of Little Jack by Thomas Day, with only one listing on ESTC (found at the Bodelian Library) and no copies in the British Library, and John Walcott’s The Figures, Description, and History, of Exotic Animals, a first edition with only three auction records. Walcott’s book includes 60 fine engravings of exotic animals, including species of turtles, snakes, frogs, salamanders and fish from the Americas, and interestingly although the preface indicates that a second part would be published, none was ever issued. The books are estimated to sell for £150-£200 and £600-£800 respectively.
The sale also includes a small, but perfectly formed, collection of gardening and agricultural books that were once the property of a lady, and include a wide range of materials from antiquarian rarities to modern reference works.
This auction will be held by Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions at the Godalming saleroom in Surrey on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 11 a.m. GMT, 3 a.m. Pacific.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
A signed Bombay Edition set of the complete works of Rudyard Kipling. Estimate: £200-300. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image. The signatures of George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCarney and John Lennon on the page from an autograph album. Estimate: £1,000-£1,500. Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image. Isaac Neton’s ‘Universal Arithmetick.’ Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions image.
