NEWS

Last week a collection of 200 letters from WA’s first surveyor-general, John Septimus Roe, brought in $300,000 at auction, making it one of the most expensive archives of early Australian history.

Sydney dealer Anne McCormick, director of Hodern House, outbid Kerry Stokes and paid three times the pre-auction estimate of $100,000 for the letters, which she described as a “priceless” collection.

The letters start in 1807 when a 10-year-od Roe wrote to his parents from Boarding school, and include missives written from the Parmelia, when Roe was en route to Australia in 1829.

McCormick said that the Roe collection was the most important archive of colonial material to hit the modern market, and among the most expensive to be sold at auction.

“Roe is important in WA without a doubt, but this archive deals with his life prior to coming to WA, his life in the Eastern States and in England,” she said. “It was a lot of money but it is priceless.”
   
Ms McCormick said she would spend time researching the contents of the letters and would consider publishing some of them, before offering the collection for sale again.
 

http://www.hordern.com/

 

Sotheby’s Western Manuscripts sale on Tuesday 7th July will include a fine series of Medieval Illuminated Miniatures from the collection of the Late Eric Korner, and three of the earliest illustrations depicting St. Joan of Arc.

The stunningly illustrated manuscript, which dates back to mid-15th century, is estimated to sell for £1 – 1.5m, bringing in a third of the combined total sale estimate of £3million.  

Manuscript Description
The remarkable manuscript, which surfaced for the first time in half a century, documents the life of one of the most important and powerful emperors in Europe in the late middle ages, Sigismund of Luxemburg (1368-1437), king of Hungary, Germany, Bohemia, Lombardy, and the Holy Roman Emperor.

Among the numerous records of battles, attempted poisonings and political intrigue, it includes the earliest depictions of Joan of Arc, who had contact with Sigismund in 1429, immediately before leading the French army against the English which resulted in her capture, trial and martyrdom in 1431.

Dr Timothy Bolton of Sotheby’s Western Manuscripts Department said of the history of Sigismund of Luxemburg: “The swashbuckling and often blood-thirsty account marks a significant development of ambitious pictorial decoration and vernacular literature and is a celebration of the emperor’s involvement in many major events in this era’s history. It includes the religious wars with the Hussites and the story of Joan of Arc, and is one of only two primary copies to exist with illustrations.”

To browse the sale catalogue, please visit:

http://browse.sothebys.com/?q=joan%20of%20arc

A rare photograph of genius physicist Albert Einstein sold for £49,300 online, by the auction site R.R. Auction. The photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out at the camera was taken at Princeton University in 1951 to mark the physicist’s 72nd birthday.

The photo is signed in fountain pen in the lower border and inscribed with the German rhyme: “This gesture you will like, Because it is aimed at all of humanity. A civilian can afford to do what no diplomat would dare. Your loyal and grateful listener, A. Einstein ‘53.”

The story has it that on Einstein’s 72nd birthday, UPI photographer Arthur Sasse attempted to convince the physicist to smile for the camera. Instead, Einstein stuck out his tongue.

This rare photo was bought for $61,937 by a dealer from Long Island, New York.

http://www.rrauction.com/

The diaries of Alison Uttley, celebrated author of Tales Of Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig, reveal a dark side to the revered children’s writer.

According to her private diaries, now archived at the John Rylands Library, the author experienced a tragic life, despised Enid Blyton and dabbled in the occult.  

Following her husband’s suicide in 1930, Uttley launched her writing career to support her only child John, and went on to pen over a hundred children stories, featuring characters Sam Pig, Brock the Badger, Tim Rabbit, Little Grey Rabbit, Squirrel and Hare.

Despite her reverence for poet Walter de la Mare, and other male literary figures, Uttley hated many of her female contemporaries. She was bitterly resentful of comparisons made between herself and Beatrix Potter, scornful and jealous of her near neighbour Enid Blyton, who Utterly described as a “vulgar, curled woman,” and she also despised her main illustrator, Margaret Tempest.

The book The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley, 1932 to 1971 is edited by Professor Denis Judd, author of Uttley’s biography. Speaking on the diaries, Judd said: "These diaries chart Alison Uttley’s rise as a best-selling author and are a fascinating read. They describe some surprising attitudes to the people she knew as well as highlighting the tragedy of her husband’s death, which blighted her life. She recorded her frustration with publishers, wrote beautiful descriptions of the countryside and described her early financial struggles.”

http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/

The Auburn University has added to its collection a very rare artefact indeed, namely the letter of surrender from Union General Ulysses S Grant to confederate General Robert E. Lee.

The University was able to purchase the document after a generous donation from James L. Starr, a 1971 Auburn graduate. Mr Starr said that something as historically important as the document should be preserved for future generations.

The University plans to put the Grant letter in its digital library alongside many other Civil War manuscripts. This scheduled to take place in 2011, to coincide with the Civil War’s sesquicentennial.

For further information on this fascinating historical document, please read:

http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/992