Posted on Friday 7 December 2007
The Gunpowder Plot book sold for £5,400 at the “lively” Wilkinson auction on Sunday.
A private buyer bought the book, bound in the skin of a Jesuit priest over the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.
The macabre lot, which the auctioneer deemed “a bit spooky”, has a mysterious cover image of Father Henry Garnet’s face. Auctioneer Sid Wilkinson of Doncaster said the face shows the haunting presence of a man falsely accused.
Sale-room specialist Jessica Wall said: "It was a very exciting sale. It was very lively in the room which was full."
The book, entitled A True and Perfect Relation of The Whole Proceedings against the Late most barbarous Traitors, Garnet a Jesuit and his Confederats, has not undergone DNA testing.
Henry Garnet was accused of treason as part of the 5 November 1605 Gunpowder Plot, although evidence suggests that while he knew of the plans, he urged the Catholic conspirators not to resort to violence.