36 21st January 2012 antiquarian books
Young Virginia goes to the lighthouse
Left: the visitor’s book for the Godrevy lighthouse that sold for £8200 at Bonhams as part of the Silverman collection. Virginia Woolf’s (then Stephens) entry can be found halfway down the page.
THOUGH the November 22, Bonhams sale of the letter and manuscript collections of the late Michael Silverman contained much of greater historical and literary significance, Silverman was a dealer with a particularly fondness for items that had some special human interest. Those who love the writings of
Virginia Woolf will be very familiar with her largely autobiographical novel, To the Lighthouse, but while that 1927 story is ostensibly set in the Hebridean islands, the details of the locations she used drew on other childhood memories. For the first 12 years of her life, the
Stephens family spent summers in St Ives, Cornwall and stayed at Talland House, a large 19th century residence with views across the bay and out to the Godrevy lighthouse. That the young Virginia made at least two trips to that octagonal tower is evidenced by a visitor’s book for the lighthouse that sold for £8200 as part of the Silverman collection. Virginia’s name can be found twice in the book, once in her own hand
British & Irish Book Auctions
Jan 19*@ Jan 19*@ Jan 19*@ Jan 20*@ Jan 20*@ Jan 21*
Jan 22-23*@ Jan 25@ Jan 24@ Jan 24@ Jan 24*@ Jan 24*@ Jan 24*@ Jan 25*@ Jan 26*@ Jan 26-27 Jan 27*@ Jan 28*@ Jan 31@ Jan 31 Feb 2@ Feb 2@ Feb 2@ Feb 3*@ Feb 9@ Feb 16
Feb 23@ Feb 23@ Feb 29@
Book Section, Adam Partridge - Macclesfield (0845 835 0520) 31-lot Book Section, Hansons - Etwall (01283 733988) 6-lot Book Section, Mallams - Cheltenham (01242 235712) 23-lot Book & Ephemera Section, Durrants - Beccles (01502 713490)
Books & Annuals: Toys & Collectors Sale, Biddle & Webb - Birmingham (0121 455 8042) Book Section, CJM Auctioneers - Scunthorpe (01724 334411) Book Sections,Watford Auction Rooms (01923 442183)
Books & Maps, incl. Egyptology, Bibles, Theology, Dominic Winter - S.Cerney (01285 860006) Books, Maps & Prints, Capes Dunn - Manchester (0161 273 1911)
Historical Documents, Autographs & Ephemera, Mullocks - Ludlow (01694 771771) Book Section,Wotton AR - Wotton-under-Edge (01453 844733) Book Section, Frank Marshall - Knutsford (01565 653284)
15-lot Book Section: Silver sale,Woolley & Wallis - Salisbury (01722 424500) 17-lot Book Section, Boulton & Cooper - Malton (01653 606151)
52-lot Book & Ephemera Section, Locke & England - Leamington Spa (01926 889100) Antiquarian & General Books, Maps, Ephemera, Keys - Aylsham (01263 733195) Ephemera Section, Sheffield Auction Galleries (0114 281 6161) Book Section, Semley Auctioneers - Shaftesbury (01747 855122) Antiquarian Books & Maps, Bloomsbury Auctions - London (020 7495 9494) Antiquarian Books, Maps, Bonhams - Oxford (01865 853646)
Antiquarian Books, Maps & MSS, Lawrences - Crewkerne (01460 73041) Bibliophile Sale, Bloomsbury Auctions - Godalming (01483 423567)
Antiquarian & General Books, Thomson Roddick & Medcalf - Carlisle (01228 528939) Book Section,W.& H. Peacock - Bedford (01234 266366)
Travel & Natural History, Bloomsbury Auctions - London (020 7495 9494) Books, Maps & Prints, Bonhams - Edinburgh (0131 2252266)
Literature, MSS, Modern Firsts, Bloomsbury Auctions - London (020 7495 9494) Antiquarian & General Books, Thomson Roddick & Medcalf - Carlisle (01228 528939) Books, Maps & Prints, Cheffins - Cambridge (01223 213343)
Sales marked with an * are those in which books and ephemera form part of a larger sale. Sales marked @ are viewable on
antiquestradegazette.com. Auctioneers are asked to send details of specialist book sales, as well as those sales that may contain significant book and ephemera sections, to: Ian McKay Tel: (01795) 890475 • Fax: (01795) 890014 •
ianmckay1@btinternet.com
ALEXANDER Burnes’ Travels into Bokhara recounts the story of his 1831-33 journey to the then largely unknown regions of Kabul, the Hindu Kush, Balkh and Bokhara at a time when Britain was becoming increasingly concerned about Russian encroachment in the lands bordering India. It is one of the early ‘Great Game’ books. A copy being offered by Mullocks of Ludlow on January 24 is not an
example of John Murray’s 1834 first edition, but a French translation of the following year. However, it has a very particular appeal. It is catalogued as a copy that belonged to Burnes’ brother, and inside is a
note that reads “Memo – This book is bound in the leather of the boots with which my brother Sir Alex performed his journey into Bokhara. James Burnes.” Bound as two volumes to include an atlas, it is estimated at £600-800.
Burnes’ boots bound for Bokhara BUYER’S PREMIUMS
IAA, Heathrow: 23% Bonhams, London: 25% to £25,000, 20% to £500,000, 12% thereafter Mullocks, Ludlow: 17% Sotheby’s, London: 25% to £25,000, 20% to £500,000, 12% thereafter Swanns, New York: 20%
NB: premiums may not apply or have been set at different levels where prices from sales of previous years are quoted. Exchange rates are those in effect on the day of sale.
and again as entered by her father in compliance with the ruling by Trinity House – the body responsible for all British lighthouses, then and now – that keepers must request all visitors to enter their names and addresses in the book. As the visitor’s book sold as part of
the Silverman collection spans the years 1859-1934 and contains some 160pp of entries, other celebrities may also be there – indeed, on one of the visits she made with the family, the artist William Holman Hunt, a former suitor of her mother, was also present – but this was very much money paid for Virginia Woolf’sown journey ‘to the lighthouse’.
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