Some 500 literary gems, such as a rare manuscript of a poem by Emily Brontë revised by her sister Charlotte, or letters of intimate content from great British writers, such as Elizabeth Gaskell, Hartley Coleridge or George Smith, will go on sale from the next 2 July at Sotheby’s auction house in London.
The treasures of British literature that will go up for sale at auction in London are drawn from the Honresfield Library, created in the 20th century by the owners of a North West England factory, Alfred and William Law, whose books are gone carefully preserving thanks to generations of his family, said the auction house Sotheby’s.
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Among the volumes that appear in this bid are iconic examples of British culture, such as the most relevant material of the Brontë sisters, according to the auction house. A handwritten copy of a poem by Emily Brontë, with revisions noted by her sister Charlotte, will be available for purchase, starting at an estimated price of between 800,000 and 1.2 million pounds (923,000 euros and 1.3 million euros – 1, 1-1.7 million dollars at the current exchange rate). It will also feature a Brontë family copy of Bewick’s British Bird History book, with annotations made by Patrick, the sisters’ father. As Sotheby’s recalls in a statement, that book becomes famous in the first pages of Jane Eyre and its estimated price will range between 30,000 and 50,000 pounds (34,615 – 57,690 euros, 42,000-70,000 dollars approximately).
In addition, letters addressed to and submitted by fellow novelists such as Elizabeth Gaskell, Hartley Coleridge (son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge) or George Smith will be offered to the highest bidder. The auction includes the most important manuscript of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, a compendium of poems, notes and ideas compiled by him, when he was still a 24-year-old stranger.
The romantic writer Sir Walter Scott is also represented with another manuscript of the novel Rob Roy . First editions of works by Jane Austen will also be sold, such as Emma , Northanger Abbey , Persuasion , Pride and Prejudice , as well as a copy of Don Quixote printed in 1620 for Edward Blounte. There are also works by Homer, Ovid, the Brothers Grimm, Montaigne, Ann Radcliffe, Charles Dickens or Mary Wollstonecraft.
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“Sotheby’s has been collecting books with collectors for over 275 years, and the Honresfield Library is a fitting tribute to that longstanding tradition,” said Gabriel Heaton, the auction house’s specialist in English literature and historical manuscripts. Heaton added that “showing the depth of the literary interests of Alfred and William Law, the collection as a whole paints a unique portrait of the passions of one of the great and lesser known families of a golden age of book collecting.” Sotheby’s noted that the works will be auctioned in three different sales in 2021 and 2022, the first of which will be held between July 2 and 13.
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