A RARE 170-year-old book once owned by a wealthy Worksop landowner is
expected to sell for up to £6 million at Christie’s in New York
tomorrow.
The copy of The Birds Of America by John James Audubon
belonged to the sixth Duke of Portland. It is in four volumes known as
the Duke of Portland’s Set and features his own bookplate. The tome has
been given a pre-sale estimate of seven to 10 million US dollars - the
equivalent of £4.5m to £6.5m.
It is one of only 119 copies of the 19th century book to have survived, and only 11 are held in private collections.
The
book, published between 1827 and 1838, contains 435 hand-coloured,
etched and aquatint prints, all of American birds - six of which are now
extinct. It has been described as ‘the finest colour-plate book ever
produced’.
The Duke of Portland lived from 1857 to 1943, and owned
Welbeck Abbey near Clumber Park. He was a landowner, Tory politician
and racehorse breeder and owner. Two of his horses won the Derby, in
1888 and 1889.
From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/precious_book_to_be_sold_at_auction_1_4156948?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
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