Christie’s auction totals £5,159,725

KOLKATA: Christie’s auction, titled Yates, Thompson and Bright: A Family of Bibliophiles, in London on July 16 has totalled£5,159,725/$8,838,609/€6,506,413. The top lot, Missal, Use of Udine, Illuminated Manuscript on Vellum, ( Vienna, c.1430-35) realised£1,082,500/$1,854,323/€1,365,033.

Margaret Ford, international head of Books and Manuscripts and Thomas Venning, head of Books and Manuscripts, London, head of the Books and Manuscripts department, commented in an email statement: "This was one of the great British lost libraries ever to have been offered for sale at auction and has re-established the reputation of this family among our great book collectors. The selling percentages are a reflection of the important re-discoveries made among the manuscripts and the desirability of the many editions offered which are of the greatest rarity.

"There was significant bidding and buying from clients joining the sale online which, together with those joining on the telephones and in the room, drove the final total to double the pre-sale estimate. The top lot, a Missal commissioned for Louis of Teck, is a fabulous manuscript and deserves its place as the most valuable manuscript sold in London this season after strong, competitive bidding. It is not only a ravishing, beautiful example of Viennese court art but a work of historical interest and significance. This sale brings to a close a remarkable season for the International Book Department at Christie’s which began in New York in January with the Rothschild Prayerbook re-establishing its own world record as the most valuable illuminated manuscript ever sold at auction when it sold for $13.3 million.