Books & Maps

Antiquarian books pre-1850 (the 1840s seeing the advent of both colour printing and photography) can still command high prices, even in today's digital age. Recent successes include the £8,500 paid for Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology, or £3,800 for Byrne's Euclid. The latter was part of collection of books seen in a routine house call in Sneyd Park, Bristol. The vendor believed that there was little of value there, but the collection totalled £15,000 - thanks to a number of fascinating rare local history books.