Books & Works on Paper, to include the Boxing Collection of Brian and Debbie Watkins

Location: 1 Roslin Square (Sale)
Catalogue: Download PDF catalogue
Lots: 347

Chiswick Auctions’ Books and Works on Paper sale, on August the 24^th, will include the boxing collection of Brian and Debbie Watkins. A lifetime’s passion, it features several exceptionally rare titles previously unrecorded at auction or in public libraries.

Amongst the highlights are a first edition of Jewish boxer Daniel Mendoza’s memoirs, published in 1808 and estimated at £4,000 - 6,000. Although the text is thought to have been written around 1806, when Mendoza spent time in debtor’s prison, some libraries have even called the edition’s existence into question.

Another lot representative of the rarity of the collection is a catalogue of the property auction which followed bare-knuckle boxer Tom Sayers’ death in 1865. His funeral was attended by 10,000 people and descended into a riot, described by The Daily News as “disgraceful”. The copy, estimated at £1,000-1,500, is annotated with the prices achieved, including for Sayers’ loyal mastiff dog “Lion”. Sayers’ tomb, crowned with a statue of Lion, is a landmark of Highgate Cemetery.

Aside from boxing, the sale includes a rare purple variation uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, at £3,000 - 4,000. The purple wrappers indicate an earlier state than the more common version in green and only fifty are thought to have been printed. Also offered is a first edition of pioneering Scottish photographer John Thomson’s Illustrations of China and Its People, 1873 (£3,000 - 4,000).