Sotheby’s sale on July 15 will feature an extensive selection of historical documents, early English printing, first editions, literary manuscripts and letters, fine children’s books and original illustrations. The highlight of the sale is a copy of the first book printed in the English Language. William Caxton’s translation of the Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye , which is a French courtly romance written by Raoul Lefevre, is one of a number of items sold by order of the Duke of Northumberland and the Trustees of the Northumberland Estates. This mid-19th century brown morocco, tooled in period style, is estimated to fetch a cool £600,000-800,000.
The sale also includes a manuscript by William Tyndale, an English scholar who became a leading figure in Protestant reform in the years leading up to his execution. He is well known for his translation of the Bible into English. The sale also features two letters signed by Queen Elizabeth I. Complementing the alchemical manuscripts is the Clumber copy of the second folio edition of the most important book in English literature — Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies . This copy was bought by McLeish at the Clumber sale for £20. It is estimated to fetch a whopping £90,000-120,000.