Sotheby & Co. (London)

(27 cm), 222 (8) pp., illustrations (some in colour). 408 lots. List of prices realised loosely inserted. Publisher’s pictorial wrappers. - A portion of the Rosebery Library, removed from Dalmeny House, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Rosebery. The books, mostly French, had been intended for the library at Mentmore, but were sent to Dalmeny House before the sale of the contents of Mentmore in 1977. “Despite the distinguished provenance (Beckford, Syston Park, Wodhull), not all the books were in the sort of condition appreciated today” (saleroom report in The Book Collector, Autumn 1995, pp.381-382). The auction realised £1,551,452, almost double the pre-sale estimate. ¶ Copiously annotated copy, priced.