Quirky and unusual are often key words associated with the financial success of items in the saleroom.
Something a little bit different, that you do not see everyday, still sets pulses racing.
An extremely rare (unique) handwritten cookery and recipe book at the recent Lincoln Collective Sale on May 20th and 21st highlighted the importance of collectability and that things a little different can maybe look rough around the edges, but create huge interest when going under the hammer.
The book itself had some printed text referring to deaths of famous figures in history, but was dovetailed in with a range of handwritten home recipes for edible and inedible delicacies of the day.
If you want to know how walnuts were pickled in the 1840s, this was the book for you: there were recipes of items known today: piccalilli and pickles for meat; there were also methods for the more unusual such as Quid Blue and a curious observation on parsnips, there was also recipe for good old tomato sauce!
Such historical gold is hard to find, an illustration of a gentler, more homely past and a past that cannot be replicated: the book was a social history, a snapshot of an unknown family matriarch going about their daily life; throwaway on one hand, but crucial on the other: the £200 achieved was very pleasant and shows often the most disregarded and dusty works can achieve the highest reward.
A tenuous subject could also be seen in one of the books in the collection of books from John T Turner, sold in the same sale.
Not only was this collection made up of works from the best known industrial names, it also included a number of lesser known titles which were both rare and in good order.
The Thomas North text The Church Bells of the County and City of Lincoln was in the sale and provided a great deal of presale and on the day sale interest.
A rare book on a specific subject matter, which may have been overlooked but due to the diligence of the auction room and its ability to reach a worldwide audience, led to £300 being achieved.
The advice remains the same: never discount anything and always come and see us however trivial or nondescript an item may seem to be, you just may be sitting on a fortune!
