Early colour-plate books of Africa / Agatha Christie uncorrected proof copies / Cold war testimony / Churchill to Jan Smuts

The on-line auction site www.antiquarianauctions.com is running Sale Number 40 from today until 4.30 pm (UK Time) on Thursday 29 January. 520 lots are offered covering a wide variety of subjects.

A rarity among the early colour-plate books of Africa is A Collection of Portraits of the Savage Tribes Inhabiting the Boundaries of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Taken from the Life in 1812, by an Officer of the 21st Dragoons, engaged in an Expedition against those Tribes, under Lt.-Col. Graham. [See images below. Click on image to enlarge.]Published in 1822, three of the eight hand-coloured plates are aquatints and five are lithographs. The last recorded sale at auction is an incomplete copy in 2004 and the last complete copy in 1980. A very good copy in a 20th century binding is offered with an estimate of $9000(US).

Agatha Christie uncorrected proof copies are uncommon. Copies of two titles, The Pale Horse (1961) and At Bertram's Hotel (1965) are offered as a lot with a competitive estimate of $200. Other modern firsts include Ian Fleming's Goldfinger in the first issue dust wrapper at $750.

A collection of specialised Masonic books from a Grand Lodge library will be offered over the next few auctions. A selection of eight titles is listed in the current sale.

Victor Kravchenko's I Choose Freedom (1946), is a largely forgotten and not scarce title from the early cold war era. During the Second World War he served as a Captain in the Soviet Army before being posted to the Soviet Purchasing Commission in Washington, DC. In 1944 he abandoned his post and requested political asylum in the United States. The Soviet authorities, however, unsuccessfully demanded his immediate extradition, calling him a traitor. I Choose Freedom was a bestseller and infuriated communist parties across Europe. He sued a French communist weekly, Les Lettres Francaises for libel in the aftermath to publication. After he won the case, he later wrote I Choose Freedom (1950). He died in suspicious circumstances in New York. A copy inscribed by Churchill, 'To Jan Smuts from Winston,' gives special interest to the copy being sold in the auction with a reserve of $1,500.