A fascinating archive of manuscripts, ephemera and artefacts relating to the life and career of the great actor, playwright and theatrical manager David Garrick sold for a far higher than predicted £90,000 at Bonhams (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) on November 15.
Deriving originally from the estate of Garrick’s widow, it was the fifth and last of such dispersals – previous sales having been held by Sotheby’s (1928, 1950 and 1962) and Phillips (1992).
This final portion included such diverse material as accounts for the payments of musicians at Garrick’s Drury Lane Theatre, a catalogue of his library of quarto editions of various plays and transcripts of his love letters to his soon-to-be wife, Eva Maria Vogel.