Prime Ministers’ autographs to go under the hammer
A COLLECTION of the autographed letters and documents of 46 British Prime Ministers is to be sold.
The autographs are predominantly from a single private British collection offered as 30 lots that are expected to fetch a total of nearly £10,000 when they are auctioned tomorrow.
Among the autographs up for sale at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in South Cerney, Gloucestershire, are those of Pitt ‘The Younger’, Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill.
“Collecting autographs of British Prime Ministers is not necessarily as expensive as you might imagine,” said autographs specialist Chris Albury, who will be wielding the gavel for the auction.
“There is less reverence here than in America for all our past leaders and it is still possible to assemble a collection on a modest budget.
“Many were prolific correspondents and it is perfectly feasible to pick up ordinary letters of Gladstone, Palmerston, Canning, Robert Peel and other 19th century
Prime Ministers for a few tens of pounds each.
“What will put the price up is the intrigue in the content, be that personal or relating to important matters of state.”
The sale also includes letters from William Pitt ‘The Younger’, Benjamin Disraeli, the Duke of Wellington – along with some strands of his hair offered at between £200 and £300 – and Spencer Perceval, who is best remembered by quiz fans as the only British Prime Minster to have been assassinated.