Great buys for book lovers at Toovey’s this week

The sale takes place on August 27 and features a range of old and rare books from literary classics to children’s favourites. Here we pick out a few highlights.

View the entire auction catalogue and place your bids on thesaleroom.com.

The complete Famous Five

Several lots in the auction are dedicated to collections of works by beloved children’s author Enid Blyton. Probably her best-known works are the Famous Five books, the complete series of which is on offer at Toovey’s. The set comprises 15 first edition volumes from Five on a Treasure Island (1942) to Five are Together Again (1963). Introduce a new generation to these books, or just have them on your shelf for a bit of childhood nostalgia. The set has an estimate of £150-200.

View and bid for this complete Famous Five series here.

Du Maurier’s classic

This first edition of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is offered at Toovey's Antiquarian & Collectors' Books auction on August 27 with an estimate of £400-600.

Just a British if a little more adult is Daphne Du Maurier’s modern gothic tale Rebecca. A first edition signed by the author is offered at Toovey’s with an estimate of £400-600. The volume was published by Gollancz of London in 1938 and is signed by du Maurier onto a bookplate designed by Rex Whistler for The Book Society.

View and bid for this first edition of Rebecca here.  

Elizabeth David’s French cookery

Elizabeth David's classic work French Provincial Cooking is offered in its first edition at Toovey's Antiquarian & Collectors' Books auction on August 27 with an estimate of £30-50.

British writer Elizabeth David helped revitalise British cooking after the Second World War with her series of Mediterranean cookery books. By the 1960s when she published French Provincial Cooking, she had become a major influence on cuisine in Britain. This volume was immediately popular and remains one of the most influential modern British cookery books. The first edition offered at Toovey’s was published in London by Michael Joseph and is offered for £30-50.

View and bid for this cookery classic here.

First edition Fleming

A collection of Ian Fleming works, including a first edition of On Her Majesty's Secret Service go under the hammer at Toovey's Antiquarian & Collectors' Books auction on August 27 with an estimate of £200-300.

The main attraction in this assortment of Ian Fleming works is the first edition of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service published in London by Jonathan Cape in 1963. There are a further six editions included such as a copy of You Only Live Twice from 1964, and The Spy Who Loved Me. The job lot is offered with an estimate of £200-300.

View and bid for this collection of Ian Fleming books here.

Wells’ source material

Offered with an estimate of £300-400, this first edition of The Invisible Man by HG Wells is available at Toovey's Antiquarian & Collectors' Books auction on August 27

If you enjoyed this year’s cinematic version of The Invisible Man, why not go back to the source material? This first edition of HG Wells’ ‘scientific romance’, the volume was published by C Arthur Pearson Limited in 1897 and is offered at Toovey’s with an estimate of £300-400.

View and bid for this first edition of The Invisible Man here.