Pitch in at Essex auction to buy Colman family cricket book and much more

He was the industrialist who developed Colman’s Mustard into an international concern. But he was also a keen cricketer and from 1916-23 president of Surrey County Cricket Club.

Essex auction house Sworders is selling items from the Colman Family Collection and more follow in the Books and Maps sale on August 23 – among them a copy of a rare book recording a unique archive of cricketing memorabilia.

At his home at Gatton Park, Surrey, Sir Jeremiah assembled a significant collection of cricketing memorabilia, particularly the paintings, drawings and prints documenting the history of the game in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In the 1930s the collection went on view at the Tate gallery and in 1941 was published in a book titled The Noble Game of Cricket. Only 150 copies of this 434-page book, complete with 100 illustration plates, were published with many made as presentation copies.

Here are five ideas on what to buy from the Sworders auction on August 23.

Just not cricket? It is actually

The Noble Game of Cricket from the Colman collection - estimate £800-1200 at Sworders.

The example of The Noble Game of Cricket shown here comes from Bixley Manor, near Norwich, home to the late businessman Sir Timothy James Alan Colman (1929-2021). It comes in its original green buckram and dust jacket and has a long inscription penned by Sir Jeremiah to his sister and nephew. The estimate at Sworders is £800-1200.

Check The Noble Game of Cricket on thesaleroom.com.

Never bored of the Rings

Lord of the Rings first editions including Tolkien signature - estimate £6000-10,000 at Sworders.

First editions of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy including the author’s signature are included in a lot estimated at £6000-10,000. They comprise: The Fellowship of the Ring, Unwin, 1954, 2^nd impression; The Two Towers, Unwin, 1954, 1^st impression; The Return of the King, Unwin, 1955, 1st impression.

The owner’s father was at Oxford the same time as Tolkien, met him and asked him to sign it.

To bid for JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy with author’s signature visit thesaleroom.com.

JK Rowling goes undercover

Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling's The Cuckoo’s Calling signed by the author under the pseudonym - estimate £1000-1500 at Sworders.

The Sworders sale includes one of only a few copies of JK Rowling’s The Cuckoo’s Calling signed by the author under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

It is thought that fewer than 250 copies of the 2013 first edition were similarly signed before Rowling was unmasked as the author a few months after publication.

The creator of the Harry Potter series secretly published a crime novel under the guise of male debut writer Robert Galbraith in April 2013. The fictitious author was supposed to have been a former plain-clothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left the armed forces in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry.

The signed copy that comes for sale at Sworders with an estimate of £1000-1500 was purchased at the time from London dealership Goldsboro Books.

See JK Rowling’s The Cuckoo’s Calling signed by the author on thesaleroom.com.

Norfolk in detail

Norfolk map by A Bryant - estimate £300-600 at Sworders.

Estimated at £300-600 is this Map of the county of NORFOLK from actual survey by A Bryant made in the years 1824, 25 & 26, respectfully dedicated to the nobility, clergy & gentry of the county. Published in two parts, North and South, each 2.28m x 72cmm, it dates from December 1826. Linen backed and hand coloured, the map comes from The Peter and Pat Crofts Collection.

To view the map of Norfolk by A Bryant visit thesaleroom.com.

Gillows masterpiece

Gillows guide by Susan E Stuart - estimate £200-300 at Sworders.

Anyone interesting in collecting Gillows furniture should look no further than this lot estimated at £200-300. Susan E Stuart’s Gillows: of Lancaster and London 1730-1840, Cabinetmakers and International Merchants: A Furniture and Business History, comes in two volumes (Antique collectors’ club, 2008, first editions with dust jackets and slipcase).

To bid for Susan E Stuart’s Gillows history go to thesaleroom.com.