Hesketh's High Spots Go to Auction

Yesterday Sotheby's London announced some of the high spots of its December sale of Lord Hesketh's high spots. Audubon's Birds of America, the first folio of Shakespeare, William Caxton's Polychronicon, letters signed by Queen Elizabeth I, and original drawings from Redoute's Les Roses. From the press release: "The majority of the works in the sale were acquired by Frederick, 2nd Baron Hesketh (1916-1955), who bought them in a golden age of book collecting, when, paradoxically, great rarities seemed almost commonplace." There's also a nice write-up in the Guardian ("World's most expensive book comes up for sale") in which it is estimated that the sale will bring in a total of 8 million-10 million pounds ($12-15 million).