Heywood Hill Announces the Sale of Author George MacDonald Fraser’s Working Library
George MacDonald Fraser’s personal collection of books will be available to purchase from 2 June to 30 July at the Mayfair bookseller. The sale includes the historical source material and fictional influences for all MacDonald Fraser’s work including for the incomparable Flashman novels.
Caro Fraser, the novelist and daughter of George MacDonald Fraser, said, “Heywood Hill was my father’s favourite bookshop. We wanted the books that he loved, and really used, to find good homes. When going through the books in his study I discovered an unpublished typescript which Heywood Hill will be publishing later this spring. This autobiographical sketch encapsulates my father’s character and his view of the world. We think it is charming and we hope his readers will agree.”
Nicky Dunne, chairman of Heywood Hill said, “In this case books truly reveal the man. This collection shows why Macdonald Fraser's novels and non-fiction packed such an unforgettable punch. He was steeped in the history of the high Victorian period and the fiction it generated. He bought books not just for research but also for pleasure, to be read and then re-read. The sale of his working library is an opportunity for his readers and devotees to purchase the very books that contributed to George Macdonald Fraser's unique sensibility and style.'
George MacDonald Fraser personal collection consists of over 2500 books. Every aspect of MacDonald Fraser’s life and career as a professional writer is represented, from the authors and books that fired his imagination as a boy—Arthur Mee, R M Ballantyne, Rafael Sabatini, his own copy of Tom Brown’s Schooldays—to the histories and memoirs from which he distilled the essence of British imperial life, good and bad.
In May 2014 Heywood Hill will publish a recently discovered autobiographical sketch by the great man. George MacDonald Fraser’s library will be available to view in Heywood Hill’s basement antiquarian room from Tuesday 20 May until Saturday 31 May. Electronic and printed catalogues will be issued on Tuesday 20 May. The books will be available for sale from Monday 2 June until Thursday 31 July 2014. All books will include a posthumous bookplate from the library of George MacDonald Fraser.
