Rare Cricket Books from the Christopher Saunders Collection to Auction

A sale of rare cricket books, memorabilia, and artworks from one of the sport’s most respected collectors will go under the hammer on October 28 at Chorley's' 'The Cricket Auction: The Collection of Christopher Saunders'.

Christopher Saunders has been a central figure in cricket collecting since the 1980s, producing more than 100 specialist catalogues and sourcing material from important libraries including those of Irving Rosenwater, A. E. Winder, John Arlott and Gordon Ross. Originally opening a book shop in Wells, Somerset, Chris Saunders relocated his business to the Forest of Dean in 1990. Now, his own carefully assembled collection is being offered at auction.

Highlights include:

• an extremely rare poetry anthology The Galaxy. Consisting of a variety of sacred and other poetry. The whole original and new (1790) featuring one of the earliest printed poems on cricket (which starts: “Describe, my quill/In Cricket skill/Twin’d bat recite/Both strong and light) absent from the MCC collection and held by only two libraries worldwide (estimate: £2,000–£3,000)
• Le Jeu de la Crosse engraving (c.1748) by Hubert-François Bourguignon, widely known as Gravelot, one of the earliest visual depictions of cricket (estimate £500–£700)
• Xavier Le Prince’s Les Jeux des Jeunes Garçons (1821), a rare illustrated volume including an early coloured depiction of cricket, or “le criquet” (estimate £1,200–£1,800)
• W.G. Grace Manuscript 1885 autograph letter written on Gloucestershire County Cricket Club headed paper to Herbert Page who played for Gloucestershire and Oxford University
• a wide selection of Wisden's Cricketers' Almanacks and various historic tour books