Wodehouse Pocket Watch & Typescript Led Freeman’s Sale
P.G. Wodehouse’s Pocket Watch, which was elaborately engraved with the author’s monogram, sold for $4,375.
Philadelphia— Continuing its success with private collections and single-owner sales, Freeman’s achieved a 96% sell-through rate for its May 7 auction of The P.G. Wodehouse Collection of William Toplis. The house is pleased to add this strong sell-through rate for a single-owner collection to its list of recent single-owner sale successes.
THE P.G. WODEHOUSE COLLECTION OF WILLIAM TOPLIS
Comprising nearly 200 lots that included first editions, manuscripts, original art, sheet music, libretti, scripts, and much more, the comprehensive, albeit niche, collection elicited interest from Wodehouse aficionados worldwide.
DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN ATTRACTS NEW BIDDERS
As a result of a robust digital marketing campaign combined with direct outreach to Wodehouse societies and collectors around the globe, 40% of buyers in this auction were new to Freeman’s--a statistic that is consistent with the company’s average for online auctions in 2020. Aggressive and lengthy bidding wars erupted for many of the collection’s most covetable lots, driving selling prices far past their pre-sale estimates.
TOP LOTS: POCKET WATCH AND TYPESCRIPT
Most notably, Lot 177: P.G. Wodehouse’s Pocket Watch, which was elaborately engraved with the author’s monogram, sold for over ten times its high estimate to achieve $4,375. The sale was led by Lot 24: A corrected typescript of Do Butlers Burgle Banks, which featured extensive autographs revisions and annotations in pencil and red and blue ink by Wodehouse himself; the lot exceeded expectations to sell for $8,750.
SINGLE OWNER SALES: FREEMAN’S FOCUS
Selling works from private & corporate collections --whether as stand-alone single-owner sales or featured works within departmental auctions--is considered to be one of Freeman’s strongest areas of achievement. Recent successes include The Collection of Robert J. Morrison; The Collection of Richard E. Oldenburg; The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer; The Jeff Hunter Collection; and The Collection of Dorrance “Dodo” H. Hamilton.
