Author: WILTSHIRE. BECKFORD (William)
Title: Magnificent Effects at Fonthill Abbey, Wilts. To be Sold by Auction, by Mr. Christie, on the Premises, on Tuesday, September 17, 1822, and eight following days... [London: George Sidney, printer,] 1822. 4to (210 x 170 mm), [2], iii, [2], 4-87, [1]pp. [Bound with:] The Valuable Library of Books, in Fonthill Abbey. A Catalogue of the Magnificent, Rare, and Valuable Library, (of 20,000 Volumes)... Which will be Sold by Auction, by Mr. Phillips, at the Abbey, on Tuesday the 9th of September, 1823...
Description: [London: J. Davy], 1823. Parts 1-4 (of six) only, the first four parts which takes the pagination up to page 278, the missing parts 5 and 6 carries the pagination on to page 391. Small 4to (215 x 175 mm), contemporary half calf, rubbed, rebacked with partial spine laid-down. Cancelled auction due to private purchase. A rare interleaved copy of the second issue, with modifications and additional lots, of the auction catalogue for the sale of Fonthill Abbey which never took place. To settle enormous debts, William Beckford put Fonthill Abbey and its contents up for sale. This auction catalogue of the pictures, furniture and various objets d'art was produced by Mr. Christie. "The original date for the auction was set for 17 September but then postponed to 1 October and then delayed again until 8 October. No cause for the delay was given to the public. Most assumed that this was due to the constant stream of visitors to the estate that seemed to increase on a weekly basis rather than diminish. What was not known was that negotiations were taking place behind the scenes to sell the entire estate..."—Gemmett. Before the much-hyped sale took place, Harry Phillips, a rival auctioneer, had been negotiating with Beckford a private sale behind Christie's back. Fonthill, its contents and 5000 acres of land was bought by John Farquhar, a Scottish gunpowder contractor, for £300,000. Farquhar, motivated more by speculation than genuine interest in the valuable contents of the Abbey, put the collection, including books and manuscripts, up for auction the following year. However, not all the items listed in the Christie sale were included as in the Sale Agreement Beckford was to retain a small select of chiefly pictures. Also, the most important exclusion from the sale was one third of the books and manuscripts of which Beckford himself was to have first choice. The auction of the contents of the Abbey, which Farquhar and Phillips held a year later 9 September—29 October 1823, consisted of 5,972 lots. "Some of the lots in 1823 very likely did not originate from Fonthill... Phillips, in fact, never denied publicly that additions were made and this complicates matters of attribution."—Gemmett. As a consequence, this catalogue of 1822 is of particular importance as it is a record of items that did originate from Fonthill Abbey. Gemmett, Sale Catalogues of Libraries of Eminent Persons, volume 3, pp.74-75; Gemmett, Beckford's Fonthill, pp.122-123.

Keywords: AUCTION CATALOGUE WILLIAM BECKFORD FONTHILL ABBEY COUNTRY HOUSE