STAFFORDSHIRE. ALTON TOWERS.. Catalogue of the Magnificent Contents of Alton Towers, the Princely Seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury, which (by Order of the Executors of the Late Right Hon. Bertram Arthur, Earl of Shrewsbury) Will be Sold by Auction, by Messrs. Christie & Manson, at the Towers, on Monday, July 6, 1857, and Twenty-Nine Following Days.1857

[Printed by W. Clowes and Sons]. Large 8vo (243 x 147 mm), iv, 219, [1]pp., the first thirteen days of the sale (1636 lots) with prices and buyers names' supplied in the neat contemporary hand, front inner hinge slightly shaken, orig. red embossed cloth, head and foot of spine light chipped otherwise a very good copy. Catalogue of the entire contents of Alton Towers other than the library, which was sold in two separate auctions in 1857 and 1858. This was one of the major art sales of the nineteenth century, nearly 4000 lots fetched the princely sum of £42,198. Loosely inserted is a 32 page illustrated pamphlet "John Heywood's Illustrated Guide to Alton Towers, Rudyard and Leek", c. 1900. Provenance: From the library of Josceline Grove, with bookplate and their typed catalogue description pasted to front endpapers. Holmes, p.20.