London – On 15 September Bonhams Knightsbridge's Instruments of Science and Technology Sale achieved remarkable results. The highlight of the sale was a very rare Joseph Moxon 2 ¾-inch pocket globe which sold for £187,750 against an estimate of £15,000-20,000 - a new world record for a British pocket globe. It was part of Stephen Edell's 20-lot collection of globes which 100% sold and achieved a total of £465,208, over 5 times its low estimate.

The 199-lot sale achieved a total of £994,468 selling by lot 84% and by value 95%.

The 17th and 18th centuries in Europe were a time of great discovery, in both a scientific and explorative sense. Gentleman of means set sail for ever more distant lands, either in search of trade or simply for the thrill of uncovering new territories not yet seen. Upon returning from their voyages, they would meet in coffee houses to discuss both astronomy and the latest discoveries from around the world. In order to chart their findings, they were frequently armed with pocket globes – upon which they would mark their travels. 12 pocket globes such as these are offered in the sale.

Stephen Edell began collecting globes fifty years ago, fascinated both by their elegance of design and sophisticated cartography. Some of the globes within his collection are marked with the latest epic voyages by such navigators as Francis Drake and James Cook, as well as some non-existent features such as the outline of the Great South Continent, the globes being only as geographically accurate as the current knowledge allowed.

The top-lot in the sale was a very rare Joseph Moxon 2 ¾-inch pocket globe, English, circa 1675. Joseph Moxon was only the second person in Europe to make pocket globes. This particularly globe shows California as an island, tracks Sir Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish's voyages and uses a combination of Latin and English names. It sold for £187,750 over 12-times its low estimate. Also, part of the collection was a rare Johann Baptist Homann 2 ½-inch pocket globe and armillary sphere in case, Nuremberg, circa 1715 which sold for £77,750. The two globes achieved the second and third highest prices ever paid for pocket globes at auction.

Also, part of the sale was an 80-lot microscope collection charting over 250 years of technological innovation in the field across the United Kingdom and Europe. It included examples by acclaimed instrument makes of the 18th and 19th centuries like Culpeper, Benjamin Martin, Adams, and Dollond. The owner of this collection, Dr Murray Mackinnon, founded MacKinnon's of Dyce in the early 1980s, a family-owned pharmacy business which grew to become the leading independent photographic retailer in Scotland. His career deepened his fascination with ocular instruments and visual media, a passion he indulged by collecting microscopes, scientific instruments, and photography for over four decades. The top lot of the collection was an Edmund Culpeper Compound Monocular Microscope, English, circa 1730 which sold for £19,000. Overall, the collection made £162,899 with 72 of the 80 lots selling.

Managing Director of Bonhams, Knightsbridge, Jon Baddeley, said:
"The result of yesterday's sale is testament to the passion and eye of Stephen Edell. After fifty years of collecting, we were privileged to offer this rare collection which included some of the finest examples the market has ever seen. As a result, both this collection, the MacKinnon collection, and the rest of the sale were met with immense enthusiasm from bidders with prices that seemed from another planet."

Other highlights from the sale:

• A fine and rare Thomas Blunt Combines Planetarium, Lunarian and Tellurium, English. Early 19th century. Sold for £112,750
• A Rare edition of the 'Signal Key for the Radio Signal Service'. For Enigma Use. German, 1939. Sold for £55,250
• A Leica 1 Model A, circa 1925. Sold for £21,500

15/09/2021