Catalogue of The Collection of Pictures, Works of Art, and Decorative Objects, the Property of His Grace The Duke of Hamilton, K.T.

which Will be Sold by Auction by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods.
London: Christie, Manson & Woods. 1882.

Barry Humphries's copy.

8vo. 235x155mm. pp. 234. Illustrated with black and white photographs. Original red cloth lettered in gilt on upper cover and spine. Spine a little faded. Slight bumping to extremities and marking to lower cover. Hinges cracked and a number of leaves loose. Upper cover has ownership inscription of Wroth A. Lethbridge. This is Sir Wroth Acland Lethbridge (1831-1902). His bookplate is on the front pastedown as is that of Barry Humphries, the celebrated comic and bibliophile. 
Lethbridge clearly attended the sale (he bought an item) and studied it closely afterwards as he has noted, in a neat hand in red ink, the price that each lot brought along with the name of the successful bidder (including Lethbridge himself).
William Douglas-Hamilton (1845-1895), 12th Duke of Hamilton inherited his Dukedom. This came with land, money, houses (including Hamilton Palace) and a mountain of debt. He then spent the next twenty years adding hugely to the last of these. As well as racehorses and yachts, he bought items for the family collection (his tastes were quirky). Over seventeen days in June and July 1882, in an attempt to stem the flow, he sold over two thousand items in what has been described as "the most magnificent sale of a single collection that has ever been held anywhere". It raised £397,562 (all neatly noted by Lethbridge) but more significantly, it marked