This auction featured a number of items by or about Ion Idriess. I thought Paul Feain of Sydney Rare Book Auctions had auctioned off all of Idriess' estate already, but he had a few more manuscripts up his sleeve - mainly typed copies of published works. The SRBA March auction did include a couple of unpublished works, which we hope would be published someday by whoever acquired them. The manuscripts of this auction (seven of them) sold for between $90 and $850, which were reasonable prices for the buyers. I bid on the one which eventually went for $90 - it was typed notes for the end of Gold-dust and Ashes, which apparently differed somewhat from the published version. Pity to miss it, but I had my eye on some other items.
The most notable lot for me was the one that featured a Gold-dust and Ashes reprint and a first edition Forty Fathoms in poor condition - with a starting bid of $20. Except that I quickly realized that the GD and A reprint was none other than the very rare special 1933 limited edition (200 copies) in faux leather of GD and A which sells for upward of a $1000! Paul F must have had a senior's moment listing it for only $20! It may be that it didn't actually have the signed and numbered page, but still worth a lot more than $20 - which someone else also realised - it went for $400 in the end.
The other pricey Idriess item was Cyaniding for Gold, which was passed in for $800 - which was actually a good price for Cyaniding with a dust-jacket (even though this one was bandaged up with a little bit of tape). A facsimile copy of Cyaniding sold for $190. Of course for all these auction lots you need to add 27% buyer's premium and P and P.
A lot with three first editions in good condition with DJs (Challenge of the North, Coral Sea Calling and Tracks of Destiny) went for $275 - probably not too bad, as Challenge itself is often on the market for between $100 and $200.
The boxed set of Guerrilla Series facsimile edition 1999 with slipcase (by Idriess Enterprises Pty Ltd Uralla and limited to 500 copies) sold for $200, a good buy. Other lots included Gouger of the Bulletin (2008) - $40 - good at that price; A Back O'Cairns poster - $120; and a lot of 8 Idriess books, some more modern - but the pick of which was a 9th Edition of Prospecting 1946 (often seen for well over $100), a Fortunes in Minerals 1963 in good DJ (also often over $100) and The Diamond (listed as a reprint, but usually considered a first ed in its own right - not least of all by Feain and Aroney!) - all sold for $90 - a bargain.
Two interesting items were photos of Idriess. An unsigned one - the classic one of Idriess in a hat - went for $150; and a signed photo - another classic one of idriess in front of a map of Australia sitting at a desk with a stack of his books while reading Lightning Ridge - cigarette in mouth - went for $450 - which seems a lot for this lot!
That's my take on this auction. It shows there is still interest in Idriess and for some items, very good interest. But I may have to get a bigger piggy bank!