First edition Great Gatsby among items owned by Charlie Watts set for auction

A collection of first edition books owned by the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will be auctioned off.

Some of the highlights from Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone include a first edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles and a first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which has been inscribed by the author.

The flagship sale, from British auction house Christie’s, is called Charlie Watts: Literature and Jazz Part I and will take place in London on September 28.

A part-two online sale is open for bidding from September 15-29.

A Christie’s art handler holds a first edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (Jonathan Brady/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jonathan Brady

Also among the collection is a first edition of Gustave Dore and William Blanchard Jerrold’s London, A Pilgrimage.

The book is inscribed by The Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger and says: “To Charlie Happy Christmas 2016 Mick”.

Christie’s books and manuscripts specialist Mark Wiltshire holds a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, inscribed by the author (Jonathan Brady/PA)PA Wire/PA Images - Jonathan Brady

Other items going under the hammer include a George Gershwin-signed and printed score of the opera Porgy and Bess, a score from the American jazz pianist Count Basie and a concert programme signed by Louis Armstrong and other jazz greats.

Watts died in a London hospital in August 2021 aged 80.