Roald Dahl sketches sell for almost £24,000 at auction

Original drawings by Roald Dahl which were found in an envelope have sold for almost £24,000.

The collection of sketches were produced by Dahl in black ball point pen for his memoir, Boy (1984), in which he describes his experience of growing up.

They were found in an envelope marked “Dahl’s drawings & odds and sods”, which belonged to Ian Craig (1944-2023), art director at the author’s publishing firm, Jonathan Cape, in London.

Mr Craig, who died in 2023, created the final illustrations for the book, inspired by Dahl’s drawings.

Rare manuscripts signed by Stuart royals also went under the hammer (Lyon and Turnbull/Stewart AttwoodPA)

The sketches were auctioned as part of the production archive from the late Mr Craig’s estate and sold for £23,940 when they went under the hammer at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

Dominic Somerville-Brown, Lyon & Turnbull’s rare books & manuscripts specialist, said: “This archive is unique in the Roald Dahl canon – it’s very rare to find material by his own hand.

“This is reflected in the price achieved which also demonstrates the enduring popularity of his children’s stories 35 years after his death.”

Dahl died in 1990 aged 74 and Boy is the only book which he produced illustrations for during his career of almost five decades.

In the book, he writes about his childhood exploits, including playing a prank with his friends on the local sweetshop owner, Mrs Pratchett, by putting a dead mouse in a gobstopper jar.

To accompany the story, Dahl drew a mouse lying on top of the sweets with its legs in the air.

The collection of Roald Dahl sketches fetched almost £24,000 (Lyon & Turnbull/Stewart Attwood/PA)PA Media - Lyon & Turnbull/Stewart Attwood

The collection of sketches was bought by a single buyer who wished to remain anonymous.

A collection of rare manuscripts from Kilravock Castle, near Nairn in Highlands, also went under the hammer on Wednesday.

It included a selection of letters and documents signed by Mary Queen of Scots, her father, James V, son, James VI and I, and mother, Mary of Guise.

The collection sold for £124,614 to a number of different buyers as part of Lyon & Turnbull’s Books & Manuscript auction.

Described as one of the most important collections of historical Scottish manuscripts ever offered for sale, it included a letter from Mary, Queen of Scots to the Laird of Kilravock, appointing him Sheriff for Inverness and dated September 26 1565.

The letter, signed by both the Queen (“Marie R.”) and her then husband, Henry Stewart, Earl of Darnley (“Henry R.”) sold for £15,120.

Another of her letters, again signed jointly by the pair, in which they remove the charge of Inverness Castle from the Laird of Kilravock and give it to the Earl of Huntly, dated October 9 1565, went for £11,340.

A group of five letters from her mother, Mary of Guise, sold for £6,930.

Cathy Tait, head of books & manuscripts at Lyon & Turnbull, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the results of the archive from Kilravock Castle.

“There was a great deal of interest from a wide range of collectors, both private and institutional.”

“The documents sold today comprise a range of very old and important items, illuminating Scotland’s history, and we are pleased that they have found good homes.”

All prices include buyer’s premium.