Historic Sunderland books fetch huge prices at Newcastle auction

A bound manuscript by Sunderland Echo founder Edward Backhouse sold for £400 which was above the estimate in the Anderson & Garland sale which was held this week in Newcastle.

Sunderland-linked items sell for hundreds

The work was titled "Sunderland and its Neighbourhood in the by-gone ages – from a period of 3000 years ago".

But it was not the only Wearside work which attracted plenty of interest at the auction.

Two manuscript volumes called 'Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of Elizabeth (Edward) Robson' - compiled by her daughter Mary Edward Backhouse in 1852 - sold for £650 compared to an estimate of £200.

And three manuscript extracts from the journal of Anne Capper of Stoke Newington, copied by Katherine Backhouse of Ashburne in 1870, were sold for £312.

Interest mounting in rare medal

Edward Backhouse was one of the founding fathers of the Sunderland Echo.

The collection of books which were auctioned at Anderson & Garland sold for more than £11,000 and all had links to the Quaker movement.

The auction was held in the same week that Anderson & Garland said interest was mounting in a rare 240-year-old medal which is going up for auction in Newcastle.

Experts have predicted that the 1781-dated Libertas Americana silver medal could fetch anything up to £80,000 at the Anderson & Garland sale in just under a month.

Public viewing of the medal will take place at Anderson and Garland’s Newcastle showroom on Friday 18 July (12.00 pm to 4.30 pm), Saturday 19 July (10.00 am to 12.30 pm), and Monday 21 July (10.00 am to 2.00 pm). The coin will be offered for sale in the Fine Silver and Objects of Vertu Auction on 22 July 2025. The coin is scheduled to be sold at 3:00 pm

Visit www.andersonandgarland.com for more information and register to bid.