A COLLECTION of more than 1,000 signatures from famous figures from the past five centuries, including Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington, could fetch up to £30,000 at auction.
John Evans amassed the collection, which also includes the signatures of Sir Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling, William Wordsworth and Arthur Conan Doyle, over 50 years until his death, aged 90, in 2007.
The earliest signature is from the 1st Duke of Marlborough and dates from 1697.
Dating from 1861, the signature of Dickens is on a Coutts £35 cheque for a piece of silver.
Most former prime ministers, from Robert Walpole to Tony Blair, have their signatures featured in either bound albums or signed books, along with the signature of ex-Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.
The collection, which auctioneers have described as “breathtaking”, also features photographs signed by the first men to land on the Moon, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Passionate about politics, Mr Evans, from Worthing, West Sussex, was a former magician turned anti- vivisection campaigner who gathered some of the signatures personally from encounters with famous faces.
Auctioneer Paul Campbell, of Campbells Auctioneers of Worthing, predicts the collection could fetch between £25,000 and £30,000 when it comes up for sale on January 24.
Mr Campbell said: “It’s been such a privilege to turn the pages of one man’s life and passion and to see and consider the history he brought together.
“The Dalai Lama is next to Spencer Perceval, the prime minister who was murdered inside the House of Commons in 1812.
“Many of the more modern names in the collection John Evans met personally,” he added.
“He bought from a number of sources, from shops and auctions to country house sales, and I’m sure it’s going to be a most historic sale.
“The contrasts are just breathtaking.”
Mr Evans was fascinated by the Duke of Wellington and his collection also includes several letters from him, as well as a lock of hair and an invitation to his funeral.
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