The deceased Charlie Watts, legendary drummer Rolling Stones, had a large collection of books filled with first editions. Among them, a first copy of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, by Arthur Conan Doyle, whose protagonist is the detective Sherlock Holmes.
In an auction held by Christie’s, the latter was sold for a record figure: 214,200 pounds sterling – which is equivalent to just over 247,000 euros. According to The Independent, this is a new world record for the sale of works written by Conan Doyle. Until now, the most that had been paid for a first edition by this author is 165,279 pounds – 191,060 euros – for a copy of ‘ The sign of the four’ sold in 2022.
The copy auctioned for this record amount that belonged to Charlie Watts had a handwritten message on the cover from the writer himself: “I toured Dartmoor before writing this book.”
Along with this work, 25 Agatha Christie novels that were part of the drummer’s private collection were also auctioned. The most notable sale of this set has been an edition of ‘Miss Marple and the Thirteen Problems’ sold for 60,480 pounds – 27,433 euros. This is also a record since according to the same media the maximum previously paid for this work had been 47,880 pounds.