Part One
Sunday June 16, 12:00 PM
Sydney Rare Book Auctions is pleased to present the first auction of Crime Fiction books from the estate of the late Gary Gorton.
Gary was resident in Hong Kong for many years and more recently in Bangkok. He died suddenly in Bangkok in 2023. He lived most of his adult life in Asia and for fun he was collecting any book listed in Hubin’s Crime Fiction: A Comprehensive Bibliography.
The books he collected had to be first editions in dustwrapper and in very good condition. In his job as an international banker, he travelled widely and made contacts with dealers in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia and was always happy to entertain us when we were in Hong Kong or later in Bangkok. When visiting Gary I always felt privileged to view and handle his collection and it left me totally amazed that one person could put together such a collection of fine books.
Gary had an excellent memory and knew all the books and he had a good eye for detail and knew the correct first edition and all the necessary points. He could sit for hours and discuss the books and their content. Obviously, he had not read every book but he amazed me with the numbers he had not only read but remembered in detail.
This is the first of several auction catalogues of crime fiction we will be offering over the next several months.
The books are in wonderful condition. All of them are housed in a brodart cover. Some of the wrappers have professional repairs and some of the books have had the top stains refurbished. All of these individual faults and repairs have been noted in our description. Most of the repairs have been performed on the inside of the wrapper and are invisible to the naked eye.
Everyone who has wandered into our office in the last two months have used words like wonderful, unbelievable, stunning but I think that words cannot describe the collection.
Happy Hunting!
Catalogue
Sunday June 16, 12:00 PM
Online Timed auction
Viewing encouraged 10am – 4pm weekdays
Bidding absentee, on Invaluable and on our website.