news + notes
Letters from Tudor Monarchs to the Man Who Survived Them BY SOTHEBY’S | JUL 9, 2019 It is a question many of us must have asked ourselves when watching Sunday night costume dramas on television, or visiting evocative historic palaces: could I have survived life at the Tudor court? Part of the public fascination with the Tudors is undoubtedly the fact that it was a time when politics was a game played for the highest possible stakes. Sotheby’s is fortunate to offer for sale six letters by three Tudor monarchs – Edward VI, Mary I (and her husband Philip of Spain), and Elizabeth I – written to one of the great survivors of the Tudor period, in July’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations sale. William Paget (1505-63) was a Londoner from a family of small fortune, but his formidable abilities as an administrator and diplomat led to a rapid rise through the royal bureaucracy not unlike that of his near-contemporary Thomas Cromwell. By the 1540s he was one of the men closest to the ailing, short-tempered and often malevolent King Henry VIII: physical proximity is a key to power in a personal monarchy and Paget became the key conduit to an increasingly reclusive monarch. Such positions bring wealth and power, and Paget soon accumulated vast estates from the recently-dissolved monasteries, but they also bring enemies. When Henry was on his deathbed, Paget struck a deal with Edward Seymour, the young Prince of Wales’s uncle, that would preserve his position. Thus, when the Prince became Edward VI, Seymour duly became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, with Paget as his principal advisor. The first lot in the sale is a letter from the early days of Edward VI’s regime, signed by Somerset and with a woodcut signature of the King. read entire story at sothebys.com
These Models Chart the Evolution of the Space Race BY HALINA LOFT | JUL 12, 2019 The Space Exploration auction features several rare, out-of-this-world models from the biggest moments in the space race. Tune into the auction on 20 July, 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM EDT in New York, or place your bid online now . This fantastic, rare modernist style contractor’s advertising model for the Altair rocket stage has it all: the starry sky, pictured on a metal plate behind the rocket, rotates, and the stars light up. A second window reveals a series of rocket features, and rotates on a metal plate. Starting in 1956, NASA & the US military commissioned the Hercules Powder Co. to develop solid-fuel rocket motors; this contract included Altair rocket stages for Vanguard rockets. This very rare, large cut-away model depicts the Apollo capsule, complete with three seated astronaut figures. Looking closely, you can see the highly-detailed silver Mercury-era spacesuits, complete with NASA meatball patches, name tags and other fine details. Models such as this, complete with highly detailed figures, are few and far between. This is an excellent model manufactured and used by NASA for educational purposes. read entire story at sothebys.com
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insight | second quarter 2019
