Highlights from Forum Auctions' Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper Auction

Leading this week's featured lots is this sensational double series of all 12 aquatint views after Cockburn. This lot was a rare opportunity to acquire the complete double series of 'Views of Quebec' and 'Views of Niagara Falls'. As the most famous prints created by artists active in Canada in the 19th century, this lot eclipsed its £30,000-£40,000 estimate with a sensational hammer price of £130,000.

Next up is a lot that's perfect for historians, as it's an exact copy of King John's Great Charter of 1215, transcribed from the fire damaged but legible manuscript in the Cottonian Library. Arguably the most significant legal document, this hand-coloured copper engraving by John Pine, printed on vellum, hit a fantastic total hammer price of £24,000.

For our third pick this week, we've chosen this first edition copy of Graham Greene's 1939 classic The Confidential Agent. Among the rarest of any Greene title to find in the first issue dust-jacket, this copy surpassed its £6,000-£8,000 estimate with a hammer price of £10,000. The novel is known for being written in six weeks, at the same time as Greene's masterpiece The Power and the Glory, whilst under the influence of Benzedrine. Notably, Greene wrote the novel for money and wasn't a fan, despite its critical success.

This is the chosen lot for any aspiring alchemists. This collection of 100 aphorisms claims to set out the theory of the alchemical work and preparation of the Philosopher's Stone, and is Baron Urbigerus' foundational work on the Grand Elixir. This rare first English edition, published in 1690 for Henry Faithhorne, claimed an excellent final hammer price of £4,800

Our final pick for this week's featured lots is this fascinating author's own copy, first edition of Gold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Signed by her, with inscription to her husband alongside an accompanying sketch by fashion illustrator Francis Marshall, this is a wonderful association copy of Gibbon's satiric rural novel.