THE collection of letters which formed the bestselling Henry Root books by satirist William Donaldson are included in the Charterhouse two-day auction on April 20 and 21 in Sherborne, Dorset.

“William Donaldson certainly was an interesting person. Educated at Winchester College and then Cambridge he clearly led a varied life having made and lost fortunes.” Commented Richard Bromell. “The Letters are hilarious. Although I was just too young to read his books when they came out, I must admit to have spent probably too much time working on so called research today having now read most of them!”

The Henry Root books of letters poked fun at leading politicians, stars of stage and screen, musicians, newspaper editors, Lords, other dignitaries and even The Queen generally without them knowing. He usually included a £1 note as a donation which was sometimes kept and sometimes returned.

The Henry Root Letters are being sold by the late William Donaldson’s third wife. William Donaldson passed away in 2005 aged 70 and Mrs Donaldson moved to the West Country a few years ago.

Having stored the archive in several boxes for years, she has decided now is the time for her to dispose of the collection. In addition to the Letters, there is correspondence to and from William Donaldson and his publishers, friends and acquaintances, some letters which were not featured in either of the volumes, newspaper cuttings, signed presentation books, numerous photographs and ephemera, with the whole collection expected to sell for thousands of pounds.

Charterhouse is now accepting entries for their spring programme of auctions of books and pictures with a selection of hunting, shooting, fishing and other sporting items in their two day April 20 and 21 auction and their two day May 18 and 19 auction featuring silver, watches, jewellery with specialist sections of wine, port and whisky and Royal Doulton and Beswick. They are also accepting entries for their specialist auction of classic cars on Wednesday, April 12 followed by classic motorcycles on Wednesday, May 10.

For further information regarding these auctions, or to arrange a home visit, contact Matthew Whitney or Richard Bromell at Charterhouse on 01935-812277 or email items for valuation at info@charterhouse-auction.com