Bloomsbury Book Auctions , antiquarian book auctioneers

Bloomsbury Book Auctions was founded in March 1983 by three former employees of Sotheby's. Lord John Kerr (chairman and head of the new auction house) was a known figure in the book trade and had been for eighteen years head of Sotheby's book department; Frank Herrmann (in charge of Bloomsbury's financial and marketing requirements) was a director in charge of Sotheby's overseas operations, and a publisher and author in his own right; and David Stagg (Managing Director and organiser of the sales) who had worked for many years at Sotheby's Hodgson's Rooms in Chancery Lane and subsequently run the 'fast' book sales at the Aeolian Hall.

The company was set up as Kerr Herrmann and Stagg Limited trading as Bloomsbury Book Auctions. The premises of the new auction house were initially in the basement of Frank Herrmann's own house at 6a Bedford Square, and sales were held in local hotels. Within a year it was obvious that larger premises which could include a sales room on site were needed, and in August 1984 the business moved into 3/4 Hardwick Street, originally a four storey toy warehouse in Islington.

Bloomsbury Book Auctions was the first book auction house to be established in London for over 150 years; and was the only one at the time which concentrated exclusively on selling antiquarian books and manuscript material. It specialised in books, manuscripts, atlases, maps and prints, and was particularly interested in the sale of working libraries of an academic or specialist nature. With such specialisation and a high reputation in the book trade its success was almost immediate. Buyers and sellers came from all over the world. In 1993 tenth anniversary celebrations were held; five years later the business was sold by the original directors. The auction house continues to trade, although from March 2004 the name changed to Bloomsbury Auctions Limited, another move was made to Maddox Street in Mayfair, and the scope of items to be sold was expanded.