A COLLECTION of rare pieces charting Bradford's social history dating back to the 1830s will go under the hammer.
Items including books, receipts, Victorian satirical election posters and theatre programmes will be part of an auction, held by Halfway Auctions in Shipley, on Monday, August 2.
Among the theatre programmes being auctioned is a Christmas Pantomime performed for local children at the end of World War Two at the Alhambra and a rare world premier of Bradford-born playwright J B Priestley's play 'Home is Tomorrow' dating back to 1948.
A large selection of bill or fly posters will also be auctioned from the Bradford by-election of 1867.
They were early examples of political satire of the era with these humorous cartoons being printed to provoke public support.
A large satirical poster, 'Bradford Borough Steeple Chase October 15th 1867', shows the two main candidates on racehorses approaching the final hurdle.
The poster was printed in Bradford by Armitage and Ibbotson whose monogram can be seen on the poster.
A set of similar posters for Bradford elections was sold at Bonhams in 2004 for more than £300. They are rare as they were printed on thin paper and designed to be pasted on billboards so few now survive.
Meanwhile, the books section of the auction features one of the earliest books to be printed in Saltaire in 1873.
The printer was a Bradford resident named Abraham Holroyd who moved to Saltaire on the invitation of Sir Titus Salt.
Holroyd used to run a stationery shop in Bradford and counted the Bronte sisters among his customers.
He also published the first monthly magazine in Bradford during the 1860s.
The book printed in Saltaire contains two poems by the Bronte sisters and is being auctioned with another book of Yorkshire poems with contributions by several Victorian Bradford poets, whose brief biographies are also included with their poems.
Elsewhere, a small collection of receipts provides an insight into the lives of middle class Bradfordians with large orders of tea, coffee, candles and raw sugar all from the 1860s mostly ordered by one resident of Listerhills.
A limited edition colour print of plans for an extension to the Norman Arch in Lister Park (1924) accompanies three original miniature watercolours of Heaton. The watercolour was painted by a council planner to provide an 'artists impression' of the proposed work.
Charlotte Richards, Halfway Auctions owner, said: "We like to support anything local really.
"They are part of the social history of Bradford.
"We're very proud of our heritage and we love to sell local items."
The auction sale at Halfway Auctions of Dockfield Road begins at 5.30pm with viewing from 1pm until the start of the sale. Potential buyers must register before the auction in order to bid.
Go to halfway-auctions.com, call 07508 427 088 or 01274 592 001 or email info@halfway-auctions.com for more information.
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