ORIGINAL illustrations for Ladybird books by the artist John Berry proved much in demand when they came up for auction at Tennants of Leyburn.

The first part of the John Berry Collection, comprising 24 lots of colourful gouache illustrations, reached a combined hammer price of £11,750.

The two top lots from the collection sold well over their saleroom estimate. A group of four illustrations from People at Work: The Shipbuilders sold for £1,200 against an estimate of £250-400, and a group of two illustrations from People at Work: The Life-Boat Men sold for £1,150 against an estimate of £250-400.

The second half of the collection will go under the hammer at Tennants’ next sale of books, maps, prints and manuscripts on August 2.