Dear MMDs,  The large winter auction of automatas and mechanical music
instruments, fairground artifacts and phonographs (more than 240 items)
will take place in Chartres (1 hour from Paris, France), on Sunday,
December 7th.  (At least two specialized auctions each year, since now
30 years).

The catalogue will be soon posted on the MMD web pages (see at the end
of this posting).

Amidst the many interesting items, you will notice :

- Many fine automatas by Bontems, Decamps, Lambert ("Pierrot singing
for the Moon", "A conjuror"), Renou, Roullet-Decamps, Theroude, Vichy,
etc.

- Cylinder and disc musical boxes, good snuffboxes (one by Alibert),
musical picture-clocks, and many musical novelties

- Portable organs (a good Thibouville-Lamy to restore, with 5 stops and
percussions), an Orchestrelle Aeolian Model O, organettes, mechanical
accordions, etc.

- Many phonographs and records, and fairground artifacts

- Good and various documentation (in English, German and French), about
mechanical music and fairground art

The catalogue is being printed and will be very soon on its way to the
subscribers (8 euros for one catalogue, or 20 euros for four catalogues
for two years).  All inquiries should be directed to :

Galerie de Chartres
Me Jean-Pierre Lelievre - Pascal Maiche - Alain Paris
Commissaires-priseurs associes
10, rue Claude Bernard - ZA du Coudray BP 70129 - 28003 Chartres Cedex
Tel.*  +33 (0) 2 37 88 28 28
Fax * : + 33 (0) 2 37 88 28 20
E-mail: chartres@galeriedechartres.com
(* Do not dial the first (0) if you are outside France).

This event is announced well in advance on the agenda of the web site
http://www.musicamecanica.org/

The complete catalogue will be published in English and French, thanks
to Robbie Rhodes, Jody Kravitz and Joyce Brite, on the web site of the
MMD at :

http://mmd.foxtail.com/Auctions/

(The complete results of the auction will be posted there too, and
you may look at the catalogues of the previous auctions since Dec.
1998).

Last but not the least ... for those interested in

- magic or conjuror's artifacts and books, there is a large
specialized auction (with catalogue) on Sunday, December 7th, starting
at 12 h (noon) just before the mechanical music auction.

- dolls, there is a large specialized auction (and a special catalogue
in French) on Saturday, December 6th, with several hundred lots.

With best regards,

Philippe Rouille (Paris, France)
http://www.musicamecanica.org/