Dear MMDs,  The traditional auction of mechanical music and automatas
will take place in Chartres (1 hour from Paris, France) on Sunday May
24th.  Ca. 150 items are for sale:

- About 40 good automatas and some singing birds in cage or tabatières,
by Bontems, Decamps, Phalibois, Renou, Vichy (a clown with an umbrella,
acrobats), etc.

- Many items in mechanical music, amidst them:

= Two portable barrel organs, one by Kamenik and another one by Bruder
Söhne, dated Sept 16th 1900 on the tune sheet;

= A small vertical piano in the Hicks manner, a small barrel piano,
and a Swedish Andersson barrel piano;

= A 73 notes piano melodico;

= Several perroquettes, serinettes and organettes;

= A large and good orchestral musical box on a table with six 36 cm
cylinders;

= many various musical boxes (disc or cylinder) and a rare carillon
musical picture clock;

= A large "Voix célestes" musical box;

= Many musical novelties (albums, tiles, etc.);

- Some fairground artifacts and phonographs;

- Related books, documentation, etc.

The catalogue in French will be posted at the beginning of May on
a French auction web site: http://www.interencheres.com/28001 

All inquiries should be directed only to the auction house, Galerie de
Chartres, at <chartres@galeriedechartres.com>

Their complete address, telephone, fax, etc. is on the "News" section
of the web site musicamecanica at
http://www.musicamecanica.org/musica_mecanica/a/actu/index.html 

Denis Lambotte is the new consultant in charge.  He is a friend, and
very knowledgable.

You may look at the Chartres catalogues with the realized prices these
last years on the MMD web site at
http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Auctions 

I wish you all a fine day!  Best regards,
Philippe Rouillé
Paris, France
http://www.musicamecanica.org/