Bonhams will offer one of the great modern era racing Aston Martins in its upcoming dedicated Aston Martin and related Automobilia London sale on 17 May 2008. The car is expected to fetch between £360,000 - 400,000 at auction.

Winning second place in the 2006 FIA GT Championship and campaigned by German team Phoenix Racing, the 2006 Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 Sports-Racing Coupé crowned a highly successful year with victory - crossing the finishing line in the season-closing event in Dubai.

Qualcomm Inc. has beaten several other bidders for 40 MHz (1452-1492 MHz) of L-Band radio spectrum in UK comms regulator Ofcom’s latest auction of frequencies, and will most likely use the frequencies for a mobile TV service with partners.

The chip group’s subsidiary, Qualcomm UK Spectrum Ltd, paid £8.34 million for the spectrum according to Ofcom.

Christie’s London Photographs sale realised £1,402, 525 in total.

The top lot was Satiric Dancer, 1926, by André Kertész which realised £228,500. Yuka Yamaji, Head of Photographs Department of Christie’s London said: “The 23 previously unseen prints by André Kertész were led by Satiric Dancer, 1926, which realised £228,500; seven of the top ten lots are by the artist. We are thrilled with the success of the 14 avant-garde works from the Springefeld Collection which realised a total of £238,075, far exceeding the pre-sale estimate for the group. This section reflects the continuing demand for fresh works of excellent quality and provenance and resulted in four new world auction records for the artist, for works by Walter Peterhans, Hugo Erfurth, Hein Gorny and Willy Zielke. We are very pleased that the new, innovative section of 27 Japanese post-war and contemporary works created widespread excitement, totalling £230,475, with Smash-up, 1969 by Daido Moriyama setting a world auction record for the artist, positioned 8th on the top ten. A further five world auction records were set by Kikuji Kawada, Keizo Kitajima, Asako Narahashi, Mika Ninagawa and Rinko Kawauchi. The strength of the market for Japanese photo-books is notable, with two world auction records set by Chizu – The Map, 1965 by Kawada and Farewell Photography, 1972 by Moriyama, with competitive bidding for the complete set of Provoke. We look forward to our next Photograph sales at King Street and South Kensington in November.”

A jealous British husband who accused his wife of having an affair with a workmate took online revenge, by placing her for sale on eBay.

Paul Osborn, 44, evicted his wife of 24 years, Sharon, from their marital home, then advertised her on the internet site for sale, The Sun newspaper reported Thursday.

“I started checking her emails and I realized the rumors were true,” he said. “They had been discussing their sex life together and making plans for the future. I was absolutely destroyed. I gathered all her stuff in bags and dumped it in the drive.”

Osborn told The Sun he initially agreed to take his wife back but decided more drastic measures were needed after he again became suspicious. He created an eBay auction offering his “cheating, lying, adulterous slag of a wife” to the highest bidder. Bids reached more than 1 million U.S. dollars.

Sharon Osborn denies cheating on her husband and has filed a police complaint against him for harassment, the newspaper report said.

A letter by Albert Einstein was sold yesterday at Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair, London, for a world record £170,000.

The letter, written in German in 1954 to philosopher Eric Gutkind, was sold in London, England, to a private collector. Extra phone lines had to be installed to cope with worldwide interest.

It was expected to fetch up to £8,000.

In the letter, Einstein, who was Jewish, rejects the notion that Jews were God’s chosen people

“For me, the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions,” he wrote.

He added that “the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong, and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity, have no different quality for me than all other people.

“As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise, I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”

The Charterhouse auction on Friday 16th May of nearly 1,200 includes everything you need for a great party.

With over 400 lots of wine, port and spirits, the party should get going pretty quickly. “There are bottles of wine estimated from modest sums up to over £50, although this should maybe be reserved for a more special occasion!” Commented Richard Bromell. “For the music, we have a Bechstein upright piano, requiring some restoration estimated a couple hundred pounds, but I think I would rather put my money into the early 1950’s American Seeburg jukebox at £1,000. The play list has golden oldie music listings such as fox trots, rumbas and western, but the vendor has updated all the singles to include Jimi Hendrix and Robbie Williams. However, perhaps one of the ultimate party accessories to have must be the George III silver two handled tray, which, estimated at up to £2,000, could be the best way to serve your guest with their drinks.”

Viewing for this auction on Friday 16th May is on the 14th 10-4 & 15th 10-7. Catalogues are available from the auctioneers or you can browse the sale on their web site

www.charterhouse-auctions.co.uk

Charterhouse is now accepting entries for their forthcoming programme of auctions including clocks and collectors items in June, classic cars, motorbikes and automobilia in July and Beswick and Royal Doulton in August. For further information regarding this auction, or to arrange a free home visit throughout the West Country, please contact Richard Bromell, Partner, at Charterhouse, The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne 01935 812277

A toy racing car, fetched a record £11,520, four times more than expected, at a Bonham’s auction yesterday.

The clockwork racer, with crouching driver and passenger figures, was made by the pioneer German toymaker Gunthermann around the turn of the 20th century.