Prime ministers' signatures to be sold in Cirencester auction

The collection features the signatures of every prime minister

A collection featuring the signatures of all the UK's 55 prime ministers is expected to fetch up to £15,000 at auction.

Collector Hamilton Bland spent years compiling the rare manuscripts, letters and deeds.

Spanning more than 300 years, it begins with Sir Robert Walpole in the 18th Century and ends with Boris Johnson.

Mr Bland said: "None of them are prints - they were all signed properly by hand."

'Authenticity is everything'

In the collection each signature is positioned next to a portrait of the corresponding prime minister in 10 frames.

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It will be made available for public viewing three days before it goes under the hammer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, on Thursday, December 16.

Mr Bland explained that signatures of "more recent prime ministers were pretty easy to get hold of as there are quite a few on the market".

But ones from earlier prime ministers, especially those that did not serve for long, were "very difficult to find".

Mr Bland spent years compiling the collection

He said it took "five years to get an original signature of William Cavendish, the fourth Duke of Devonshire".

He added: "Authenticity is everything. All of the signatures in the collection have been independently verified and authenticated, so it's a real piece of history."

The piece is expected to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000 when it goes under the hammer.

One of those eagerly awaiting to see how it does it the currently prime minister himself, according to Mr Bland.

'Remarkable'

In a letter to the collector, he called the piece "remarkable" and said he was "really excited to see how it does".

Chris Albury, an autographs specialists at the auctioneers, said it was a "comprehensive collection of British political history".

He said it tracked the UK's history "with political parties coming and going over the years, and through major events such as the American Declaration of Independence, the French Revolution, and two world wars".