BOSTON, Mass. – March 18, 2002 -- –www.skinnerinc.com -- Skinner, Inc., one of the nation’s leading auction houses, announced today that it will hold its annual Science & Technology Auction (Sale #2133) on Saturday, April 13, 2002 at 10:00 a.m. in its Bolton, Massachusetts gallery. The sale, Skinner’s largest Science & Technology auction ever, will feature nearly 1,000 lots of fine quality scientific instruments from the 17th-20th centuries, numerous technical instruments, and a vast array of mechanical music, including the stock of musical boxes from the shop of Graham Webb in Brighton, England. Webb, established in 1961 on Portobello Road, London, is the longest running musical box dealer in Europe, and one of the best known in the world for all manner of high quality mechanical music.

The scientific instrument collector will be spoiled for choice, with offerings from America, Europe, India, Asia, and the Middle East. Some highlights are a Holland Circle, a Troughton-pattern reflecting circle by Banks, two double-frame sextants, a miniature sextant by Ramsden, a Culpepper-pattern microscope by Dollond, a massive astrological microscope also by Dollond, three 19th century surgeon’s sets, two of which are American, and an array of surveying instruments, globes, dials, and an extensive library of scientific books.

The Webb property includes over 50 musical boxes from makers such as Nicole Freres, Henri Capt, and Lecoultre. Specific items of note from Webb’s collection include an Austrian musical wall clock, a harp long case clock, a Nicole interchangeable on table, and several disc musical boxes and automaton.

Skinner’s sale also features a large section of phonographs and related items, including the collection of the late John-Edward Hill and Barbara Harris. Most notable are a Regina Hexaphone, Victrola XVIII, and an Edison Concert phonograph, along with thousands of phonograph cylinders. We will also be offering the Hill-Harris collection of magic lanterns and slides, the star of which is an English triunial lantern as well as hundreds of wood mounted slides including both mechanical and story dissolving sets. A number of other professional, amateur, and toy lanterns along with period literature complete the collection.

For the technophile, the sale includes the usual array of gadgets, machines, and tools. Everything from stock tickers and early tools, to domestic and office apparatus, as well as a selection of models, de-accessioned from a major Northeastern institution. These include models of the Monitor and Merrimack, the Tom Thumb locomotive, and others by C.R. Luscome, who made models for the Smithsonian in the 1890s. There are also models of ships, trolleys, trains, and even a fleet of airline agents models from the 1940s and 1950s. Finally, auction bidders can ride away on one of three high wheel bicycles.

Auction previews will be held Thursday, April 11, 2-5 p.m., Friday, April 12th, 2-6 p.m., and Saturday, April 13, 8:00-9:30 a.m. To order a catalogue (Sale #2133) contact Skinner’s Subscription Department at (978)779-6241, ext. 240. If you’re unable to attend the auction or previews, you can access the full auction catalog and place your bids online at Skinner’s newly updated web site at < href="http://www.skinnerinc.com">www.skinnerinc.com.

Note to Editors:
Photos available upon request. Contact Catherine Riedel at 978-779-6241 x 231.

About Skinner:
With galleries in Boston and Bolton, Mass., Skinner is a one of the nation’s leading auction houses. As a full-service auction house, Skinner provides auction and appraisal services for all manner of antiques and fine art, and its appraisal experts are regularly seen on the PBS series, The Antiques Roadshow. Skinner conducts auctions year-round and has received world-record prices for many pieces sold at auction. Departments include American Furniture & Decorative Arts, Paintings & Prints, English & Continental Furniture & Decorations, Fine Ceramics, Jewelry, Couture, 20th Century Furniture & Decorative Arts, Fine Musical Instruments, Asian Art, Fine Judaica, Toys, Dolls & Collectibles, Science & Technology, Oriental Rugs & Carpets, American Indian & Ethnographic Art, and Discovery. For more information on upcoming auctions, visit Skinner’s web site www.skinnerinc.com.