Acclaim of a sort has finally come to William Topaz McGonagall, otherwise known as the world's worst poet, after a collection of 35 of his original poems beat expectations to sell for £6,600 to a mystery buyer at auction yesterday.

McGonagall, who has been credited with some of the most heinous crimes ever perpetrated against the English language, found himself in esteemed company at Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh, where his poems fetched more than a collection of Harry Potter first editions signed by J.K. Rowling. Dating from 1882 to 1899 the poems, which had a guide price of £4,500-£6,500, were snapped up within minutes by a buyer who asked not to be identified. Sold as one lot, they included 15 originals not held by the National Library of Scotland.

The auction is just the latest proof that the “Tayside Tragedian”, whose public readings were so excruciating that they left audiences rolling on the floor with laughter and even provoked riots, is finally achieving the popularity that the author - despite the derision of the literary establishment - always believed he deserved.

Also at the auction were 27 first and second edition Ian Fleming novels, including a first edition of Diamonds Are Forever and a first edition of From Russia with Love, which sold for a total of £27,000.

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