This evening, at 7:30pm GMT, Sothebys auction house are running an 'English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations' auction to raise money for a charity, and amongst the lots is a very interesting one for Pink Floyd fans.

It is a "First Editions: Re-Covered" copy of Gerald Scarfe's excellent The Making of Pink Floyd The Wall. The book has a dust jacket which has had two original illustrations by Gerald added - 'The Teacher' and 'The Wife', ink and watercolour, signed and dated by the artist ("Gerald Scarfe 7 Oct 2014") and each measuring 280mm by 230mm.

Those of you interested in this unique item, a true "one-off", should note that the auction house's estimate for the book is £3,000 - £5,000...you can bid in person, online or by phone.

The auction in total consists of 33 lots which will be auctioned to benefit House of Illustration. As well as putting on 10 exhibitions a year the charity works with schools across London on projects with young people that inspire creativity and enable them to communicate visually, overcoming barriers such as language, literacy levels and special educational needs. It is the only UK gallery commissioning new illustration work for public display and runs the only residency for illustrators and graphic artists, supporting artists at every stage of their career.

More details through this link.

UPDATE: On the night, the Gerald Scarfe-customised book sold for a slightly eye-watering £11,875, which is fantastic for the charity.

[UPDATED] Some great news for our friends down in South America - a total of eleven dates so far have been announced for that region, as part of the Roger Waters 2018 Us + Them tour, with tickets going on sale in most cases next week.

There are shows announced for Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru, although the show in Lima (whilst it has a date) does not yet have a confirmed venue. 

All eleven shows will be held in stadiums, so we are presuming they will be the large, outdoor version of the show, to be seen next July in the European cities of London, Lucca and Rome.

More dates in South America are due to be revealed in due course. 

Here are the newly announced dates:

• October 9th - São Paolo, BR - Allianz Parque - On sale Dec 14th
• October 13th - Brasilia, BR - Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha - On sale Dec 15th
• October 17th - Salvador, BR - AItaipava Arena Fonte Nova - On sale Dec 15th
• October 21st - Belo Horizonte, BR - Estadio Do Mineirão - On sale Dec 14th
• October 24th - Rio de Janeiro, BR - Estadio Do Maracanã - On sale Dec 14th
• October 27th - Curitiba, BR - Estadio Couto Pereira - On sale Dec 15th
• October 30th - Porto Alegre, BR - Estadio Beira Rio - On sale Dec 15th
• November 3rd - Montevideo, UR - Estadio Centenario - Pre-sale Feb 19th
• November 6th - Buenos Aires, AR - Estadio Único de la Plata - On sale Dec 14th
• November 14th - Santiago, CH - Estadio Nacional - On sale Dec 14th
• November 17th - Lima, PR - venue to be announced - On sale Feb 2018

Dedicated pages for each newly announced show on the tour are now live, joining the show pages already shown in the 2018 Roger Waters tour area. If any further dates on the Australian/New Zealand/European/South American tour are announced, a page for each concert will be in place: the location to find out information on each show, and to see, once the concert has taken place, pictures, video and commentary.

In UK stores now is a special edition of Record Collector Magazine, completely focused on Pink Floyd. With the sub title of Shooting For The Moon, the magazine brings together both old and new from the long-running, respected publication.

It traces the development of the band, from their psychedelic beginnings in 1967 through to the recent closed Their Mortal Remains exhibition at London's Victoria & Albert Museum. The 116-page "bookazine" combines coverage from Record Collector’s Pink Floyd archive with freshly commissioned articles from David Quantick, Kris Needs, Daryl Easlea and Oregano Rathbone, featuring in-depth profiles of each album, and a delve into the band's solo output. There's also rare photographs and a UK discography with single, EP and album values.

Of particular interest is an interview with Nick Mason looking at the early days of the band, which elicits some fascinating views and insights. It's also intriguing seeing some of the older articles reprinted in this collection, discussing the state of play in those days with regard to, say, video material concerning the band.

Some of the prices quoted could be argued to be rather debatable, and there are the odd factual errors here or there, but irrespective of that, it's a great read, and worth tracking down. The eye-catching cover should leap out at you (figuratively speaking) from the shelves. If your local store doesn't have it, you can order it online, for shipping worldwide, via shop.RecordCollectorMag.com.

Two more dates have been announced for the Roger Waters 2018 Australian/New Zealand/European Us + Them tour, for shows with a slight difference to the majority.

The shows are presenting the special outdoor version of Us + Them tour; this means that Europe will have three of these special concerts with the London date at Hyde Park already revealed. The show presentation has so far only been staged in Mexico City and at the historic Desert Trip Festival last year. Alongside Hyde Park, this incredible show will also be hosted in Lucca and Rome: the Historical Walls in the Tuscan city and the Circus Maximus in the Capital.

The Lucca show is part of the Lucca Summer Festival, and will see Roger return to a venue he last played at in 2006. This time there is due to be a significantly larger audience - 45,000 - around four times the audience for the previous show. The second Italian date will take place in the fascinating, historic scenery of Rome's Circus Maximus, where David Gilmour performed in 2016 during his Rattle That Lock tour.

Here are the newly announced dates:

• July 11th - Mura Storiche, Lucca, Italy (Lucca Summer Festival)
• July 14th - Circo Massimo, Rome, Italy (Rock in Roma 2018)

Tickets will cost from 80 to 110 euros (for the Pit area). The pre-sales will start, for everyone, on Thursday, December 14th at 7am CET, on the sites of Ticketone.it and D'Alessandro & Galli, and from Friday, December 15th at 11am in all authorized sales points. First though, next Monday, 11th December, there will be a presale with Virgin Radio, sponsor of the concert, from 9 am. Just register on virginradio.it to receive the presale code that will make it possible to purchase the ticket on Ticketone. Using our links also helps toward the ongoing running costs of this site, and is appreciated!

Dedicated pages for each newly announced show on the tour are now live, joining the show pages already shown in the 2018 Roger Waters tour area. If any further dates on the Australian/New Zealand/European tour is announced, a page for each concert will be in place: the location to find out information on each show, and to see, once the concert has taken place, pictures, video and commentary.