Early Public Automobile Auction Sales in France (1898–1930)

This dataset documents early public auctions of automobiles and automobile-related goods in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It contains 41 auction lots drawn from three public sales held in 1898, 1922, and 1930. The data were collected from official auction records (procès-verbaux) consulted at the Paris Archives. The sales were identified through a systematic review of La Gazette Drouot beginning with its first publication in 1891, which allowed the identification of one of the earliest documented public automobile auctions in France (December 1898). Two additional sales from 1922 and 1930 were selected to complement this early observation. For each lot, the dataset records the sale date, a textual description of the item, the sale price when available, and the identities of the auctioneer, buyer, and seller as reported in the archival documents. The lots include automobiles, trucks, and various types of automotive equipment, such as spare parts and accessories.