Ghisaine Maxwell’s father’s book of contacts up for auction

Proceeds of auction will go to Journalists’ Charity

After his death it was found Mr Maxwell took money from the Mirror Group pension fund (Getty Images)

A book of contacts that belonged to Robert Maxwell, the late publishing mogul and fraudster, is being put up for auction.

The book was discovered in a dusty box during a lockdown clear out. A former employee of the Maxwell publishing empire found the book, although a spokesperson for the charity could not disclose their name. It is now being put under the hammer to raise money for the Journalists’ Charity.

The directory dates July 1989 and in it is written: "If found please return to Mr Robert Maxwell, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford."

Maxwell was found two years later in 1991, floating in the Atlantic Ocean and he was said to have fallen overboard his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine.

An inquest at the time concluded that the publishing mogul had accidentally drowned following a heart attack.

In the wake of his death, debts that his publishing empire owed were discovered and it was found that he had also taken around £400 million from the pension fund of the Mirror Group.

Ghislaine Maxwell, his daughter and former girlfriend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstien, is currently in prison in the US, where she is currently facing trial on charges of procuring teenage girls for Epstein to abuse. She denies these charges.

Ms Maxwell is listed in the book as managing director of Maxwell Corporate Gifts.

The book is described as "a fascinating list of movers and shakers from A to Z." It includes 86 pages of contacts, from politicians and industrialists to Fleet Street celebrities.

It will be for sale at the Journalists' Charity Christmas Auction. The charity was founded by Charles Dickens in 1864 to help journalists and their families during times of crisis.

It offers help to “journalists of all ages and backgrounds” providing “confidential advice, emergency support and financial assistance” to those going through tough times.

Ramsay Smith, chairman of the charity, said that money raised by the sale of the book and other items in the auction will “bring much-needed help in these difficult times.”

He added: "As in all walks of life, a significant number of journalists, particularly freelancers, have been hit hard by the pandemic, losing their livelihoods and some facing the loss of their homes.”

The auction will take place from midday Friday 18 December and is open until the end of the year. Anyone may bid.

Other objects for sale include a personalised oil painting by artist Gail Graham a day out in a James Bond car and a personalised cartoon by Fleet Street's Stanley McMurtry.

Further details are available at journalistscharity.org.uk.