File:TortureDevices.jpg

Summary
A few of the 252-items from a private collection of torture devices are displayed on a table before being auctioned, file photo.

Guernsey's a New York auction house will donate a portion of the proceeds to Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

Originally, the collection was kept at the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg in Bavaria until the late 1800s and is currently owned by a descendent of the second private owner.

In addition to the devices is a catalogue that accompanied the collection when it went on display in the 1890s, guaranteeing that "every one of the barbarous implements have been in actual use."

Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times, found at: Los Angeles Times, Copyright 2009 Los Angeles Times.