Gain exclusive insights into the current trends of the rare book collecting world and discover new treasures to add to your collector’s wish list.
Find out which books the most advanced collectors are adding to their libraries with our Most Valuable Book Sales. Each quarter, veryfinebooks.com will reveal our 10 top-dollar sales from the previous quarter here on our blog—offering you an extraordinary glimpse into the world of rare book collecting.
These intriguing lists will explore the very best examples of significant literature throughout history: limited and first editions; books inscribed by award-winning literary figures and influential makers of history; extremely rare and antiquarian volumes; trilogies, collections, and translations; books with breathtaking art by acclaimed illustrators; and much more.
Most Expensive Book Sales at veryfinebooks.com (Fall 2013 Report)
Long Walk To Freedom by Nelson Mandela – $6,200
The Easton Press leather bound signed limited edition. Limited to only 1,000 copies, each one has been personally signed by the Nobel Prize winner, President Nelson Mandela. The famously taciturn South African president reveals much of himself in Long Walk to Freedom. A good deal of this autobiography was written secretly while Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years on Robben Island by South Africa’s apartheid regime.
The Dark Tower Collection (5 Volume Matched Set) by Stephen King – $3,990
A collection of Signed Limited Editions by Donald M. Grant Publishers of the famous Dark Tower series, which King considers his magnum opus. Each volume is personally signed by Stephen King along with the artists.
The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower.
My Pretty Pony by Stephen King – $3,489.
This beautiful production of the short story originally published by Stephen King in 1989 was commissioned for the Whitney Museum in New York as a coffee table book. The edition is limited to 280 copies personally signed by both Stephen King and Barbara Kruger on the justification page, and features original lithographed pages throughout designed by Barbara Kruger, and a custom hand-crafted cloth clam-shell case with red leather spine which bears the title in silver over red embossments.
The Stand by Stephen King – $2,975
Perhaps the most luxurious example of any Stephen King signed limited edition ever produced. Limited to only 1,250 signed and numbered copies. Stephen King’s most popular book, according to polls of his fans. A masterpiece – the apocalyptic confrontation between Good and Evil. Regarded by many as the author’s greatest early novel.
The Harvard Classics Millennium Edition by Easton Press – $2,950
“The Five Foot Shelf of Knowledge”. This is the grand 50 volume leather bound collection. In 1910, Dr. Charles W. Eliot, then President of Harvard University, assembled an exceptional library of “all the books needed for a real education.” This collection features 1,850 works by over 300 poets, philosophers, scientists, explorers, and many others.
Full Dark, No Stars (Signed Lettered Edition) by Stephen King – $2,500
A deluxe leather bound edition, limited to only 52 copies. This Edition sold out from the publisher within 2 hours of being announced. Five unforgettable short works from the #1 internationally bestselling author. When a master of horror and heebie-jeebies like Stephen King calls his book Full Dark, No Stars, you know you’re in for a treat–that is, if your idea of a good time is spent curled up in a ball wondering why-oh-why you started reading after dark.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – $1,750
This is the Signed Limited Deluxe Lettered Edition by Centipede Press. Only 22 were produced, each one an elaborate leather-bound edition, with printed silk panels, enclosed in a tray case wrapped in unique and distinctive material. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the world’s most notorious and widely-read Gothic novel. it has also been heralded as both the first modern horror novel and the first science fiction novel.
The Dark Tower, Complete First Edition Set – by Stephen King – $1,975.
A beautiful collection published by Donald M Grant, this is a complete set of The Dark Tower series, which King considers his “magnum opus”. Each of the eight first edition, first printing volumes were paired matching design slipcases. Volumes 1 of this set featured an original vintage hardcover collector’s grade book of which only 10,000 copies were printed.
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy- $1,800
An original First Edition, First Printing, hand signed and dated by Tom Clancy with a personal inscription to Rear Admiral Ted Levy, Commanding Officer of Patrol Squadron 67 in the Korean War, which won the Noel Davis Trophy awarded to the leading Reserve Patrol Squadron. Levy went on to become a Commander of the Naval Reserves. Signed on the date of publication. This very nearly fine edition is one of only 5000 First Printings.
Carrie by Stephen King – $1,795.
A rare first edition of Stephen King’s first published novel, with an original production run of only 30,000 copies. This collector’s grade-quality first edition of Carrie featured a wonderful bright clean copy, paired with a beautiful matching leather bound clam shell box hand made and specifically designed to properly house this First Edition of Carrie.
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