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First Edition
Book collectors seek out first editions as they represent the original form in which a book was originally published.
Signed and inscribed copies are even more desirable, and the ‘dedication copy’ – the copy which is inscribed to the person to whom the author dedicated the book – is more sought after still.

Fifteenth century friar's manual inspired by the game of chess
06 February 2023A 15th century first edition of a pioneering work by Johannes Gallensis surfaced at auction late last month.

First edition of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest emerges in Chicago
06 February 2023Included in Potter & Potter’s latest sale of Books and Manuscripts is a rare first edition limited issue of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest.

Jane Austen, a compact collection sold at Dominic Winter auction
30 January 2023Small group of the author’s ever-popular works makes a big impression at Gloucestershire saleroom

Presentation copy of Paddington Bear first edition sells to American bidder
16 January 2023Having featured prominently on television in a specially made part of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Paddington Bear hardly needs any more publicity.

Torn jacket but a tidy sum
17 October 2022Though the dust jacket featuring one of Pauline Baynes’ illustrations for the book is torn with loss and exhibits a number of patched repairs, a 1950 first edition of 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' did sell for £1100 against a guide of £500-700 on October 6 at Buckinghamshire saleroom Bourne End Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Expand an interest in Beatrix Potter
12 September 2022The ‘property of a lady’, this concertina-style wallet book by Beatrix Potter, 'The Story of Miss Moppet', is a first edition published by Frederick Warne & Co, London & New York, 1906.

Gilbert exerts a strong magnetic pull
12 September 2022Catalogued as a ‘very good, complete copy in original condition of the first really modern scientific book published in England’, a 1600 first edition (Peter Short) of De Magnete by William Gilbert is estimated at £10,000-15,000 in Forum Auction’s Fine Books, Manuscripts & Works on Paper sale in London on September 29.

Harvard College makes print debut mention
12 September 2022Freeman’s September 21 Books and Manuscripts auction, in Pennsylvania is led by an ‘extremely rare’ first edition of 'New Englands First Fruits' (estimate $20,000-30,000), a 1643 account of Puritan evangelisation in New England.

Evelyn Waugh’s first book inscribed by man who wooed author’s first wife
29 August 2022Copy of his first book was a later gift from Sir John Heygate to Tarka the Otter author

‘First editions, second thoughts’ of notable names
22 August 2022The headline borrows the title given to an online Christie’s (26/20% buyer’s premium) sale – one that presented more than 80 modern first editions.

Agatha Christie makes plea to ‘Pop’ to promote her book
08 August 2022Bid to £16,000 in a sale held by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester was a 1921 first of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious House at Styles.

Frankenstein first now in second place
06 June 2022Just one other example of Mary Shelley’s famous tale has made more at auction

Potter proof set uncovered
23 May 2022A London saleroom offered what was billed as the only “known” surviving set of uncorrected galley proofs for Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone.

Collecting classics: The market for books on political thought from Leviathan to Animal Farm
16 May 2022If social media makes you feel like Big Brother is watching you, and if truth occasionally feels stranger than fiction, then like many bibliophiles you might be exploring books that suggest models for society and the role of the individual.

Investment that brings a big return
07 March 2022One of the stand-out lots at Sotheby’s New York (26/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) was a 1949 first printing of The Intelligent Investor.

First edition of TS Eliot's first book on offer at Swann
14 February 2022Swann Galleries is holding a sale of Books and Autographs in New York on February 17.

Knockout £50,000 for Casino Royale first
07 February 2022When Ian Fleming sent an initial typescript of his first James Bond book Casino Royale to his good friend Paul Gallico asking if it was publishable, he got the reply “the book is a knockout!”.

Pick of the week: Whisky travelogue in demand at auction
17 January 2022In the early 1880s Alfred Barnard, secretary of Harper’s Weekly Gazette (the magazine that morphed into today’s Harpers Wine & Spirit), decided to visit all distilleries in Scotland, England and Ireland.

Tolkien classic takes £46,000 in Dorset
29 November 2021Among the book lots offered as part of an October 7-8 sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) the earliest was a Burgundian ‘Hours of the Virgin’ manuscript.

ATG letter: Second go at ‘first’ books terminology
22 November 2021I have just received ATG No 2516 wherein the old question of first edition and first impression is raised in the Letters section.

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