AbeBooks Releases Its Top 10 List of Most Expensive Books for 2020
- by Michael Stillman
Arabia in Ptolemy's time.
AbeBooks, the website that offers hundreds of millions of primarily used and old books from thousands of booksellers around the world, has listed the Top 10 highest prices paid on their site in 2020. At least something good happened in this terrible year. It is kind of surprising to see how much money some people charge on their credit cards on the web. My bank would cut me off on the basis of my credit limit if I tried this, but not these collectors. Serious collectors are finding serious material on AbeBooks and are going for it.
This year's list contains a wide range of different types of books with a date range of over five centuries, almost the entire span of printing. Here are the Top 10 most expensive books purchased from AbeBooks in 2020.
10. Linda McCartney. Life in Photographs. Linda McCartney was a photographer and the first wife of Beatle Paul McCartney. She tragically died of breast cancer at the age of 56. Her husband and children collaborated to publish this tribute in 2011, 13 years after she died. $20,000.
9. The Dark Tower by Stephen King. This is the complete set of nine books published in 12 volumes by Donald M. Grant. Each volume is signed by King and the illustrator. $21,080.
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. An early edition of this book is very valuable, but this one was published in 1969, over a century after the first. What gives? The answer is this edition contains 13 plates of illustrations by Salvador Dali, one of 200 copies signed by him. $23,600.
6 tie. The Lost World by Michael Crichton. An unread as-new copy of the 1995 first edition signed by Steven Spielberg and ten actors from the 1997 film adaptation. $25,000.
6. tie. Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. Fleming's books have seen an enormous increase in their value over the past few years. This is a signed first edition of one his favorites and an enormously successful movie. $25,000.
5. David Bailey Art Edition. A book need not be old to be valuable. Published in 2019. A massive book of Bailey's photographs, complete with a tripod book stand and an extra print of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. One of 75 copies. $25,225.
4. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A first edition from 1843 and a perfect item for a holiday season list. $27,500.
3. Ptolemaic Map of Arabia. This copy of the map originated by the second century geographer/astronomer from Alexandria, Ptolemy, is a double-page woodcut taken from the 1482 Ulm atlas. $27,880.
2. Innocentia Victrix (Innocent Victorious). A book written by Jesuit missionaries in China in 1671, printed using Chinese woodblock printing. Contains imperial decrees printed in Chinese and Latin favorable to Christians in China. $41,800.
1. Ulysses by James Joyce. This is actually not the Shakespeare & Co. first edition of 1922. It is a Bodley Head 1936 edition, of which there were 1,000 copies, but this is #69 of 100 copies signed by Joyce. $46,310.
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RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.