AbeBooks Top 20 Highest Prices for April-June 2022
- by Michael Stillman
Earthrise as seen from Apollo 8.
AbeBooks has released their list of the twenty highest prices paid from the millions of books offered on their website. This list covers the second quarter of 2022, April-June. Here is their list.
20. Earthrise, a photograph taken from Apollo 8 of the earth rising above the horizon of the moon. Apollo 8 was the first mission to go to the moon (it orbited but did not land). Inscribed by James Lovell, one of the three astronauts onboard. $9,300.
18 tie. Moby Dick by Herman Melville, a 1930 edition notable for being illustrated by Rockwell Kent. $9,500.
18 tie. The History of the Royal Residences. Of Windsor Castle, St. James's Palace, Carlton House, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Buckingham House, and Frogmore, by William Henry Pyne. Three elephant folio volumes published in 1819. $9,500.
17. The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay. Published under the pseudonym “Publius” in 1788. $10,000.
16. Paradise Lost by John Milton, published in 1974, three centuries after the first edition by the Bibliophiles of the Automobile Club of France. Huh? Why is this so valuable? Answer – it contains 10 loose illustrations signed and numbered by the artist, Salvador Dali. $12,000.
15. Doctor Sax by Jack Kerouac, published by the Grove Press in 1959. One of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. $12,200.
14. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a first edition from 1850. $12,500.
13. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, a signed limited edition by the author, published in 1939. $12,645.
12. The Earthly Paradise, an epic poem by William Morris, printed in eight volumes 1896-1897 on Morris' Kelmscott Press. Morris first published his poem 30 years earlier, but this edition was printed on his own private press near the end of his life. $13,500.
11. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, first edition, first printing, published in 1951. Every 1950s schoolboy's favorite book. $13,750.
9 tie. Eleanor Roosevelt letter, to “Harry,” dated February 19, 1944. Calling for equal rights, the First Lady writes, “Something has to happen to people's souls before they are going to give the rights of citizenship to all the people of our country, regardless of color or creed.” It still needs to happen. $15,000.
9 tie. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. First edition, first issue, published in 1861. $15,000.
8. Une Saison en Enfer (A Season in Hell) by Arthur Rimbaud, self-published in 1873, when he was only 19 years old (Rimbaud retired from writing when he was 20). One of the copies held in storage until 1901 as Rimbaud failed to pay the printing bill. $18,865.
7. The Bar-Tenders' Guide by Jerry Thomas, a rare 1862 first edition of the first American cocktail recipe book. Thomas was a flamboyant bartender who later opened his own saloon in New York. Not everyone suffered through the Civil War. $20,000.
6. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a much later edition (1969) valuable for the same reason as the earlier copy of Paradise Lost – it contains 12 woodcut illustrations signed by Salvador Dali. $21,375.
5. The Sistine Chapel by Vatican Museums, a three-volume elephant folio published in 2020. Pictures selected from among 270,000 photographs taken by two photographers over 65 nights in the Sistine Chapel. This is the new book price. $22,000.
4. Le Magnétisme Animal Démontré Selon Les Loix & La Nature Avec Les Figures by Franz-Anton Mesmer, published in 1785. Animal magnetism by the man whose name gave us the term “mesmerize.” $22,080.
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Not even a temperature of 451 will light this book on fire. This is the famous asbestos-bound edition, which makes it even more dangerous. #83 of 200 signed and numbered copies. $22,500.
2. How to Trade in Stocks by Jesse Livermore, a signed first edition from 1940. Livermore must have mastered his formula, but if it were that easy we'd all be rich. $40,000.
1. I Quattro Libri dell Architettura by Andrea Palladio, a 1570 first edition. Palladio may well be the most influential architect ever, a promoter of classical styles, which have survived all the trends that have since come and gone. $57,750.
DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
Freeman’s | Hindman Western Manuscripts and Miniatures July 8, 2025
Freeman’s | Hindman Western Manuscripts and Miniatures July 8, 2025
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 17th July 2025
Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern Now through July 10, 2025
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.