By Michael Stillman

AbeBooks will be holding a special, one-item online auction from September 6-11, all for a good cause. Collectors of modern novelists will certainly be tempted to place a bid, as this will undoubtedly be a highly desirable, very collectible, extremely limited presentation.

Abe has partnered with publisher Penguin to auction 14 books from its signature orange cover reissue collection, those with the “retro" striped covers. These 14 are from Penguin's Celebrations series, a group of modern fiction. What is most notable is that all of these books, which will be sold as a set, are autographed by the writers.

Here is what you will find in this exciting collection:

• Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
• How To Be Good by Nick Hornby
• The Accidental by Ali Smith
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith
• Any Human Heart by William Boyd
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
• English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
• Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
• Regeneration by Pat Barker
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
• The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru
• What a Carve Up! By Jonathan Coe
• The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes
• Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend

The auction, which begins on Thursday, September 6, will close on Tuesday, September 11, at 1:00 pm Eastern Time.

The good cause for which proceeds will go is English PEN. English PEN is an organization of writers who promote literature, and most importantly, defend the freedom to write and assist persecuted writers all over the world. This is a wonderful cause, and whoever buys this collection will be doing both him or herself and freedom of expression a great favor. Perhaps that lucky individual will be you.

For more information on Abe's auction, go to http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Featured/Penguin07.shtml?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=com-2007-08&cm_pla=content&cm_ite=sb-pen.