Edgar Allan Poe's First Book Tamerlane and Other Poems - Image Released by Christie's
Experts at Christie’s say that Edgar Allan Poe’s first book Tamerlane and Other Poems could reach a record sales price at auction on Friday. The book is expected to fetch between $500,000 to $700,000. Time to raid your piggy banks folks!
The book is stained, frayed and has notches on the outer and lower margins. Not the condition you’d expect for the kind of money being spent but only 40 or 50 copies of the 1827 book were printed, of which just 12 remain so the value is in the scarcity.
“This is known as the black tulip of U.S. literature,” said Francis Wahlgren, head of books and manuscripts at Christie’s in New York.
Ironically, the book stirred up little interest when it was first published. At that time, Poe was an unknown and simply credited the book to a Bostonian, not naming himself.
1931 Facsimile copy of Tamerlane
Tamerlane is the feature poem within the collection recorded in the book. It tells the story of an Eastern ruler facing death who expresses regret at losing the love of his life, a loss that overshadows his many military conquests.
The book’s current owner, the former president of Twentieth Century Fox Television William Self is also selling off Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and other rarities. “These books have given me so much pleasure, now it’s time for them to give someone else pleasure,” he said.
When it comes to Tamerlane, Self admits he’s never read the original copy in his possession only a facsimile copy. Who can blame him? Imagine spilling coffee on that?! Agh!