AbeBooks' Most Expensive Sales
At the start of each month AbeBooks publishes its top 10 most expensive sales from the previous one. These lists provide a remarkable insight in the world of rare book collecting and reveal what the big spenders are adding to their libraries. First editions of books that made literary history, books signed by the world’s most influential figures, stunning art books illustrated by the greatest artists, ultra-rare Bibles and Korans, collections, trilogies, fine press copies, limited editions, antiquarian books in French, Latin and Arabic, and much, much more – they all appear on these fascinating lists.
The Most Expensive Sales
February 2013
February's top sale was a rare set of the only 18th-century French translation of Shakespeare. Other interesting items included a book about the discovery of DNA, and one about handmade Japanese paper, including specimens from the eighth and ninth centuries.
January 2013
A novel inspired by the mighty sand dunes found in Oregon lead January's most expensive sales. Our top 10 also includes a letter from Franz Liszt - the 19th century Hungarian composer and pianist, and much more goodies to round out the list.
December 2012
December's top sale was a stunning book of illustrations by Henri Matisse with a titillating myth behind it. Other noteworthy items included Rudyard Kipling, Salvador Dali, the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley and more.
November 2012
The most famous flowers of Pierre-Joseph Redouté appear on our list of November's most expensive sales. He is joined by English illustrator William Henry Pyne and many more.
October 2012
A rare limited edition of Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel sold during October. The book sparked protests from Muslims as blasphemous to Islam. AbeBooks also sold a first edition of Ian Fleming’s second book, Live and Let Die. The sale coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film.
September 2012
In September AbeBooks sold three historic bibles with a combined age of 1,296 years and an impressive combined value. The most expensive sale was a Latin bible from 1491, s a so-called ‘Poor Man’s bible’ printed by Johannes Froben. The nickname comes from its smaller size.
August 2012
The Old Man and the Sea is still in demand 60 years after its original publication and took our third place in August. The top two slots were filled by a a 15th-century French medieval mystery play and a 13th-century Latin bible.
July 2012
A rare first edition of Mexico’s first national atlas was July's most expensive sale. The second spot went to a gorgeous limited edition 2003 Spanish reprint of Don Quixote illustrated by Salvador Dali.
June 2012
While a signed limited edition of An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde topped the list for June, you will also find Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin and Cormac McCarthy on our list of most expensive sales.
May 2012
May was a fantastic month for rare book sales, precipitated in part by the sad death of Maurice Sendak, whose Where the Wild Things Are took second place, after a rare celestial atlas from 1603.
April 2012
A first edition of Franz Kafka's Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) was April's most expensive sale. Our list also included a pioneering photography book with an introduction by Jack Kerouac, and a book signed by Truman Capote.
March 2012
A rare 17th-century mushroom book was our most expensive sale in March. The list also included a first American edition of Moby-Dick, some famous French poetry, a lottery ticket signed by an American president, and more.
February 2012
Our top sale was a $14,500 copy of The Day of the Triffids - a highly influential science fiction novel that puts a new perspective on carnivorous plants. We also saw a Russian literary legend, an American president and two famous Austrians - one musical, one psychoanalytical.
January 2012
The year began brightly with an inscribed first edition of Ian Fleming's debut 007 novel, Casino Royale, selling for more than $45,000. The book, published in 1953, remains one of the most desirable of all modern first editions.
December 2011
December's top slot went to a single leaf from a 15th century, first-edition printing of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. A rare Vonnegut was in number two, and number three was a crime collector's dream: three gelatine silver print photographs of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine.
November 2011
AbeBooks sold a rare copy of Das Kapital for over $50,000 in November. Other top sales included a rare set of magazines, a Dr Seuss first edition, a limited edition of Crime and Punishment, a book signed by Martin Luther King and a Virginia Woolf letter planning her weekly social activities.
October 2011
In October, the combined prices of our top 10 most expensive sales exceeded $98,000. The list includes books about the first British embassy in China, a handwritten diary from the American Civil War and three poetry books from South Carolina's Archibald Rutledge.
September 2011
September's most expensive sales on AbeBooks include a wonderful and ultra rare copy of Dessins. Themes et Variations (pictured) by Henri Matisse, published in 1943, featuring 158 memorable plates.
August 2011
August was full of intrigue, with entries from Ian Fleming's Bond series, a signed first edition by mystery maven P.D. James and a compendium of oddities from late American illustrator Edward Gorey all cracking the top five.
July 2011
July saw art battle science, with a Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau collaboration and a Paul Klee collection against Easton Press' 57-volumes of science-fiction, a rare Gray's Anatomy, and a third edition of On the Origin of Species.
June 2011
In June 2011 AbeBooks once again showcased the collectibility of classic science fiction works, as a signed first edition copy of the modern classic Dune by Frank Herbert sold for $7,500.
May 2011
Two rare mockingbirds, two rare Agatha Christies and a gorgeous 1936 first edition of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, are just some of the stunning volumes which sold in May 2011.
April 2011
A first edition of A Passage to India by E.M. Forster comes first on April's list of most expensive sales. The top 10 is eclectic as always and also visits New South Wales, Egypt, France and the cattle trails of Texas.
March 2011
For a collector of modern first editions, there are few books put on a higher pedestal than The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. In March 2011, a collector purchased a first edition of this novel, via AbeBooks, for more than $20,000.
February 2011
An autograph copy should not be confused with a signed copy. An autograph copy is something that was handwritten and AbeBooks has a classic example on its list of most expensive sales during February.
January 2011
January's list of most expensive sales includes a lot of classic authors - Joseph Conrad, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Faulkner and Anthony Trollope to name a few - as well as some more modern and obscure items.
December 2010
Nine of AbeBooks' top 10 most expensive sales during December were published in the 20th century. This selection of rare books ranges from James Joyce's Dubliners to Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father.
November 2010
November was a good month for rare book sales. Our most expensive sale, a rare Islamic book about the work and words of the prophet Muhammad, went for $45,000 and was our sixth most expensive sale in the history of AbeBooks.
October 2010
October's most expensive sale on AbeBooks, the famous Arion Press edition of Moby Dick with artwork by Barry Moser, illustrates how fine presses are adored by high-end book collectors.
September 2010
September's top 10 most expensive sales list is a fascinating and eclectic assortment. Topping the list is a collection of personal files and documents from late Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci.
August 2010
August's top 10 most expensive sales list reminded us that collectors are as fascinated with related ephemera as with the books themselves, and included magazines, a letter, a travelling leather briefcase and writing desk and more.
July 2010
July's most expensive list is a good one. Topping the list is a rare 1846 edition of the first English translation of Alexandre Dumas' classic tale of loyalty, adventure and camaraderie, The Three Musketeers.
June 2010
June's list is a diverse list of rare books and magazines including a genre-defining Gothic novel, Dalí doing Dante, some astronomical writing, some classic Marc Chagall and a set of fantasy novels.
May 2010
The most expensive books sold in May 2010 stretched from America’s Congress to Islam’s Mecca as well as a Salvador Dali illustrated edition of Dante's Divine Comedy selling for more than $8,000.
April 2010
The Histories of Herodotus by Herodotus tops April's most expensive sales list at $9,750 as well as a $8,500 lithograph from Currier & Ives.
March 2010
The list for March 2010 is probably the only place where you will find Herman Melville, Shakespeare, Chagall, Emily Brontë and Ted Kennedy gathered together.
February 2010
February's most expensive list was a month for reference books, with our top sale being a Turkish atlas complete with hand-colored maps, and another prominent item being an 1806 Webster's dictionary.
January 2010
Following J.D Salinger’s death on 27 January, AbeBooks witnessed a surge in sales of The Catcher in the Rye and his writing in general. Two of Salinger’s books appear on our first most expensive sales list.
December 2009
The appeal of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia goes on and on. A set of first editions of the seven books in this classic children’s series sold for more than $8,000 in December 2009.
November 2009
The combination of the Works of Charles Dickens and a signed letter from the great man himself makes AbeBooks’ most expensive sale from November 2009 into something very special indeed.
October 2009
The appearance of another rare copy of The Hobbit on AbeBooks’ monthly list of most expensive sales is no surprise. Few books have combined such enduring popular appeal with enduring collectability like The Hobbit.
September 2009
Rare book collectors were buying in bulk during September 2009. Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, all signed and numbered first editions, easily topped our expensive sales for the month.
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