Several decades ago, David Aronovitz from The Fine Books Company in Rochester, Michigan, sold three of those first editions of Salem's Lot with their original dust jackets for a pretty penny and kept the last one for his own personal rare book collection. It's the Holy Grail for collectors of Stephen King books - a true first edition of Salem's Lot from 1975, the author's second book.
The presence and condition of a dust jacket is critical to a book's value in the rare book world, but this particular jacket is exceptionally prized. Sadly, we have none available.
After changing the book’s title from Jerusalem’s Lot, the publisher, Doubleday, made a last-second revision, altering the price from $8.95 to $7.95. Only a handful of copies featuring the original price escaped the revision (which manifested itself in cutting off the original price and then the stamping on the new lower price) - four is believed to be the magic number.
“I never kept abreast of the Stephen King market other than always checking on items I had recently acquired and was in turn about to offer for sale,” said David. “Then, I heard a rumor that this dust wrapper was worth $20,000. I was surprised and doubtful of the veracity of that statement. Then, someone indeed offered me $40,000 for my copy. I thought about it a bit and declined. That might have been stupid. But I have done stupid things in the past and will probably do so again. Time will tell. Then I read online how a well known Stephen King collector was offering his for $60,000 in 2006."
Four more (cheaper) Stephen King collectibles
AbeBooks' most expensive sales of Stephen King books
