I was perusing Google news and came across an article posted on CNBC titled Walt Whitman book sells for $305,000 by Robert Frank. In the article, Frank writes:
It's truly amazing to me what rare book collectors pay for a book they want to add to their personal collection!
He may not be topping the best-seller list, but the great American poet and humanist Walt Whitman set a sales record Wednesday at Christie's.
A first edition of "Leaves of Grass," printed for the author, sold for $305,000.That was more than twice Christie's estimate of $100,000 to $150,000, and it marked a world auction record for Whitman.
The previous record for a Walt Whitman book was $230,500, also for a copy of "Leaves of Grass." That one was sold by Sotheby's in October 2011. It's not the most expensive book ever auctioned, of course. That honor is still held by the Bay Psalm Book that went at Sotheby's last fall for $14.2 million.
It's truly amazing to me what rare book collectors pay for a book they want to add to their personal collection!
Holy Cow!! That's a lot of money for that book! It makes me wonder if I would ever get that obsessed in owning rare books...Nah...I'm too poor, lol.
ReplyDeleteYes, a lot of money for sure!! I can't imagine paying that kind of money either for a rare book. Who has that kind of money to spend really??? I'm still can't believe a copy of the Bay Psalm Book sold at Sotheby's last fall for $14.2 million.
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