A rare copy of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” signed by the author, has sold for almost $500,000, according to the BBC News. This three-volume first edition, below, published in 1816, was one of 12 presentation copies that the publisher, John Murray, allotted to Austen for friends and family. Austen originally gave this copy to Anne Sharp, her friend and the inspiration for the character of Mrs. Weston in the novel. In 2008 Jonkers Rare Books in Henley-on-Thames, England, bought the book for a little more than $273,000 at the Bonhams auction house in London. Last week Jonkers announced that it had sold the book to a British collector it did not identify. “The important thing is the signature of Jane Austen to her best friend,” Christiaan Jonkers, director of the booksellers, told The Henley Standard. “That’s what moves it from being a £20,000 book to a £300,000 book.”
As printed in The New York Times
Compiled by RACHEL LEE HARRIS
Published: April 4, 2010
It's amazing how the classics - and original copies of the classics - have lasted so far! It just goes to show how much they are prized. And to think that Jane Austen's signature upped the value of the book by a few hundred thousand dollars! Truly, the value of books goes far beyond the physical print.
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