Is There Money to be Made in Rare Books? Reader's Digest Says "Yes"
- by Michael Stillman
A copy of the Gutenberg Bible (Library of Congress image).
For those who get their financial advice from Reader's Digest, you just got a "yes" on buying rare books, first editions in particular. Reader's Digest recently came out with a list of 8 Cheap Items to Buy Now That Will Be Worth a Fortune Later. On that list is "first edition books," with the explanation, "If you’re able to get your hands on a first edition of a new book that could potentially become very popular, you could make a lot of money off of it in the future." They cite as an example the one everyone cites these days, the Harry Potter series. Of course, if you bought one of the other hundreds of thousands of books published in the past two decades, you wouldn't have done so well.
The introductory paragraph then takes us to a more detailed list of "8 more rare books that are worth a fortune." There are actually 15 books on this list, which is why the publication is known as Reader's Digest, not Mathematician's Digest. There aren't too many other items on this list that living people could have purchased new. Older readers might have been able to pick up a James Bond when new, maybe even Salinger's classic. None of us were here to get a freshly printed Shakespeare First Folio, let alone a Gutenberg Bible.
Here is what is on their list, along with the estimated values. Their prices mostly seem on the high side, a seller's preferred price, rather than that of a buyer. One surmises they may have seen an auction price for a special copy, perhaps a signed one, or the highest priced listing on AbeBooks. However, even if some prices are exaggerated, they are right in saying, "If you have one of these rare books sitting on a shelf somewhere, get ready to cash in!" Check your shelves to see if you have a Gutenberg Bible lying around.
Shakespeare's First Folio. $5.2 million.
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway. $321,000.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling. $55,000.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. $180,159.
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. $130,000.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. $11.2 million.
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. $210,000.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. $194,000.
Tamerlane and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe. $662,500.
Ulysses by James Joyce. $355,000.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. $56,124.
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. $40,000-$75,000.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. $2-$3 million.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. $137,500.
Gutenberg Bible. $5.39 million.
If there is one bargain in this lot, it is the last of these. $5.39 million was the price paid at Christie's in 1987 for the Esther Doheny copy of the Gutenberg Bible. That is the last one to be sold. It is worth a lot more today. In 2015, Sotheby's sold a section from the Gutenberg consisting of 8 leaves for $970,000. The Gutenberg Bible contains 643 leaves. Readers of Mathematician's Digest will be able to do the math on that one to estimate what a complete Gutenberg might be worth today.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
