Rare Book Monthly

Articles - September - 2007 Issue

AbeBooks Auctions 14 Signed Penguin Orange Classics for Charity

Abe is auctioning 14 signed Penguin originals.

Abe is auctioning 14 signed Penguin originals.


By Michael Stillman

AbeBooks will be holding a special, one-item online auction from September 6-11, all for a good cause. Collectors of modern novelists will certainly be tempted to place a bid, as this will undoubtedly be a highly desirable, very collectible, extremely limited presentation.

Abe has partnered with publisher Penguin to auction 14 books from its signature orange cover reissue collection, those with the “retro" striped covers. These 14 are from Penguin's Celebrations series, a group of modern fiction. What is most notable is that all of these books, which will be sold as a set, are autographed by the writers.

Here is what you will find in this exciting collection:
  • Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
  • How To Be Good by Nick Hornby
  • The Accidental by Ali Smith
  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  • Any Human Heart by William Boyd
  • How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
  • English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
  • Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
  • Regeneration by Pat Barker
  • A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
  • The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru
  • What a Carve Up! By Jonathan Coe
  • The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes
  • Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend
The auction, which begins on Thursday, September 6, will close on Tuesday, September 11, at 1:00 pm Eastern Time.

The good cause for which proceeds will go is English PEN. English PEN is an organization of writers who promote literature, and most importantly, defend the freedom to write and assist persecuted writers all over the world. This is a wonderful cause, and whoever buys this collection will be doing both him or herself and freedom of expression a great favor. Perhaps that lucky individual will be you.

For more information on Abe's auction, go to http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Featured/Penguin07.shtml?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=com-2007-08&cm_pla=content&cm_ite=sb-pen.

Rare Book Monthly

  • ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
    ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections
    Open for Bidding 2-17 April
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
    Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.

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