News | January 11, 2023

Edgar Allan Poe Letter and James Bond First Editions to Auction

Bonhams Skinner

A group of first editions of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels

Bonhams Skinner's Fine Books & Rare Manuscripts auction on January 23 will present an exceptional range of material including important historical documents, a group of first editions of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, a significant collection of literature and ephemera focusing on modernist masters, a photographic album depicting the leaders of the leftist Paris Commune revolt of 1871, and the first English translation of the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita (1785).

edgar allen poe letter
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Bonhams Skinner

1848 letter signed by Edgar Allan Poe

1755 letter signed by George Washington
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Bonhams Skinner

1755 letter signed by George Washington

The highlight of the sale is a significant collection of over 180 historical documents which includes letters from all the U.S. Presidents from George Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt, literary lights from Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Charles Dickens and J. W. von Goethe, and a variety of American and European political figures. Accumulated in Boston over a 75-year period, the collection was originally sold by Goodspeed's Book Shop in 1936. 

Two standout documents are a letter from 1848 signed by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), the legendary mystery and horror writer, estimated at $30,000 - 50,000, and a letter from 1755 signed by the first president of the United States, George Washington (1732-1799), estimated at $12,000 - 18,000.