Harry Potter First Editions Lead AbeBooks Latest Most Expensive Sales Results

Abebooks has announced its most expensive sales from July to September 2024, with a collection of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first editions topping the list as well as becoming its third most expensive sale of all time.

Sold by First and Fine for $105,700, the offering contained four hardcover first edition copies of the book, each representing a different impression of the first UK edition and with its own idiosyncrasies and errors. Alexander Wochnik from First and Fine commented: "We have sold several UK first edition copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone over the years, but this was the first time we found a new home for the first four impressions of the title in one collection. The sale proves that Potter-mania continues strong with no signs of slowing down. Collectors will find more Harry Potter titles in our stock."

The rest of the top 10 were: 

* Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, bound in the publisher's original paper-covered boards, sold by Burnside Rare Books for $40,000

* a complete collection of 50 manifestos of Italian Futurism, sold by Libreria Antiquaria Pontremoli for $27,100

* The Whole Works of Homer translated by George Chapman, sold by Heritage Book Shop for $22,500

* The Letterpress Shakespeare, complete 39 volume Folio Society set, sold by Broad Street Books for $21,995

* L'Apocalisse by Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico with 20 large lithographs by him plus the original letter in which the editor requests Italian author Massimo Bontempelli's input for the introduction, sold by Manhattan Rare Book Company for $20,000

* The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, number 398 of 525 copies of the limited first edition, signed by author including a scarce, unclipped dust jacket with the original price of $2 and ‘#398’ handwritten on the spine, and sold by Copper Street Books (the online store of the Friends of the Public Library, a non-profit organization located in Albuquerque, New Mexico) for $18,750

* Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist by Albert Einstein and Paul Arthur Schilpp, limited edition of only 760 published, signed and dated by Einstein on the limitation page, and kept in the same private collection for more than 50 years, sold by The First Edition Rare Books for $14,750

* Le avventure di Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, extremely rare first edition published in 1883, sold by librisaggi for $13,110

* History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the Sources of the Missouri, Thence Across the Rocky Mountains and Down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, sold by James Cummins Bookseller for $12,500