AbeBooks Releases Their List of the Ten Most Expensive Books for the Second Quarter of 2024
- by Michael Stillman
A virtual Lord Byron library.
AbeBooks has released their list of the Top 10 most expensive books purchased on their site for the second quarter of 2024, April-June. Collectors weren't holding back, the dollars flowing freely for a diverse collection of books and manuscripts. Here is that list of AbeBooks' ten most expensive books.
10. L'Antiquité Expliquée, et Représentée en Figures by Dom Bernard de Monfaucon. Published in 15 volumes with 1,296 plates in the early 18th century, the author was a monk best known for his studies of paleography and archaeology. Sold by Robert Frew. $15,000.
9. Chateaubriand by Jules Lemaitre. This copy is noted more for its association than the book itself. It was a gift from Edith Wharton to fellow writer Henry James. They were long-time friends. It is inscribed to James from “E. W.” In a letter James responded by thanking Wharton for two books, one being this copy of Chateaubriand. Sold by Peter Harrington. $15,900.
8. Yo, Judio (Me, Jew) by Jorge Luis Borges, published in the magazine Megafono in 1934. Borges responds to an attack on him from another magazine, one sympathetic to Nazism. This is his original manuscript. Sold by Chaco 4ever Books. $19,000.
7. Political, Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces by Benjamin Franklin. Published in 1779 and edited by British diplomat and Franklin friend Benjamin Vaughan, they encompass the American statesman's non-scientific writings up to that time. Sold by Peter Harrington. $19,100.
6. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. Written over 17 years, this was Joyce's final work. This copy is a signed limited edition. Sold by TBCL The Book Collector's Library. $19,500.
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell. The animals are running the farm, and they can be as bad at doing it as humans. Sold by West Hull Rare Books. $21,000.
4. Autograph Manuscript Mes Secrets Sinematographiques (My Cinematic Secrets) by Salvador Dali, published in La Parisienne in February 1964. Michel Déon had to decipher Dali's unusual spelling, syntax, and phonetically written Catalan accent. Dali added two small sketches of Francis Bacon, grotesque and cubist. Sold by Adam Andrusier Autographs. $22,300.
3. It's A Battlefield by Graham Greene. A true first edition, the copy is signed and inscribed “Clive affectionately,” that being his friend actor Clive Francis. Sold by John Atkinson Books. $23,550.
2. Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colors) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Published in 1808, Goethe wrote of science as well as novels, this one challenging Newton's optics with a more subjective approach to color perception. Sold by Antiquariat INLIBRIS Gilhofer Nfg. GmbH. $27,000.
1. Works of George Gordon Byron. A collection of 21 works in first edition by English poet Lord Byron. Sold by Biblioctopus. $80,000.
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Book of Hours.- Heures de nostre dame a l'usaige de Romme, Paris, Antoine Chappiel pour Germain Hardouin, [1504]. £6,000-8,000
Forum, May 28: Colonna (Francesco). La Hypnerotomachia di Poliphilo, second edition, Venice, Sons of Aldus Manutius, 1545. £15,000-20,000
Forum, May 28:The Christ Child holding a crystal orb and surrounded by banderoles with devotional exhortations, on a leaf most probably from a Book of Hours, [Southern Netherlands, last decades of the fifteenth century]. £2,000-3,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Jackson (Shirley). The Haunting of Hill House, first English edition, signed presentation inscription from the author to Claude Fredericks, 1960. £2,000-3,000
Forum, May 28: Lennon (John). In His Own Write, first edition, first impression, signed by the author, 1964. £3,000-4,000
Forum, May 28: Doves Press.- Keats (John). [Poems], one of 200 copies on paper, Doves Press, 1914. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Rodrigues (João Barbosa). Sertum Palmarum Brasiliensium, 2 vol., first and only edition, Brussels, 1903. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Newton (Sir Isaac). Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica…editio ultima, auctior et emendatior, Amsterdam, Sumptibus Societatis, 1714. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Kepler (Johannes). Ad Vitellionem paralipomena, wuibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, first edition, Frankfurt am Main, 1604. £5,000-7,000
Forum Auctions Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper 28th May 2026
Forum, May 28: Tagliacozzi (Gaspare). De Curtorum Chirurgia per insitionem, libri duo, first edition, Venice, Gasparo Bindoni, 1597. £7,000-10,000
Forum, May 28: Lootsman (Jacobsz). The Lightning Colomne, or Sea-Mirrour, containing the Sea-Coasts of the Northern, Eastern and Western Navigation..., 1670. £8,000-12,000
Forum, May 28: Ribelles y Helip (José), Attributed to. An album comprising 33 finely executed watercolours of Spanish costume, bull-fighting scenes, and other genre subjects, [circa 1830]. £10,000-15,000
