AbeBooks’ 50 Most Expensive Sales of 2014

AbeBooks’ 50 Most Expensive Sales of 2014.

Think old books are worth nothing these digitally-deluged days? Think again.

Each year, at year’s end, Abe Books lists the most expensive books it has sold. They just published this list and I always find it interesting. Especially when it contains a rare Christian book, which this list does.

And you wonder why I browse Thrift stores for old volumes. 🙂

And by the way, if you are ever shopping for used books, – of all kinds! – be sure to include Abe Books. They have a lot of everything!

Here are the top two, and then a third one ( at #19) of particular interest, since we have in the Letis collection a facsimile edition of this work (But, alas, a different edition!).

1. Les Maîtres de L’Affiche (5 vols) – $43,450
This translates as Masters of the Poster, which was a monthly illustrated French publication published between December 1895 and November 1900. The magazine, produced under the leadership of Jules Cheret, contained reproductions of the best Art Nouveau posters of the era from both French and international artists. This is a five-volume collection featuring 256 posters from 97 artists.

2. Das Kapital by Karl Marx – $40,000
Published in 1867 by Otto Meissner with German text, this copy of Das Kapital was the only one published in Marx’s lifetime (he died in 1883). The book is housed in a slipcover with cloth wrapping. It’s not the first time that a copy of Das Kapital has sold for a high price via AbeBooks. In November 2011, a very rare copy in three volumes sold for $51,739. Interest in Marx’s book, which arguably did indeed help change the world, remains as strong as ever.

19. The Book of Kells (Facsimile edition) – $13,673 
A faithful facsimile of the manuscript in Dublin’s Trinity College. The facsimile is housed in a box and includes original Latin text and commentary, in German, on this historic illuminated Gospel book written by Celtic monks around 800. The foreword is by Umberto Eco. No. 467 of 1480 copies. Published in 1990.