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Science Fiction
Related: About this forumFirst edition of Frankenstein sells for record breaking $1.17m
An exceptionally rare first edition of Mary Shelleys gothic classic has broken the world auction record for a printed work by a womanhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/20/frankenstein-first-edition-sets-world-auction-record-for-a-printed-work-by-a-woman-mary-shelley
Mary Shelley was just 18 when she dreamed up her story of a pale student of unhallowed arts and the hideous phantasm of a man he created. Now a first edition of her seminal classic of gothic horror, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, has set a world record for the highest price paid for a printed work by a woman, after selling at auction for $1,170,000 (£856,000).
The first edition was one of 500 copies of the novel printed in 1818, and the first to be auctioned since 1985. Christies, which described it as exceptionally rare, had initially estimated the copy would sell for between $200,000 (£146,000) and $300,000 (£220,000). The auction house said this was a new world auction record for a printed work by a woman, with bidders participating in the auction from around the world. The record for a printed work by a woman was previously held by a first edition of Jane Austens Emma from 1816, which was sold by Bonhams in 2008 for £150,000. A copy of JK Rowlings The Tales of Beedle the Bard sold for £1.95m at Sothebys in November 2007, but it was handmade and illustrated, as opposed to printed.
The first edition was one of 500 copies of the novel printed in 1818, and the first to be auctioned since 1985. Christies, which described it as exceptionally rare, had initially estimated the copy would sell for between $200,000 (£146,000) and $300,000 (£220,000). The auction house said this was a new world auction record for a printed work by a woman, with bidders participating in the auction from around the world. The record for a printed work by a woman was previously held by a first edition of Jane Austens Emma from 1816, which was sold by Bonhams in 2008 for £150,000. A copy of JK Rowlings The Tales of Beedle the Bard sold for £1.95m at Sothebys in November 2007, but it was handmade and illustrated, as opposed to printed.
way to go, Mary Shelley!
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First edition of Frankenstein sells for record breaking $1.17m (Original Post)
eShirl
Sep 2021
OP
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)2. Marty Feldman in a tux, magnificent.
Bristlecone
(10,474 posts)3. It really is a fantastic book.
That is a lot of money!
nuxvomica
(12,846 posts)4. Not just a "seminal classic of gothic horror"
Arguably the first important work of science fiction, essentially creating the genre. Written at the juncture of The Enlightenment, when faith was being nudged out by science as the guiding ethos, and the Industrial Revolution, when humans began wielding the terrifying new powers of machines, Frankenstein epitomized the central question of science fiction: What is the role of humans in a universe without gods? Shelley asked the question this way: Are we now the gods?