Edgar Allan Poe's Tamerlane sets record at NY auction
A copy of Edgar Allan Poe's first book fetched $662,500 at a Christie's auction in New York, smashing the previous record price for American literature.
The copy of "Tamerlane and Other Poems", published by Poe anonymously in 1827 when he was just 13, had been estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $700,000 (£ 302,000 to £442,000).
The previous record was $250,000 for a copy of the same book sold nearly two decades ago. No more than 40 or 50 copies were ever printed - of which only 12 are believed to remain in existence.
A copy of the original book did not surface until more than 25 years after it was published, prompting some poetry experts at the time to claim it had never existed.
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
The copy of "Tamerlane and Other Poems", published by Poe anonymously in 1827 when he was just 13, had been estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $700,000 (£ 302,000 to £442,000).
The previous record was $250,000 for a copy of the same book sold nearly two decades ago. No more than 40 or 50 copies were ever printed - of which only 12 are believed to remain in existence.
A copy of the original book did not surface until more than 25 years after it was published, prompting some poetry experts at the time to claim it had never existed.