Rare Copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s first book sold for $662,500

by wildcherry on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 | News, World

An 1827 first edition copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s book has sold for $662,500 at a New York auction.

The copy of “Tamerlane and Other Poems” had been estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $700,000 at Christie’s.

He did not attach his name to those books, which indicated their authorship was from “A Bostonian.”
Poe, who readers worldwide know for his lyrical works about the macabre, is believed to have begun his writing career at age 18 by printing only 50 copies of his first book of poems.

When a teenage Edgar Allan Poe moved to Boston to find work in 1827, he was eager to launch his literary career, re-establish his roots in the city of his birth and distance himself from his foster father in Richmond, Va.

The result was his first book, “Tamerlane and Other Poems,” virtually unnoticed when published but now one of the world’s rarest and most sought-after texts.

“This is known as the black tulip of U.S. literature,” said Francis Wahlgren, head of books and manuscripts at Christie’s in New York. To the best of Wahlgren’s recollection, the record was $250,000 for a copy of “Tamerlane” sold at auction nearly two decades ago.

No more than 40 or 50 copies of “Tamerlane” were printed, and only 12 remain. Poe’s name doesn’t even grace the cover of the 40-page book, which is credited to “a Bostonian.”

The book that was auctioned is stained and frayed and has V-shaped notches on the outer and lower margins.

“It’s kind of a beat-up copy,” said William Self, the former television executive who’s selling it.

Still, “This is a rare opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Wahlgren said.