Anne Sharp’s presentation copy of Emma sells for £180,000 - updated
We know a lot of our Gentle Readers are waiting breathlessly for this news, so we picked up our jaw off the table as soon as we received it and made haste to blog.
Reuters reports that the presentation copy of Emma once owned by Jane Austen’s friend, governess Anne Sharp, has sold at auction for the record-setting price of £180,000, or approximately $353,500.
The book, one of 12 presentation copies, was given by Austen to her friend Anne Sharp, who had been governess to the children of Austen’s brother Edward.
The three-volume set of “Emma” had been expected to fetch between 50,000 and 70,000 pounds.
“The family are delighted with the price fetched today.
We’ll bet! More later, we’re sure!
ETA: In comments, Alert Janeite Boris pointed us to an article at the BBC site that reveals (sort of) the identity of the seller and how the book came into their possession.
The British vendor, who wants to remain anonymous, is descended from a family that married into the family of Richard Withers, who was left property belonging to Ms Sharp when she died.
So it’s a family heirloom of sorts. Also there is a little bit of context for the sale:
In March, Bonhams sold a rare, inscribed first edition of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit for a world record-breaking £60,000.
And in November last year, it sold a first edition of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights for £114,000.
The Guardian and The Daily Mail have articles about the auction as well.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Just for the record, as I was not able to win the lottery, it wasn’t me.
> we picked up our jaw off the table
And mine.
I’m so glad it was a record price and congratulations to the happy winner. Now to hope that it is exhibited publicly.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:12 am
And that anonymous seller is a descendant from the Richard Withers’ family, who was left property belonging to Ms Sharp when she died, reports BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7470543.stm
It seems no one from three generations had read it, only collectors like His Royal Highness.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The price is amazing, but it was probably a once in a lifetime opportuntiy for a collector. Another presentation copy may never come to market again in our lifetime unless the Queen or Austen family members hit hard times!
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the buyer is a library or musuem, or some kindly soul, who will exhibit the volumes and not lock it away in some vault.
I think that it is interesting that the press release prior to the sale stated that the family did not know the origins of how they recieved the volumes into the family, only that they had been in the family for 3 generations. Now after the sale we learn more about the connection of ancestor Richard Withers who was an heir to Miss Sharp’s belongings. This information does not change the importance or value of the presentation copy, but it is an interesting aside on how auction houses stir up a story. Because who doesn’t want to discover a first edition Jane Austen sitting in the family library, right?
Boris, it appears that someone in the sellers family did read and value this edition because it appears to have been rebound in quality leather after publication.
Cheers to all, Laurel Ann
June 27th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I wonder who the lucky buyer was, and how many of the other presentation copies still survive? I know of only one other in existance, the presentation copy given to the Prince Regent and now in the Royal library at Windsor.
Amazing price though.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Actually, having the book rebound would not necessarily indicate that it was read or well-loved. Books at this time would have been issued in boards or wrappers (i.e., cardboard or paper; Austen’s were issued in boards), and almost all copies were rebound in some way. It’s very unusual for a book from this period to be left in boards, and this copy probably would have sold for more if it had been. I don’t know whether Anne Sharp’s copy would have been bound before being sent to her or not, although the presentation for the Prince Regent was bound in a very special binding. When the book was rebound would give a clue as to why it was bound. It was not uncommon in the nineteenth century to rebind in fancy bindings books that were considered important, before the current interest in “original condition” set it. The picture provided with the Guardian story is fairly typical of bindings of the time. It’s nice, but wouldn’t be considered special, since it’s one-quarter leather over marbled boards; a full leather binding would more more costly. Does anyone know if this is the copy that was sold?
~Information provided by your resident rare books librarian~