Posted in: Books, Collectibles, Games | Tagged: babe ruth, charles bukowski, cormac mccarthy, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, heritage, heritage auctions, HRL, Hunter S. Thompson, I, issac asimov, j.d. salinger, john steinbeck, l. frank baum, leo tolstoy, Ralph Ellison, ray bradbury, robot, stephen king, tennessee williams, the catcher in the rye, the great gatsby, Truman Capote

Heritage Auctions Has a Rare Book Auction Coming in March That Will Blow Your Mind

Heritage Auctions has one of the most ridiculous collectible book auctions I've ever seen coming up on March 7th. 639 books in all will be available in the auction, and the items in this one are jaw-dropping. Pretty much every important work of fiction from the early to mid-20th century is here, with works by such heavyweights as James Joyce, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Leo Tolstoy, Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, L. Frank Baum, Truman Capote… the list goes on and on.

Auctions of this magnitude and size do not just happen every day. Check out the first page of listings and you will find original ink drawings by Charles Bukowski next to First Editions of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Go to page nine, and oh, there are some rare first editions of Cormac McCarthy (starting at only $1!) and some early editions of works by Hunter S. Thompson, Tennessee Williams, and my beloved John Steinbeck.

One of the main events in the Heritage Auction is a first edition, tenth printing of the J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye, with an opening bid in the modest sum of $10,000. It is a gorgeous copy of the book, with of course some wear on the dusk jacket, but the RIGHT wear, if you get what I mean. It looks like an old book with the jacket on it. Once the jacket is off, the book itself looks pristine. Oh, did I mention that it's freaking signed?! It has the following inscription, circa December 24th, 1951:

To Susan Bishop-

With Best Wishes,

J.D. Salinger

That is just too cool for words. I worked at a used bookstore for years, and one of my favorite things would be when people would bring in inscribed books and tell us the stories behind them. Inscribed on Christmas Eve? Susan had a good Christmas that year.

Check out the auction here. Even if you can't afford anything, feast your eyes on some of the coolest collectibles you will see for a while.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!