The Value of Literature

Perales, Jaime, Americas (English Edition)

THE ANNUAL Washington Antiquarian Book Fair, held during the first part of the year in the US capital, brings together booksellers and collectors to buy or--in the case of the majority of browsers--just to see or touch a first edition of one of the great works of literature of all time.

A novelty such as a first edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, published in Paris in 1922, carried a price tag of US$35,000. For a similar price, one could acquire These Thirteen by William Faulkner, with a dedication by the author to his first literary agent, Bernard Wasson. The rarity of Ernest Hemingway's first work, Three Stories and Ten Poems--only 300 copies were printed in Paris in 1923--boosted its price tag to $65,000.

Although some German and French titles could be found here and there, the vast majority of books were written in English by US authors. One notable exception was the Latin American novel Cien anos de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude), published in Argentina by Editorial Sudamericana in 1967; it sat in a glass case like Snow White sleeping in the forest, …

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Publication information: Article title: The Value of Literature. Contributors: Perales, Jaime - Author. Magazine title: Americas (English Edition). Volume: 60. Issue: 1 Publication date: January-February 2008. Page number: 62+. © 2007 Organization of American States. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

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