Tiny book by Charlotte Brontë attracts bibliophiles in New York
By Nora Quintanilla
New York City, Apr 21 (EFE).- With 15 pages and 10 poems, a tiny book written in 1829 by Charlotte Brontë attracted the attention of bibliophiles on Thursday due its historical value, and also its price: $1.25 million.
The recently rediscovered “Book of Rhymes” fits in the palm of a hand and will rest in a showcase, like a jewel, until Sunday during the 2022 New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, which brings together booksellers and collectors from all over the world.
James Cummins, a second-generation bookseller, told EFE that the miniature tome created by the author of “Jane Eyre” has everything one can imagine, especially mystery.
Pointing out the coincidence that Thursday would be Brontë’s birthday, he said she wrote the collection when he was 13 years old, allowing a glimpse into her childhood.
Cummins also shows other treasures, such as James Joyce’s first publication and Oliver Sacks’ personal library, which are displayed in the center of this fair that has been held for 62 years in the Big Apple.
The Briton Peter Harrington, who runs one of the world’s most famous specialized antiquarian book establishments in London and has been attending the New York event since the mid-1990s, assures that now is a great moment because the market “is stronger” than before.
He said last year went well, because books sell very well online, and one of the most outstanding articles he brings shines brighter live than on a screen.
It is a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” with a cover by Spanish designer Francis Cugat and whose sign of authenticity raises its price to $367,000: a correction superimposed on the back cover where the name of the protagonist, Jay (Gatsby), was mistakenly printed in lower case.
The fair, which occupies almost a block in Manhattan’s monumental Park Avenue Armory building, also has objects such as games, photographs, maps and magazines, prices of which start at about $50 and go up, as on this occasion, up to more than $1 million. EFE
nqs/tw
