A first edition copy of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has sold for a world record $377,000 at Sotheby's in New York.
The book was the highlight of the sale of the Gordon Waldorf collection on April 1.
 This first edition of The Great Gatsby is among the finest known examples |
It features the rare original dust jacket in unrestored condition, which displays only minimal chipping and retains some of its original gloss.
First edition copies of The Great Gatsby increase substantially in value if they are sold with the iconic dust jacket, which was made slightly too large for the book and is thus easily damaged.
It is also alleged to have directly influenced the narrative of the novel.
Fitzgerald was writing the book was shown the draft for the cover and was apparently so taken by it that he wrote it into the story (supposedly it appears as the optometrist's billboard).
The previous record for a Gatsby first edition was $180,000, set at Bonhams New York in 2012 - a figure that this latest sale exceeded by 109.4%.
A first edition of This Side of Paradise (1920), Fitzgerald's first novel, made $161,000 against an estimate of $60,000-80,000 - an increase of 101.2%.
The book was offered in exceptionally fine condition with an original dust jacket in unrestored condition.
We have a superb selection of rare books and manuscripts, including this signed copy of Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography (1928).
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