A manuscript draft copy of Saul Bellow's The Victim (1947) is valued in excess of $35,000 ahead of a sale at Heritage Auctions in New York on November 4-5.

The lot differs substantially from the published text and displays extensive corrections in the author's own hand.

Saul Bellow was a highly influential Canadian-American writer

Bellow wrote the novel while teaching at the University of Minnesota in the mid-1940s. It was his second and brought him widespread acclaim.

However, he was yet to hit his creative stride. Heritage comments: "Bellow eventually regarded his first two novels, Dangling Man (1944) and The Victim as immature (certainly when compared to his later works) - considering Dangling Man his 'M. A.,' and The Victim as his 'Ph.D.'"

Manuscript copies of Bellow's work are extremely rare, with few appearing at auction in recent years.

In 1988 the notes and manuscripts for Bellow's 1972 novel Mr Sammler's Planet made $66,000 at Sotheby's New York, then a world record for a manuscript by a living author.

Other lots in the sale include an author's copy of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman, which includes a signed letter from the writer.

The book is elaborately bound in green Levant morocco with floral detailing. It's expected to sell for more than $20,000.

We have a fascinating selection of books and manuscripts for sale.

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