‘Frankenstein’ first edition sparks monster bidding war

AN “exceptionally rare” first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has sold for $1.17 million (£860,000) at Christie’s, setting a record for the highest price paid for a printed work by a woman.

The seminal gothic novel was one of 500 copies printed in 1818, and the first to be auctioned since 1985.

The price far exceeded the auction house’s estimates of a sale between $200,000 to $300,000.

The identity of the buyer has not been made public.

“The first edition in its original boards is incredibly fragile and as a result very scarce, so a copy like this, particularly in fine condition, is highly desirable to collectors,” a spokesperson for Christie’s said. “Overall it’s a very strong market and we are seeing increased demand for fine examples of literary high spots.”

The copy comes in three volumes and features the original hardcovers. It also includes a preface by Shelley’s husband, the poet Percy Shelley, alongside a dedication to her father, William Godwin, a renowned political philosopher and author. The previous auction record holder for a piece penned by a woman had been held by a first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma from 1816, which was sold by Bonhams in 2008 for £150,000.

A copy of JK Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard sold for £1.95m at Sotheby’s in November 2007 but the novel was handmade, rather than printed.

The auction fielded bids from around the world as part of the live sale of The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum, which altogether fetched more than $6 million.

The literary classic tells a story of a scientist of “unhallowed arts” who creates Victor Frankenstein, a monster brought to life using the body parts of other humans.

Shelley initially wrote the story in a competition with her husband over who could write the best horror story.

As was typical of female authors at the time, Frankenstein was first published anonymously on Jan 1 1818 by Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones in a run of just 500 copies.

Shelley was given just a third of the net profits, according to biographer Miranda Seymour. The author would, however, later publish a revised edition in 1831, under her own name.