Abebooks has announced its highest priced books for 2017. A set of Waugh’s war trilogy came in at #16 and sold for $12,500. Here is the seller’s description:
First editions of each volume in the author’s acclaimed Sword of Honour Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes. Men At Arms is inscribed by the Waugh to fellow author, J.F. Powers, “For Jim Powers with admiration from Evelyn Waugh I bet you $1 you can’t finish it.” Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender are both signed by Waugh. Each are near fine in very good to fine dust jackets. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box…
Powers was an American novelist best known for his 1962 novel Morte D’Urban about a midwestern Roman Catholic priest. Waugh promoted Powers’ early work, and they met in 1949 on Waugh’s lecture tour of North America. They continued to exchange letters for many years and Powers later visited Waugh at his home in England.
The seller was Raptis Rare Books of Palm Beach, FL. The top price for an Abebooks sale in 2017 went for a copy of J D Salinger’s Nine Stories. This was sold for $22,500. Last year Waugh was also on the top seller list when Abebooks sold a first edition of A Handful of Dust for $16,450. See previous post.
