Fine to NM copies of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy are on abebooks for £500 - £800
This copy sold at Bloomsbury Auctions in June 2008 for £130 - The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, first hardback edition , original boards, dust-jacket, worn at corners with 2 small splits, 1979; and a signed copy of Mostly Harmless , 8vo (2)
This will definately generate renewed interest in the books.
From the BBC
Children's author Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write a sixth instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series.
Mostly Harmless, the last Hitchhiker book, was written by its creator, the late Douglas Adams, 16 years ago.
Now Adams's widow, Jane Belson, has given her approval to bring back the hapless Arthur Dent in a new book entitled And Another Thing...
Eoin Colfer, 43, is best known for the best-selling Artemis Fowl novels.
He said he was "terrified" by the prospect of creating a new Hitchhiker book almost a quarter of a century after being introduced to what he described as a "slice of satirical genius" in his late teens.
'Pressure'
The book also spawned a BBC TV series starring Simon Jones"My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series," he said.
"But on reflection I realised that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding on to the spirit of Douglas Adams.
"I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books," he said, adding that he was "determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written".
Jane Belson said: "I am delighted that Eoin Colfer has agreed to continue the Hitchhiker series.
"I love his books and could not think of a better person to transport Arthur, Zaphod and Marvin to pastures new. The project has my full support."
Adams died of heart failure in 2001, aged 49.
Around 16 million copies of his Hitchhiker books, which have been translated into 35 languages, have been sold around the world.
Colfer was a primary school teacher in Ireland before he secured the largest ever advance for a children's novel by an unknown author.
His Artemis Fowl series, about a teenage criminal mastermind who wreaks havoc in this world and the next, went on to sell more than 18 million copies worldwide and a film adaptation is due to go into production next year.
And Another Thing... will be published in October next year.
Just went to check the results of Frank L Baum and Oziana auction at Bloomsbury and nearly all items are marked as unsold. I am not sure whether the results are just late coming in or whether the items were really unsold.
There were two sections of Ian Fleming books the first were lost 308-314. Lots 308-311 sold for the estimate or above estimate, but the remaning lots 312-314 were unsold. Goldfinger made £500 and For Your Eyes Only made £260, over £100 of the estimate.
As is often mentioned, the first edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has a complex printing history. It is made up of three separately produced components: the text sheets, the color plates, and the stamped binding. The publisher ordered a major modification of the text sheets after the first printing. They repositioned many of the text illustrations and corrected typographical errors. The color plates were also slightly modified, and the binding underwent several changes. As a result, scrambled copies combining first and later states have been identified. Although Jacob Blank in his pioneering bibliography Peter Parley to Penrod (1938) described X, Y, and Z states of the first edition, there were only two printings that resulted in the mixed copies. The 1900 Hill edition of this children's classic in any state is still highly desirable.
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