The world of rare books is huge and it feels like an honourable moment if a person owns any of these antiquarian books. Many people may think that all books are the same so what’s better with the rare books?
Well, the old books are like antique pieces that are worth millions of dollars for being unique or written by a globally renowned writer.
However, this is not all, the writings inside these books also give vintage vibes and allow you to know the different cultures of traditional times and how stories were manipulated or made at the time, understanding the concept of these books widens your perspective and allows you to think beyond your imagination, which is phenomenal. So, I’m sharing a list of the best antiquarian books of all time that everyone must know about.
1. First Folio by William Shakespeare
Even after four hundred years of Shakespeare’s death in 1616, his work in Western literature is still renowned worldwide. The First Folio is his rarest book, the first collection of his epic plays. It was compiled by his business partners and friends. It consists of 36 plays and about 750 copies of this book were printed that are still preferred over modern interpretations of his works.
2. The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most antiquarian books as it has only 200 copies that were printed on July 4, 1776. However, its original piece is signed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson – this is one of the reasons that put this among the rarest books of all time. Further, this book is worth nine million dollars.
3. Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time
Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time is a collection of short stories published in 1924 by French publishers – Three Mountains Press. This book is extremely rare because it had only 300 copies in its initial run, but due to some printing mistakes, this number got even smaller, which was 170. At Sotheby’s New York, the first edition of this book was sold during an auction for $321,600.
4. The Bible of Guttenburg
The notable fact about the Guttenburg Bible is that it was the first book by Johannes Guttenburg that has ever been printed on a printing press. The book itself looks like a unique and rare piece with its loose-leaf pages inside it. However, only 48 copies of this book are remaining and in 2004, a single leaf of this book went on sale for seventy-four thousand dollars.
5. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit
Very few people know about The Hobbit which J.R.R. Tolkien wrote before releasing his iconic trilogy – The Lord of the Rings. Written in 1937, this book was a small fantasy novel especially written for children. However, the amazing fact about this book was that it was used as a blueprint for the novel – The Fellowship of the Ring, which was published in 1954, almost 17 years later. Initially, it had only 1500 copies and its first edition was sold hand in hand for around $210,000.