The most valuable first edition books
The first editions worth the most money, ranked by what a copy is worth today. Every value comes from recorded sales across the market, not asking prices, and each book links to how to identify its first printing.
The 50 most valuable first editions
Values as of October 2026. Unsigned is a copy at its best valued grade, signed the best signed or inscribed copy; both are valued from recorded sales of that exact printing. Later printings and book club editions are worth a fraction of these figures.
| # | Book | How to identify it | Unsigned | Signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casino Royale Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1953 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1953”, with no impression or “Reprinted” line | $50,301 | $146,625 |
| 2 | Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator Edwin Lefevre · George H. Doran, 1923 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: “Copyright, 1923, by George H. Doran Company” with the interlocking GHD monogram printed just below | $36,329 | — |
| 3 | The Power and the Glory Graham Greene · William Heinemann, 1940 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1940” as the only printing statement, with “Printed in Great Britain at the Windmill Press, Kingswood, Surrey” at the foot | $33,534 | — |
| 4 | To The Lighthouse Virginia Woolf · Hogarth Press, London, 1927 · First UK edition, first impression | Title page: TO THE LIGHTHOUSE / VIRGINIA WOOLF, then the Hogarth wolf's-head device directly below the author's name with no line between them, and at the foot… | $33,534 | — |
| 5 | Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald · Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: Scribner's “A” below the copyright notice | $32,775 | — |
| 6 | The Road to Serfdom Friedrich August von Hayek · George Routledge & Sons, 1944 · First edition, first impression | Verso of the dedication leaf: “First Published 1944”, with no later impression line | $22,080 | — |
| 7 | Brave New World Aldous Huxley · Chatto & Windus, 1932 · First print | Title page: "Chatto & Windus, London" with the date 1932 at the foot. | $18,400 | — |
| 8 | My Bondage and My Freedom Frederick Douglass · Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855 · First edition, first printing | Title page: “New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan … 1855”, with no print-run line (“Fifteenth Thousand”, “Eighteenth Thousand”…) above the title | $18,400 | — |
| 9 | The Screwtape Letters C. S. Lewis · Geoffrey Bles, 1942 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1942” (or “First published February 1942”) as the only dated line, below “Reprinted with some alterations by kind permission of… | $17,466 | $32,200 |
| 10 | Death in the Afternoon Ernest Hemingway · Charles Scribner's Sons, 1932 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: a capital “A” printed below the rights statement, Scribner seal at the foot of the page | $12,938 | — |
| 11 | Call for the Dead John le Carré · Victor Gollancz, 1961 · First edition, first impression | Title page: London, Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1961 | $12,208 | $16,664 |
| 12 | A Wrinkle In Time Madeleine L'Engle · Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1962 · First print | Copyright page: First printing, 1962, on the line under "Library of Congress catalog card number 62-7203". | $11,178 | $9,258 |
| 13 | Moonraker Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1955 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1955”, with no impression or “Reprinted” line | $11,040 | — |
| 14 | The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane · D. Appleton and Company, 1895 · First edition, first printing | Title page: “New York / D. Appleton and Company / 1895”, title printed in red and black | $11,040 | — |
| 15 | The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner · Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1929 · First edition, first printing | Title page: New York, Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, dated 1929 on the copyright page | $11,040 | — |
| 16 | Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome · Jonathan Cape, 1930 · First print | Title page: Stephen Spurrier's map of Wild Cat Island as frontispiece, and The maps drawn by Stephen Spurrier under the title vignette. | $10,897 | — |
| 17 | The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger · Little, Brown, 1951 · First print | Copyright page: FIRST EDITION printed below the rights paragraph, under "Copyright 1945, 1946, 1951 by J. D. Salinger". | $9,936 | — |
| 18 | The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore · Farrar & Rinehart, 1933 · First print | Copyright page: the Farrar & Rinehart seal (an oval ornament with the letters FR) above "Copyright, 1933, by Guy Endore". | $9,918 | — |
| 19 | The Waste Land T. S. Eliot · Boni and Liveright, 1922 · First edition, first impression | Limitation leaf: copy numbered by hand-stamp “of the one thousand copies printed”, with no “Second Edition” on the leaf | $9,501 | — |
| 20 | Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin · Alfred A. Knopf, 1953 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: “FIRST EDITION” stated at the foot | $9,432 | — |
| 21 | Rebecca Daphne du Maurier · Victor Gollancz, 1938 · First UK edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published August 1938”, with no later impression line below it | $9,359 | — |
| 22 | Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill · The Ralston Society, 1937 · in dust jacket · First edition, first printing | Title page: “1937” and “Published by THE RALSTON SOCIETY, Meriden, Conn.” | $9,200 | $9,258 |
| 23 | Economics in One Lesson Henry Hazlitt · Harper & Brothers, 1946 · First print | Copyright page: "Copyright, 1946, by Harper & Brothers", then FIRST EDITION with the printing code F-V on the line below it. | $9,200 | — |
| 24 | Peter and Wendy J. M. Barrie · Hodder & Stoughton, 1911 · First UK edition, first impression | Title page: pictorial title by F. D. Bedford, Hodder & Stoughton imprint, undated; verso undated | $9,200 | — |
| 25 | The Red Box Rex Stout · Farrar & Rinehart, 1937 · First print | Copyright page: the Farrar & Rinehart seal (an oval ornament with the letters FR) above "Copyright, 1936, 1937, by Rex Stout". | $8,453 | — |
| 26 | Double Star Robert A. Heinlein · Doubleday, 1956 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: “First Edition” stated | $8,384 | — |
| 27 | Five On A Treasure Island Enid Blyton · First print | — | $8,384 | — |
| 28 | The Moving Target Ross Macdonald · Knopf, 1949 · First print | Copyright page: FIRST EDITION printed at the foot of the page, below "Copyright 1949 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. … Manufactured in the United States of America." | $8,193 | — |
| 29 | The Outsider and Others H. P. Lovecraft · Arkham House, 1939 · First print | Title page: "Collected by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei", with Arkham House · Sauk City, Wisconsin and 1939 at the foot of the page. | $8,096 | $1,960 |
| 30 | The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle · George Newnes, 1902 · First edition, first printing | Title page: “London / George Newnes, Limited / Southampton Street, Strand / 1902”, with the subtitle “Another Adventure of Sherlock Holmes” | $7,544 | — |
| 31 | On the Road Jack Kerouac · Viking Press, 1957 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: “Published in 1957 by the Viking Press, Inc.”, with no later printing stated | $7,266 | — |
| 32 | The Well of Loneliness Radclyffe Hall · Jonathan Cape, 1928 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1928”, no further impression listed | $6,987 | — |
| 33 | The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry · Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943 · First edition, first printing | Title page: Reynal & Hitchcock · New York imprint | $6,900 | $44,436 |
| 34 | Live and let Die Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1954 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First printed 1954”, with no impression or “Reprinted” line | $6,891 | — |
| 35 | The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch Philip K. Dick · Doubleday, 1964 · First print | Copyright page: First Edition as the last line, under "Copyright © 1964 by Philip K. Dick / All Rights Reserved / Printed in the United States of America". | $6,728 | $16,293 |
| 36 | Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh · Chapman & Hall, 1945 · First UK edition, first impression | Title page: “London: Chapman & Hall Ltd. / 1945” | $6,288 | $18,515 |
| 37 | Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury · Ballantine Books, 1953 · First edition, first printing | Publisher: Ballantine Books, Inc., New York, 1953, illustrated by Joe Mugnaini | $5,865 | $7,194 |
| 38 | Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy · Random House, 1985 · First print | Copyright page: the number line 24689753, running down to 2, with First Edition on the line below. | $5,635 | $37,030 |
| 39 | Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe · Heinemann, 1958 · First UK edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1958”, with no reprint line below it | $5,589 | — |
| 40 | Neuromancer William Gibson · Gollancz, 1984 · First print | Copyright page: First published in Great Britain 1984 by Victor Gollancz Ltd (year only) as the only publication line. | $5,520 | $12,400 |
| 41 | Winner Take Nothing Ernest Hemingway · Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: a capital “A” printed on its own line below the rights statement | $5,520 | $10,368 |
| 42 | The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank · Doubleday, 1952 · First print | Copyright page: FIRST EDITION as the last line, under "Copyright, 1952, by Otto H. Frank". | $5,520 | $476 |
| 43 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey · Viking Press, 1962 · First edition, first printing | Copyright page: “Published in 1962 by The Viking Press, Inc.” with no printing line below it | $5,520 | — |
| 44 | The Torrents Of Spring Ernest Hemingway · Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926 · First print | Title page: dated 1926 under "New York / Charles Scribner's Sons". | $5,520 | — |
| 45 | A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess · Heinemann, 1962 · First print | Copyright page: "William Heinemann Ltd" and First published 1962 as the only printing statement, above "© Anthony Burgess, 1962". | $5,474 | $10,368 |
| 46 | A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole · Louisiana State University Press, 1980 · First edition, first printing | Title page: Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge and London, 1980 | $5,299 | — |
| 47 | The Bride Wore Black Cornell Woolrich · Simon and Schuster, 1940 · First edition, first printing | Title page: “An Inner Sanctum Mystery” at the head, “Simon and Schuster · New York · 1940” at the foot | $5,299 | — |
| 48 | Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl · Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 · First edition, first printing | Last page (“About the Author”): six-line colophon, the fifth line reading “Paper manufactured by S. D. Warren Co.” | $5,239 | $16,293 |
| 49 | Through the Brazilian Wilderness Theodore Roosevelt · Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914 · First edition, first printing | Title page: New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914 | $5,239 | — |
| 50 | For Your Eyes Only Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1960 · First edition, first impression | Copyright page: “First published 1960” and “© 1960 by Glidrose Productions Ltd”, with no “Reprinted” or impression line | $5,152 | $33,327 |
The most valuable signed first editions
What a signed or inscribed copy is worth, most valuable first. How to identify a first edition of Signed, inscribed, bookplate or facsimile signature.
- Casino Royale (Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1953 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $146,625 against $50,301 unsigned
- The Thin Man (Dashiell Hammett · Alfred A. Knopf, 1934 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $68,770 against $4,048 unsigned
- Diamonds Are Forever (Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1956 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $57,846 against $4,480 unsigned
- The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry · Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $44,436 against $6,900 unsigned
- Lord of the Flies (William Golding · Faber and Faber, 1954 · First print): signed copy about $40,627 against $4,784 unsigned
- Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy · Random House, 1985 · First print): signed copy about $37,030 against $5,635 unsigned
- The Man in the High Castle (Philip K. Dick · Putnam, 1962 · First US edition, first printing): signed copy about $37,030 against $2,750 unsigned
- For Your Eyes Only (Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1960 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $33,327 against $5,152 unsigned
- The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis · Geoffrey Bles, 1942 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $32,200 against $17,466 unsigned
- Light in August (William Faulkner · Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, 1932 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $28,143 against $2,208 unsigned
- A Raisin In The Sun (Lorraine Hansberry · Random House, 1959 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $25,921 against $690 unsigned
- Thunderball (Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1961 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $22,496 against $837 unsigned
- The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson · The Viking Press, 1959 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $22,319 against $4,191 unsigned
- We The Living (Ayn Rand · Macmillan, 1936 · First print): signed copy about $21,821 against $2,944 unsigned
- The Worm Ouroboros (Eric Rücker Eddison · First print): signed copy about $19,212
- Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh · Chapman & Hall, 1945 · First UK edition, first impression): signed copy about $18,515 against $6,288 unsigned
- Ubik (Philip K. Dick · Doubleday, 1969 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $18,032
- You Only Live Twice (Ian Fleming · Jonathan Cape, 1964 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $17,774 against $683 unsigned
- Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand · Random House, 1957 · First edition, first printing): signed copy about $17,126 against $3,305 unsigned
- Call for the Dead (John le Carré · Victor Gollancz, 1961 · First edition, first impression): signed copy about $16,664 against $12,208 unsigned
What makes a book valuable
- It is a first printing: how to tell if a book is a first edition.
- Its condition, and above all its original dust jacket.
- A real signature or inscription by the author.
- Demand: collectors keep buying the book decades after it came out. First editions by author.
Common questions
- What are the most valuable first edition books?
- Of the books we track: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (first edition, first impression, about $50,301 unsigned), Reminiscences Of A Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre (first edition, first printing, about $36,329 unsigned), The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (first edition, first impression, about $33,534 unsigned). Values are as of October 2026, from recorded sales.
- What old books are worth money?
- Mostly first printings of books people still collect, in their original dust jacket and good condition. Age alone adds little: a common 1890s book can be worth a few dollars, while the first printing of a 1970s or 1990s classic can be worth thousands. A signature by the author usually multiplies the value.
- How do I know if my book is valuable?
- Check that it is a first printing (the copyright page’s first edition statement or number line, and the jacket price), then its condition and whether the jacket is present, then whether it is signed. Each edition page lists the exact points and what a copy is worth by condition. How to tell if a book is a first edition.
- Can I sell a valuable book to BBourse?
- Yes. We value the exact copy from recorded sales and make a firm cash offer, free and with no obligation to sell.
Think you have one of these? We value the exact copy and make a firm cash offer. Get an offer.