Books and Manuscripts - Invaluable Auctions

In our digital age, we are less and less in contact with hard copy books and I for one admit to going completely with the flow. No more heavy books to lug around, great!

The downside is that we’re losing the comfort and permanence of our hard copy books to the ephemeral digital. Ryan of Invaluable Auctioneers recently emailed me about their book and print materials auctions and I agreed to write about a few of my picks from their book offerings. Invaluable auctions books and manuscripts on diverse subjects. Feel free to check out the Antique Books and unique manuscripts that Invaluable have on their site.

The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.

First published in September 1909, the Phantom is now mostly known by the various musical productions that bring this macabre story to life. Here is the original written version. Opera singer, Christine, is kidnapped by the phantom, a strange, deformed man that secretly lives in hiding in the opera house. This cover is from lot 212, being auctioned November 10. There are other copies available on other dates.

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. This was first published in 1938 and continues to be a favourite with many. I love this strange tale of a young woman who is a companion to busybody Mrs. Van Hopper. While visiting Monte Carlo she meets widower, Max de Winter, owner of the fabulous Manderley. Max surprisingly asks her to marry him and takes her back to his seaside mansion. The novel title is of Max’s first wife who has drowned less than a year before in a storm. So intriguing is that the reader never discovers the name of Max’s new wife throughout the entire book.

The Diary and Letters of Madame D’Arblay
by Francis Burney (later Madame D’Arblay).

Fanny was an English novelist and diarist born in 1776. I don’t have a specific interest in Madame D’Arblay but I think that works like these are excellent studies for historical research into specific time periods. At $50.00 starting bid, it’s pricey research but it would be awesome to consult one of these when checking out social customs or ideology of a time period.

So, worth checking out their website if you love hard copy books, hard to find early editions of popular and various topic books, and unique manuscripts.