The item's value was boosted by the fact that it was one of just two signed presentation copies of David Copperfield to have appeared at auction in the past 35 years, The much-loved author had previously written to the company explaining that the inclusion of a firm named Brooks of Sheffield in his 1850 novel was a coincidence.īrookes in turn presented Dickens with a case of cutlery, prompting Dickens to "pay" the company with the inscribed copy from his own library, in fear of an old superstition that when a knife is given as a gift, the relationship between the two parties will be severed.Īccompanying the lot was a letter from Dickens to Brookes, apologising for the delay in sending the book. The book once resided on the shelves of the Dickens library The tome sold for £61,250 at today's (June 13) Christie's Valuable Printed Books and Manuscripts sale in London.ĭickens inscribed his personal copy for the knife and tool manufacturer Brookes of Sheffield in May 1851. A first edition of David Copperfield, which a superstitious Charles Dickens signed in 1851, has beaten its £50,000 high estimate by a resounding 22.5% at auction.
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