First-edition Anne of Green Gables expected to set auction record

One of the books most coveted by collectors of Canadian literary history — a first edition copy of Anne of Green Gables — is to be sold at auction next week in New York for what could be a record price.

The vintage edition of the classic novel by P.E.I.-born author Lucy Maud Montgomery, first printed in April 1908 by the Boston publishing house L.C. Page, is expected to fetch up to $25,000 U.S. at Sotheby's Dec. 11 sale of rare books and manuscripts.

A top hammer price would just surpass the $24,000 record set in 2005 for another inaugural copy of the famous work.

Only eight first-run editions of the book have been sold in the past 35 years, Sotheby's said.

"First-edition copies of this book are rare on the auction market," spokesman Blair Hance told Canwest News Service. "This example is in nice condition with minimal wear."

He said the book — nearly identical to the copy sold in 2005 — emerged from the holdings of a private collector who wishes to remain anonymous.

Described as "one of the most sought-after children's books" for North American bibliophiles, the novel spawned seven sequels, two Hollywood films, various stage adaptations, a hit Canadian TV series and a tourism jackpot for Canada's smallest province.

And last year, an authorized "prequel" to the Anne story by Nova Scotia children's author Budge Wilson was published in celebration of the original's 100th anniversary.

Before the 2005 sale, Sotheby's apologized for what it admitted was an "obnoxious" error after listing the Anne of Green Gables first edition as a beloved "American" children's book.

Montgomery's novel was, in fact, first published in Boston, and it would be 35 years before a Canadian edition appeared. But the author, the character of Anne Shirley and the island setting in which her adventures unfold are all icons of Canadian culture.

The book has been translated into 17 languages and thousands of Japanese tourists travel each year to Green Gables House in Cavendish, P.E.I., a testament to Anne's widespread and enduring appeal.

Previous first editions of Anne of Green Gables have fetched as much as $20,000 at auction, but the 2005 sale set a new benchmark for the book.

It had belonged to the late George Cosmatos, an Italian-Greek film director and book collector best known as the maker of the 1985 action hit Rambo: First Blood II and the 1993 western Tombstone.

The cover of the 1908 edition features gold lettering and a striking profile portrait of Anne.

Library and Archives Canada has several 1908 copies of the book. In 1999, Ottawa-area book collector Ronald Cohen donated 300 Montgomery titles to the national library, including an autographed first edition of Anne of Green Gables.