Widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century, The Waste Land represents the pinnacle of Eliot's work as a poet. Though he notably published a relatively short list of poems for his status, the ones he did publish were astounding and remained vitally important to the world of writing in the 20th Century. The Waste Land is a long form poem that combines the legend of the Holy Grail and the folkloric tale of the Fisher King with parallels in contemporary Britain and, like many of his other works, incorporates motifs from eastern works of Buddhism and Hinduism as well. This edition was the first American appearance of the poem in book form, published in 1922 through Dial Publishing.
We collected a sample of 31 auction results of Eliot, T.S.'s The Waste Land from 2 different auction houses. The lowest overall price realized in our sample was $300 and the highest overall price realized was $14950. The overall average price was $2345 and the median price realized for the book was $1125. There were 13 auctions (42%) with a price realized below the low estimate, 10 auctions (32%) exceeding the high estimates, and 8 auctions (26%) within the range of the low and high estimates. Auctions of interest include: a Swann sale on October 01, 2009 of a 1923 - Hogarth Press edition for $5520 that entirely uncut and unopened; a PBA sale on March 15, 2007 of a 1922 - Boni and Liveright edition for $5700 that described as "very good or better"; a Swann sale on September 29, 2005 of a 1922 - Boni and Liveright edition for $8625 that described as "unusually nice";Auction House | Auction Date | Author | Title | City | Publisher | Year | Estimate | Sale Price | Auction Page | Copies For Sale | |
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Swann | November 14, 2017 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $6000-$9000 | $6000 | |||
Swann | May 18, 2016 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $2000-$3000 | $3750 | |||
Swann | May 18, 2016 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $800-$1200 | $553 | |||
Swann | June 19, 2014 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Dial Publishing | 1922 | $800-$1200 | $750 | |||
Swann | November 21, 2013 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $1200-$1800 | $1125 | |||
Swann | November 21, 2013 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $1000-$1500 | $938 | |||
PBA | March 14, 2013 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | San Francisco | Arion Press | 2007 | $400-$600 | $390 | |||
Swann | November 20, 2012 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | 1922 | $800-$1200 | $1320 | ||||
PBA | December 1, 2011 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $300-$500 | $900 | |||
PBA | November 4, 2010 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | Richmond, Surrey | Printed and Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press | 1923 | $1000-$1500 | $900 | |||
PBA | October 7, 2010 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | Richmond, Surrey | Printed and Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press | 1923 | $1000-$1500 | $1020 | |||
Swann | October 1, 2009 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | London | Hogarth Press | 1923 | $3500-$5000 | $5520 | |||
Swann | October 1, 2009 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | London | Faber and Faber | 1961 | $3000-$4000 | $2640 | |||
PBA | April 30, 2009 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | San Francisco | Arion Press | 2007 | $400-$600 | $300 | |||
PBA | April 3, 2008 | Eliot, T.S. | The Wasteland - in The Dial, Vol. LXXIII | Greenwich | Dial Publishing | 1922 | $1000-$1500 | $600 | |||
PBA | December 13, 2007 | Eliot, T.S. | The Wasteland - in The Dial, Vol. LXXIII | Greenwich | Dial Publishing | 1922 | $800-$1200 | $840 | |||
Swann | May 17, 2007 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | 1922 | $500-$750 | $2400 | ||||
Swann | May 17, 2007 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | 1922 | $500-$750 | $960 | ||||
PBA | March 15, 2007 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $4000-$7000 | $5700 | |||
PBA | September 28, 2006 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $4000-$7000 | $4200 | |||
Swann | May 25, 2006 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | 1922 | $1000-$1500 | $1150 | ||||
Swann | September 29, 2005 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $10000-$15000 | $8625 | |||
Swann | September 29, 2005 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Dial Publishing | 1922 | $500-$750 | $489 | |||
PBA | March 24, 2005 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $300-$500 | $330 | |||
Swann | November 11, 2004 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | 1922 | $3000-$4000 | $14950 | ||||
Swann | October 16, 2003 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Dial Publishing | 1922 | $400-$600 | $1380 | |||
PBA | October 9, 2003 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | Richmond, Surrey | Printed and Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press | 1923 | $800-$1200 | $720 | |||
Swann | May 22, 2003 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | Cobden-Sanderson | 1922 | $250-$350 | $1150 | ||||
PBA | November 17, 2002 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land and other poems | London | Faber and Faber | 1945 | $800-$1200 | $840 | |||
Swann | October 24, 2002 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | London | 1922 | $250-$350 | $805 | ||||
PBA | October 3, 2002 | Eliot, T.S. | The Waste Land | New York | Boni and Liveright | 1922 | $1500-$2000 | $1440 |