Artunderwraps

First Edition Prices, Values and Auction Results

American author F. Scott Fitzgerald is synonymous with the 1920s and conjures images of carefree parties, Prohibition, and life's excesses. Tales of the Jazz Age is a collection of eleven short stories and includes "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (made into a recognized film starring Brad Pitt). The first edition of Tales of the Jazz Age, published by Scribner's (New York) in 1922, has an illustrated jacket in black, white and orange with design by John Held Jr. who was a top illustrator of the time. There are noteworthy first edition points including "an" instead of "and" on page 232, line 6. First editions are valued up to $11,000 at auction, but can be obtained for $100-$200 in worn condition when not accompanied by a dust jacket.

We collected a sample of 16 auction results of Fitzgerald, F. Scott's Tales of the Jazz Age from 3 different auction houses. The lowest overall price realized in our sample was $120 and the highest overall price realized was $11400. The overall average price was $2069 and the median price realized for the book was $255. There were 5 auctions (38%) with a price realized below the low estimate, 3 auctions (23%) exceeding the high estimates, and 5 auctions (38%) within the range of the low and high estimates. Auctions of interest include: a Bonhams sale on December 07, 2016 of a 1922 - Scribner's edition for $5625 that first issue; a Swann sale on November 18, 2014 of a 1922 - Scribner's edition for $7000 that described as "in unrestored, scarce dust jacket"; a PBA sale on May 24, 2007 of a 1922 - Scribner's edition for $11400 that described as "about fine in very good original jacket";