Artunderwraps

First Edition Prices, Values and Auction Results

An influential work in the vein of genre called "cyberpunk," William Gibson introduces his science fiction Sprawl Trilogy in the aftermath of WWIII with Neuromancer, the first novel in the series. The book takes a critical view of a dark futuristic society's use of artificial intelligence. There are shared settings and characters from other works by Gibson in this work and although considered a trilogy, the three titles can stand alone in their plots. The first British edition published by Victor Gollancz Ltd. (London) in 1984 has sold at auction for up to $840; signed versions of this edition have sold for $2000-$2300. The first American publishing by Ace Science Fiction (New York) in 1984 sells at auction for considerably less in the $150-$200 range.

We collected a sample of 9 auction results of Gibson, William's Neuromancer from 2 different auction houses. The lowest overall price realized in our sample was $169 and the highest overall price realized was $2300. The overall average price was $732 and the median price realized for the book was $660. There were 3 auctions (33%) with a price realized below the low estimate, 2 auctions (22%) exceeding the high estimates, and 4 auctions (44%) within the range of the low and high estimates. Auctions of interest include: a PBA sale on April 16, 2015 of a 1984 - Gollancz edition for $1140 that with an inscription from author; a Swann sale on May 25, 2006 of a 1984 - Gollancz edition for $2300 that signed by the author;