A world record price at auction has been paid in New York for a James Joyce work.
A first edition of his masterpiece, Ulysses, was sold at Christie's in Manhattan for $460,500. That was well above the estimated value of between $200,000 and $300,000. "It was an incredible price," said a Christie's spokeswoman, Ms Bendetta Roux.
The copy of Ulysses, one of a limited first edition of 100, and one of only two in that batch signed by the author, fetched the highest price at a sale of literary works that surpassed expectations.
The Ulysses, on hand-made paper, was signed by Joyce 80 years ago, on October 12th, 1922.
It was presented in Dijon, France, to Henry Kaeser, a publisher based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Four other Joyce works went to auction, and three of them surpassed pre-auction estimates.
Another signed first edition of Ulysses, not on special paper but in its original blue printed wrapper, sold for $119,000. It was estimated at between $70,000 and $90,000.
Also sold was a signed 1914 first edition copy of Dubliners. It was estimated at between $80,000 and $120,000 but fetched $262,500.
A signed first edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, valued at $60,000 to $80,000 sold for $89,625, including commission.