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Press Release
Rare First Edition Mein Kampf, signed by Hitler, sells for £18,000 through online live auction
London, 20 April 2011
A rare First Edition Mein Kampf came to auction through Mullocks Auctioneers, Shropshire, yesterday, Tuesday 19th April. The buyer bid online, live through www.the-saleroom.com with the item going under the hammer at £18,000. It is believed the buyer is based in Munich.
This book was a special presentation copy signed and dedicated by Hitler to Hermann Esser, one of the founding members of the Nazi Party and a fellow inmate with Hitler in Landsberg Prison. This is number 19 of the special limited edition copy of the excessively rare first edition of the book which contained only the first part of the finished work.
It is thought that the copy is probably the rarest copy of Hitler's book to ever appear at auction. It is unlikely that another copy of the first edition of Mein Kampf similarly dedicated to a founding member of the Nazi party will appear in the market.
The book was published in 1925 shortly after Hitler emerged from Landsberg Prison where he wrote the work. This was only produced in a total edition of 500 copies - making it an excessively rare book in its own right. However the first few copies were also produced as here, in a special limited edition with cream vellum boards and gilt embossed title to spine. These copies were only given to the closest possible people to Hitler in the emerging Nazi party who had furthermore been with Hitler in prison following the failed Bierkeller Putsch. This copy was given to Esser as a Christmas present on Christmas Eve 1925.
Richard Lewis of i-bidder.com commented:
"the-saleroom.com provides a 'one-stop shop' for buyers of antiques, fine art, rare and vintage collectibles while also providing bricks and mortar auction houses with a strong and successful platform to participate in internet bidding. As demonstrated with yesterday's sale, the-saleroom opens the doors of auction rooms to a worldwide audience."
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Note to editors
ATG Media Ltd - owners of the-saleroom.com
ATG Media is the European leader in online portals and live bidding for auctioneers. ATG Media has hosted over 11,000 auction catalogues and in excess of 3,600 live auctions online of which 1,900 took place in 2010.
In addition to i-bidder.com, ATG Media created the-saleroom.com, the key portal for art and antiques auctions which in 2010 hosted 3,162 catalogues and 1,208 live auctions and sold £20m online. ATG Media manages bidspotter.co.uk (the US's leading industrial auction site) and powers lot-tissimo.com (Germany's leading fine art and antique auction portal) and epai.hk (China's first online auction portal).
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