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Home > News > Highlights from First Editions, Second Thoughts (FEST)

Highlights from First Editions, Second Thoughts (FEST)

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Wednesday 13th
July 2022

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1FEST1Auction1Writers at Risk

First Editions, Second Thoughts: An Auction in support of English PEN, took place online at Christie’s (28 June – 12 July 2022) and comprised annotated first edition books and works of art from internationally renowned contemporary artists and authors. Each work was personally annotated by the artist or author to include their insights, recollections, thoughts or illustrations,  creating a unique and covetable collector’s item. Our sincere thanks to Belinda Kitchin for all her work curating First Editions, Second Thoughts.

We are delighted to report that the sale raised a total of £515,844.  

The proceeds raised from the sale will fund our work to defend free expression and campaign for writers who are at risk.

For the full sale results please click here.

Daniel Gorman, Director of English PEN, comments, ‘We are hugely grateful for this extraordinary conclusion to a very special auction. Thank you to all the writers and artists who have generously looked back and annotated some of their finest work. The funds raised at Christie’s for English PEN will help us to continue the increasingly urgent and vital work of campaigning for writers at risk, and for freedom of expression in the UK and across the world.”

Sale Highlights include:

Authors: John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold sold for £35,280; Hilary Mantel  Bring Up the Bodies sold for £30,240; David Mitchell  Cloud Atlas sold for £27,720; Tom Stoppard  Leopoldstadt sold for £21,420; Alan Bennett The History Boys sold for £17,640; Thomas Keneally  Schindler’s List sold for £16,380; Quentin Blake (illustrator), – Roald Dahl (1916–1990) The BFG sold for £13,860; Salman Rushdie Midnight’s Children sold for £11,970; Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale sold for £11,340.

Artists: Antony Gormley Stand up for Ukraine II sold for £44,100; Ai Weiwei 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir sold for £12,600.

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