DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions’ Dec. 15 Rare Books Signature® Auction delivered one of the most decisive statements yet about the direction of the rare books market, as science fiction and fantasy led the way in an event that realized $2.1 million across 610 lots. Anchored by two distinguished private collections and fueled by strong demand for landmark works of imaginative literature, the auction drew 1,197 bidders and culminated in a new world auction record for J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

The undisputed centerpiece of the auction was Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings — a complete three-volume set of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — which realized $250,000. The result more than doubled the previous auction record for an unsigned set of the works, a $103,125 mark also established by Heritage in 2021, and firmly positioned Tolkien’s epic at the pinnacle of modern literary collecting.

It was offered in first editions, first impressions, housed in its original illustrated dust jackets and preserved together in a custom slipcase. Long recognized as the defining achievement of 20th-century fantasy literature, the record-setting result underscores the growing recognition of science fiction and fantasy as foundational pillars of serious rare book collecting.

That strength extended well beyond the trilogy itself. A rare autograph manuscript note by Tolkien, headed “Further correction desired” and comprising a late-stage revision to The Return of the King, realized $87,500. Written entirely in Tolkien’s distinctive hand and bearing copy editors’ markings, the manuscript offers a direct glimpse into the author’s meticulous creative process at work on the most influential fantasy novel of the century.

Additional results reinforced the depth and breadth of demand for speculative fiction. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes, a first edition, first state copy preserved in the rare original dust jacket, sold for $37,500. Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, the first edition of the author’s first published book, realized $20,000; the copy was a presentation example inscribed by Asimov the day after publication. Frank Herbert’s Dune, first edition and first printing of the seminal novel that reshaped modern science fiction, brought $13,125.

A first photoplay edition of The Bride of Frankenstein, preserved in its scarce dust jacket and inscribed by Elsa Lanchester — the Bride herself — along with science fiction icon Forrest Ackerman, realized $10,000. Asimov’s first editions of the Foundation Trilogy sold for $10,000, while Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a signed limited first edition bound in Johns-Manville Quinterra (stamped in red: "an asbestos material with exceptional resistance to pyrolysis”), achieved $12,500. Completing the genre highlights was a typescript for Edward E. “Doc” Smith’s Galactic Patrol, the third volume in the Lensman series featuring extensive revisions in the author’s hand, which also realized $12,500.

While science fiction and fantasy set the pace, the auction’s success was equally driven by major works of literature, history and culture drawn from the Library of a Minnesota Collector and the Victor Gulotta Collection of H. G. Wells, alongside exceptional standalone offerings. Chief among these was the 1966 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Robert S. Mulliken for his pioneering work in molecular orbital theory, which realized $200,000. Nobel medals seldom appear at auction, and Mulliken’s example represents a rare intersection of scientific achievement and cultural history.

Classic literature performed strongly throughout the sale. George Eliot’s Middlemarch, offered in its original eight parts and collating complete, realized $75,000. Bram Stoker’s Dracula, first edition and first issue of the cornerstone of Gothic fiction, sold for $55,000. John Donne’s Poems (1633), the first collected edition of the metaphysical poet’s work in a rare contemporary binding, brought $37,500.

Presentation and association copies also commanded significant attention. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, a first edition, first printing inscribed by the author, realized $27,500. Robert Herrick’s Hesperides, a first edition enriched with extensive manuscript notes and boasting an extraordinary provenance through some of the most important English libraries of the past two and a half centuries, sold for $26,250. Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, first edition and first printing, realized $16,250.

“The results from this auction reflect a meaningful shift in how collectors are building great libraries today,” says Francis Wahlgren, Heritage’s Director of Rare Books & Manuscripts. “Science fiction and fantasy are no longer adjacent categories. They are central to the rare books conversation, and the world-record result for The Lord of the Rings is a powerful affirmation of that.”