'Black tulip of US literature' expected to fetch record price at NY auction

London, Dec 4 (ANI): A rare copy of Edgar Allan Poe's first book "Tamerlane and Other Poems" is expected to be sold at a record price when it goes under the hammer today in New York.

Christie's, which is auctioning the book, expects to set a record price for American literature with the stained and frayed copy.

According to Francis Wahlgren, head of books and manuscripts at Christie's in New York, the copy is so rare that is often referred to as the "black tulip of American literature," reports the Telegraph.

Wahlgren said the present record price for an American literary work is 250,000 dollars, which was set almost 20 years ago when another copy of Tamerlane went up for grabs.

The auction house hopes the sale price to be anything between 500,000 to 700,000dollars.

"Tamerlane and Other Poems" was first published in 1827, without a credit to the author's name. The poems were simply attributed to "a Bostonian".

Only 40-50 copies were published out of which just 12 are believed to exist now. (ANI)