Melville House Books

The oldest known copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a proof copy containing handwritten corrections by the author (see Monday’s MobyLives digest), was auctioned Thursday for $545,100, nearly double the expected amount, according to an Associated Press report by Pat Milton. The amount, paid by “an American book dealer who requested anonymity,” was “a record price for an American 19th-century literary work,” according to Christie’s auction house.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.