OLIVER TWIST - OLIVER TWIST BREAKS DICKENS RECORD AT AUCTION

OLIVER TWIST BREAKS DICKENS RECORD AT AUCTION

An inscribed first-edition copy of OLIVER TWIST has sold at auction for $229,000 (GBP114,500) - setting a new world record for a CHARLES DICKENS book. An anonymous American collector bought the book, which comes inscribed by DICkens to his friend and novelist William Ainsworth, at the Christie's sale in New York on Wednesday (02Apr08). Oliver Twist was first published in 1838 and follows the adventures of a young orphan. The previous auction record for a DICkens book was for A Christmas Carol, which sold for $160,000 (GBP80,000) in 1996. On Thursday (03Apr08), it was announced a writing desk and chair once owned by DICkens will be sold at a London charity auction in June (08).