First Edition, Autographed "A Farewell to Arms" at Auction

IA rare, autographed first edition volume of Ernest Hemingway's classic novel "A Farewell to Arms," valued between $5,500 and $6,500, has been anonymously donated to the Greater St. Louis Book Fair.

The book, numbered 21 of 510 special first edition copies will be sold during Ivey-Selkirk Auctioneers' Spring Gallery and Fine Jewelry Auction 2010 which runs from March 20-March 22. The volume has an ivory vellum spine with a black morocco spine title label and comes complete with the original slip case. The slip case, a rare find in itself, features a stylized leaf motif and orange label marked "limited edition No. 21." Ivey-Selkirk's galleries are located at 7447 Forsyth Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri.

Proceeds from the sale of the 1929-published novel will benefit the Greater St. Louis Book Fair. Book Fair supports a variety of literacy and education programs in the St. Louis region including the Nursery Foundation, a multi-cultural learning center for St. Louis children ages 12 months through five years.

"It was like discovering buried treasure," says Jean Riezman, auction co-chair for this year's Greater St. Louis Book Fair. "One of our volunteers came upon the valuable book while going about our usual sorting process." Riezman states that Book Fair volunteers spend countless hours culling through thousands of donated books, separating them into categories such as science fiction, children's books, biography, history and more, to prepare for the annual charity sale. This year's Book Fair takes place April 29 – May 2, 2010 at Macy’s east garage at West County Center.

"We knew this was an exceptionally valuable piece that would be better protected and, hopefully, garner a higher selling price by allowing the experts at Ivey-Selkirk to handle the sale for us," says Riezman. The St. Louis-based auction house has generously waived its customary fees so that the Book Fair can keep all proceeds of the sale for the literacy programs it supports.

Go to the www.iveyselkirk.com website for information on on-site and telephone bidding procedures and to view images of the to-be-auctioned book that is tagged Lot #308 in the Spring Gallery on-line catalogue.

The Greater St. Louis Book Fair is the largest charity book sale in the Midwest. A beloved St. Louis tradition since 1949, Book Fair offers hundreds of thousands of items for sale, including books, movies, music and items of ephemera in 150 categories. This year's Book Fair also features more than 600 vintage, classic comic books that are prized by collectors. More information is available at www.StLouisBookFair.org. Follow Book Fair updates on Twitter @StLouisBookFair.