“Zastrozzi: a Romance,” 1810, was published at 5s. Bound and cut copies have sold for £5, 15s., and £12, 5s. An uncut copy, in calf, fetched £12, 5s. in 1890, and an uncut copy in morocco brought fifteen guineas in 1897 (Sir C. S. Forbes).
The most interesting of these pamphlets is the one which was the cause of its author being expelled from University College, Oxford.
“The Necessity of Atheism. Worthing. Printed by E. & W. Phillips. Sold in London and Oxford,” n.d. [1811] f. 8vo, pp. 13.
Nearly all the copies were destroyed by the printers, and Mr. Slater values a clean copy at about £20, but probably it would realise much more than that.
“St. Irvyne,” 1811, morocco uncut, Sir C. S. Forbes, 1897, £16, 10s.
“An Address to the Irish People” (Dublin, 1812) was published at 5d., and Mr. Slater values a copy at £8 to £12, but one was sold at Alfred Crampton’s sale, 1896, for £42.
“Queen Mab,” 1813, in the original boards, was sold in 1891 for £22, 10s.
“The Refutation of Deism,” 1814, fetched £33 at an auction in 1887.
The largest price, however, given for one of these pamphlets was £130 for “Œdipus Tyrannus,” 1820, at Crampton’s sale. The entire impression was destroyed except seven copies, only two or three of which are known to exist, but a reprint on vellum appeared in 1876. The British Museum possesses a copy, presented by Lady Shelley.