A FIRST edition copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, inscribed by the author to the Bishop of Ripon, the Right Reverend William Boyd Carpenter, on publication in 1897, fetched £16,730 at Sotheby's in London yesterday.
Dublin-born Stoker took seven years to complete the story of the blood-sucking Transylvanian count who left his castle to stalk the streets of gas-lit London.
The presentation copy of the world's most famous horror story bears the legend in the author's hand: "The Right Rev The Lord Bishop of Ripon from Bram Stoker 31 July 1897."
The Bishop (1841-1918) was a prolific writer and also a lover of drama. Stoker was well acquainted with the Bishop's diocese in North Yorkshire, where he wrote part of Dracula.
The book, which had been estimated to realise £7,000 to £10,000, was bought by a private collector.
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