How much is Don Quixote worth?

We've lamented the decline in young people reading the classics. We've affirmed each other as we are finally getting around to read Don Quixote. We've been focused on the intrinsic value of literature in the abstract.

There's also value in the materiality of texts. Over the summer I read Don Quixote as a crumbling paperback that I bought at a used bookstore in college. This semester I am reading Grossman's translation on my Kindle. I love my Kindle, especially as I travel--but I miss the weight of a hefty volume and the ability to brush my fingers through pages. 

Ever wonder what it would be like to hold an early edition of Don Quixote? What would that experience be worth? The experience is likely unquantifiable, but purchasing early editions of Don Quixote can be given a price tag. A 1617 edition of Part 1 made AbeBooks.com's 2015 list of top 20 sales. 

Cervantes is in good company on the top seller list. Other pricey editions included a first edition of William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, a signed first edition of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a signed first edition of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and George Eliot's Scenes of Clerical Life. 

Read more about AbeBook's top sales here. And I will say that the occasional emails I receive from them are delightful. They go easy on the ads, and tend to focus more on offering interesting glimpses into literary and publishing history.