A rare signed copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf sold for £21,000 at auction yesterday.
The infamous book was sold alongside a signed self-portrait of the Nazi leader, which fetched £12,300 including buyer’s premium at the Mullock’s auction at Ludlow Racecourse, Shropshire.
Hitler gave the Mein Kampf book to a fellow inmate, an early member of the Nazi Party, at Landsberg Prison following his failed attempt to overthrow the German government. The German inscription reads: “Herrn Johann Georg Maurer. In memory of our time together in prison in Landsberg. Cordially dedicated by Adolf Hitler. Christmas 1925.”
Richard Westwood-Brookes, historical documents expert at Mullock’s, said it was one of the rarest signed copies of Mein Kampf on the market in recent years.
He said: “Mein Kampf in its very early editions is quite rare anyway, and then signed copies signed by Hitler are of the greatest rarity.
“This particular copy was signed by him and inscribed by him to one of the other people who was in prison with him.”
The book was bought for £21,000, including buyer’s premium, by a telephone bidder in Russia.
The self-portrait, a pencil sketch of the Nazi leader dated 1926, was bought by a private collector in the UK.
