The African Queen

The African Queen is the story of a jerry-rigged attack on a German gunboat in Central Africa during the early days of World War I. An important subplot is the love story between the Charlie Allnutt, captain of the small launch named The African Queen, and Rose Sayer, the sister and companion of an Anglican missionary who dies in the first part of the novel. Rose's personality is the driving force of the attack, and the novel. Interestingly, the original UK edition has a happy ending, with the couple surviving to be married, but in the US edition, Allnutt dies during the attack. -

The first U.K. edition can bring over $15,000 for a book in excellent condition. Wear to the edges of pages and the boards of the book is common, but the original printing holds up well. It should be noted that the US edition is known to be much more likely to have suffered damage, and is considered fragile. Copies of the first US edition in good shape are very rare, and can command several thousand (U.S.) dollars if they are without substantial flaws.

The book inspired a classic well known film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the major roles. The popularity of the movie contributes to the continuing interest in the book, and early copies of this title are highly sought after by collectors. -