London, May 17 (IANS/EFE): A first edition of legendary American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" sold for 1,875 pounds ($2,872), or nearly triple the opening price, at an auction in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The book, which was expected to go for only 700 pounds ($1,072), was sold as part of a collection of rare books belonging to an English literature professor.
The professor's collection sold for a total of 226,000 pounds ($346,000) at Lyon & Turnbull.
The rare first edition of Fitzgerald's 1925 masterpiece sold Wednesday, the same day that the new film adaptation of "The Great Gatsby", starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Baz Luhrmann, opened the Cannes Film Festival.
DiCaprio plays eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby, who gets involved in a deadly love triangle in the Jazz Age.