Today is the birthday of one of the most famous female authors and philosophers of all time. On this day in 1905 Ayn Rand was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She would go on to write only four novels, but those novels and the philosophy of Objectivism she supported have gone on to grow in popularity.
Ayn Rand’s fourth and last novel, “Atlas Shrugged” has become her most controversial and most successful work. Featuring a story about a dystopian American industrial society and published during the early cold war its message missed many readers, however in recent years she has emerged from intellectual dismissal and has become more popular than ever.
The book was published on October 10th, 1957 by Random House. The initial first printing was 100,000 copies and when it hit the shelves it did not have the initial success the publisher had expected. In 1959 when it was released in paperback, New American Library did an initial printing of only 150,000 copies. Fast forward to today and sales of “Atlas Shrugged” have exceeded 7,000,000 copies. The growth in sales from year to year continues to increase as her ideas become more and more mainstream.
Today a first edition of “Atlas Shrugged” can fetch a nice price. For a copy in very good to fine condition you can expect to pay up to $5,000. Lesser copies can be had for $450.
I hope this makes you want to go out and learn more about Objectivism and Ayn Rand. We carry a large selection of her books, so come in anytime and check them out.