When it comes to holiday gifts, coffee-table books are about as original as fruitcakes (and almost as heavy). Demonstrate your impeccable taste, as well as your deep affection for the recipient, with a well-preserved volume from one of these rare book dealers…
DRAGON BOOKS 2954
           Emma by Jane Austen ($40,000). One of only 2,000 copies of the first edition of Austen’s last and arguably greatest novel, in three leather-bound volumes. The ultimate trophy for the literate socialite.
           High Adventure by Sir Edmund Hillary ($1,500). Why buy this memoir from the man who conquered Everest? Because it’s there, of course. This 1955 first edition, boldly signed by Sir Edmund on the half-title page, will be a thrill for the adventure seeker and social climber alike.
           Baby Doll  by
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           The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ($7,000). Wilde’s only novel was roundly criticized as immoral and caused a great scandal upon its release in 1891. This first edition, bound in gilt-stamped Moroccan leather, is beautiful enough for Lady Windermere’s drawing room.