INDIANAPOLIS - A SOLDIER'S rare leather-bound first edition copy of volume one of 'The Federalist' has sold for $80,000 (S$117,000) at an auction.
Indiana National Guard Captain Nathan Harlan was in high school when he paid US$7 for the 1788 book that's the first part of a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the US Constitution.
Mr Harlan will get all the proceeds because Heritage Auction Galleries is waiving its 20 per cent commission in recognition of his upcoming second deployment to Iraq.
The Dallas auction house says the winning bidder is from the Baltimore area.
Heritage Auction Galleries had estimated the book would bring S$8,000 to $12,000, but it says publicity attracted multiple bidders.
