ARTIFACT

FAHRENHEIT 451

VINTAGE: 1953

Resides in IUPUI’s Center for Ray Bradbury Studies

the Indiana Repertory. Just down the street, an extremely rare copy of the book itself sits on display at The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at IUPUI. One of only 200 copies printed, the first edition was bound in asbestos—a noncombustible material intended as an ironic reference to the dystopian novel’s book burners. It was Bradbury’s personal copy of the edition, and he donated it along with thousands of other items to his friend Jon Eller, an IUPUI professor who established the Center. While it’s not clear if the author thought of the asbestos idea himself or if it was suggested by his publisher, it has become a prized collector’s item, sometimes selling for more than $20,000. This copy is so nice that Bradbury signed it twice.