First Editions, First Lines - You Read it Here First!

A bit of a cheat as first editions are hard to come by! But this 1599 Geneva Bible recently sold for £550

Mrs Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter. One of several Potter first editions, this one sold for £320.

Ian Fleming's Thunderball. Modern classics are always sought, and this one made £60.

So begins Henry Pullings adventures travelling with his aunt in Graham Greene's classic.

A true classic with a suitably wordy opener, this first edition of Oliver Twist sold for £110

Rev. Charles Kingsley's heart-breaking tale The Water-Babies highlighted the child labour situation in 1863

The 33rd of much-missed Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, this first edition was published in 2004 .

Muriel Spark's best known novel about the formidable Miss Jean Brodie and her girls, first published in 1961.

H G Wells coined the term 'The Time Machine' in this novel from 1895 which sold for £580.

J K Rowling's Harry Potter series have been a phenomenal success and are already making it into auction.

Iris Murdoch's tale about a lay religious community in 'The Bell' shocked many in 1958.

James Joyce's Ulysses is notoriously hard to finish, so don't worry if you didn't get much further than this!