The African Queen

by Forester, C S

The African Queen is the story of a jerry-rigged attack on a German gunboat in Central Africa during the early days of World War I. An important subplot is the love story between the Charlie Allnutt, captain of the small launch named The African Queen, and Rose Sayer, the sister and companion of an Anglican missionary who dies in the first part of the novel. Rose's personality is the driving force of the attack, and the novel. Interestingly, the original UK edition has a happy ending, with the couple surviving to be married, but in the US edition, Allnutt dies during the attack. -

First Edition Identification

The first U.K. edition can bring over $15,000 for a book in excellent condition. Wear to the edges of pages and the boards of the book is common, but the original printing holds up well. It should be noted that the US edition is known to be much more likely to have suffered damage, and is considered fragile. Copies of the first US edition in good shape are very rare, and can command several thousand (U.S.) dollars if they are without substantial flaws.

Other Collectible or Notable Editions

The book inspired a classic well known film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the major roles. The popularity of the movie contributes to the continuing interest in the book, and early copies of this title are highly sought after by collectors. -

Reviews

Review this book!

Available Copies

The African Queen

The African Queen

by Forester, C.S.

Condition
Used - VG
Jacket Condition
Fine
Edition
First Edition
Published
1935
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
New Harbor, Maine, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$930.56

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, 1935. Book. VG. Hardcover. First Edition. First printing. A VG copy in a fine facsimile dust jacket. Basis for the 1951 film directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Katherine Hepburn and Robert Morley. Only 2,500 copies printed. Scarce..
Item Price
A$930.56
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by FORESTER, C.S.

Condition
Used - Very good
Edition
First Edition
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Brisbane, Queensland, AUS
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$1,400.00

Show Details

Description:
London: William Heinemann, 1935. First Edition. Very good. Hardcover : pp. (4) (2) 3-283 (1, blank) : original brown cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine : LACKING dust jacket. Corners sharp but slightly rubbed; strip of cloth along tail of both boards is lighter (not sunned, maybe cleaned?); very small dint (1 x 3mm) to lower… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$1,400.00
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by Forester, C.S

Condition
Used - Near Fine
Jacket Condition
Fine
Edition
1st Edition
Published
1935
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Mission Viejo, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$6,993.45

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Printing. First American Edition. Basis for the classic film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn directed by John Huston in 1951. Very light foxing to page edges. Book Is fresh and clean with no marks except for light rubbing to bottom edges. The unclipped dustjacket is beautiful,… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$6,993.45
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by FORESTER, C.S.

Condition
Used
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Edition
1st Edition
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Palm Springs, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$5,050.82

Show Details

Description:
First American edition ("Published, February, 1935"). Octavo. Original patterned light brown cloth stamped in green. Dust jacket (unclipped; short closed tear; few small chips; eight small tape reinforcements on the verso; spine slightly toned). Very good, an attractive copy. First American edition, with an alternative ending to the first British edition. Provenance: Al Roubicek with his bookplate of the front… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$5,050.82
The African Queen.

The African Queen.

by Forester, C.S

Condition
Used
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$3,885.25

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935.
Item Price
A$3,885.25
The African Queen

The African Queen

by c.s. forester

Condition
Used - VG+ - NF
Published
1949
Quantity Available
1
Seller
San Francisco, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$20.20

Show Details

Description:
VG+ - NF Bantam 712, third printing. Softcover. Very nice copy of this classic.
Item Price
A$20.20
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by Forester, C.S.

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Edition
1st
Published
1935
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
truth or consequences, New Mexico, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$505.08

Show Details

Description:
Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1935. 1st . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 275pp.; HB brwn.'leaf'pattern w/green; some rub w/lt.wear on edges&corners; sml.hole,bk.hinge; PON; (3) 1"chips,last pg.; sml.sticker,bk.pastedwn.; clean,tight pgs. Adventure story of missionary's sister & cockney engineer using his boat to fight the Germans in Africa during WWI. … Read more about this item
Item Price
A$505.08
The African Queen

The African Queen

by C S Forester

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Edition
First Thus
Published
1956
Binding
Soft Cover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$11.76

Show Details

Description:
London: Mermaid Books (Michael Joseph), 1956. First Thus. Soft Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall
Item Price
A$11.76
The African Queen.
More Photos

The African Queen.

by FORESTER, C. S.

Condition
Used
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
London, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$3,429.82

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company,, 1935. Bright jacket First US edition, first printing. Forester's novel, also published in the UK the same year, was adapted into the highly successful film in 1951 starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Octavo. Original brown patterned cloth, spine and front cover lettered in green. With dust jacket. A near-fine copy in the… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$3,429.82
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by Forester, C.S.

Condition
Used - Very Good++
Jacket Condition
No Jacket
Edition
First UK Edition
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Market Harborough, Leicestershire, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$1,469.92

Show Details

Description:
The First UK printing published by William Heinemann Ltd., London in 1945. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition . Original publisher's tan cloth with gilt titling to the spine. Very light bumping to the lower corners. Mild pushing to the spine tips with a very light vertical crease to the spine. The binding remains very tight and sound. Mild… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$1,469.92
THE AFRICAN QUEEN
More Photos

THE AFRICAN QUEEN

by Forester, C.S.

Condition
Used - Very good plus in near-fine jacket.
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$6,993.45

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. Very good plus in near-fine jacket.. First US edition of this classic WWI adventure story (with a dash of romance), following a skipper and missionary's housekeeper as they plot to destroy a German gunboat - adapted into a Hollywood film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Far from the tall ships of… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$6,993.45
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by C. S. Forester

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Edition
1st Edition
Published
1935
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Portland, Oregon, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$1,864.92

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. First Edition, first printing (February, 1935). Original brown foliage-pattern embossed cloth stamped in pale green. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown; small area of light soiling at top lip of a few pages (mostly ffep and half-title pages, more slightly to title page); small spot of soiling in… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$1,864.92
The African Queen

The African Queen

by Forester, C.S.

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Good
Edition
Modern Library Edition
Published
1940
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Albany, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$31.08

Show Details

Description:
New York: Modern Library, 1940. Modern Library Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. In red cloth and black title panels and tinted top page ends. Gilt to type. Corners dinged/softened and smudge to front board. Interior clean and binding solid. Jacket is unclipped with small chips and sort tears mainly to spine ends and corners. Small stain to bottom of… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$31.08
The African Queen: C.S. Forester

The African Queen: C.S. Forester

by Forester, C. S.

Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10
075382079X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$4.10

Show Details

Description:
Paperback. Very Good.
Item Price
A$4.10
The African Queen

The African Queen

by C.S. Forester

Condition
As New
Published
1963
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
North Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$34.28

Show Details

Description:
The African Queen, C.S. Forester. International Collectors Library, Garden City., 1963. Green faux leather boards with gilt design, reading ribbon, green endpapers. In fine, unread condition. Basis of the Humphrey Bogart movie of the same name.
Item Price
A$34.28
No image available

THE AFRICAN QUEEN

by Forester, C. S.

Condition
Used
Edition
First Edition
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Rochester, Michigan, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$3,709.08

Show Details

Description:
THE AFRICAN QUEEN, Little, Brown, 1935, first American edition, vg in like color pictorial dust-wrapper. Actually quite nice. The endings of this novel are considerably different for the English and American edition. Source book for the 1951 film of the same name.
Item Price
A$3,709.08
No image available

The African Queen.

by FORESTER, C. S.

Condition
Used - Very slightly bumped at extremities of spine; else very near fine in a jacket which has a faint crease to the length of the back
Edition
First American edition.
Published
1935.
Binding
Publisher's cloth in dust jacket. Preserved in a custom cloth clamshell box.
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Rochester, New York, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$4,662.30

Show Details

Description:
Boston:: Little, Brown,, 1935.. First American edition.. publisher's cloth in dust jacket. Preserved in a custom cloth clamshell box.. Very slightly bumped at extremities of spine; else very near fine in a jacket which has a faint crease to the length of the backstrip , very near the rear joint. The dust jacket is otherwise brilliant; completely… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$4,662.30
The African Queen

The African Queen

by Forester, C. S.

Condition
Used - Very Good- in Good+ dust jacket
Published
1940
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Modesto, California, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$46.62

Show Details

Description:
New York: Modern Library. Very Good- in Good+ dust jacket. 1940. Hardcover. Text is clean. Cover shows normal wear. Dust jacket shows chipping along edges and spine ends. Minor foxing to pastedowns. ; Toledano binding style '8', Kent endpapers, dust jacket style 'h1', listing 299 titles. (Bloom, Who Should We Then Read? 2, pg. 135-137) ; The… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$46.62
The African Queen
More Photos

The African Queen

by Forester, C. S.

Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First Edition
Published
1935
Binding
Hardcover
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Portland, Oregon, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$1,398.69

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1935. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition, first printing. Very Good, lacking the dust jacket. Light rubbing to extremities; light staining to top edge of page block. Light foxing to pages, chip missing from bottom corner of last page. A lovely copy of the book served as the basis for the movie… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$1,398.69
The African Queen.

The African Queen.

by Forester, C.S

Condition
Used
Published
1935
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
A$6,993.45

Show Details

Description:
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1935. First edition of C.S. Forester's beloved African adventure, basis for John Huston's 1951 Oscar-winning film starring Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and Theodore Bikel in his first film role. Octavo, original cloth. Lengthily signed by actor Theodore Bikel on the front free endpaper, "African Queen was the first film I had a role in.… Read more about this item
Item Price
A$6,993.45