A signed copy of ‘A Promised Land’ by Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, has sold for 7,500 euros in an online auction organized by Artmark auction house, Agerpres news agency reported.
The starting price for the book was just 100 euros in the auction on Tuesday evening, the auction house said.
The unnamed buyer was gifted as signed copy of „A Bright Ray of Darkness” by actor Ethan Hawke. The actor’s mother Leslie Hawke came to Romania in 2000 as a Peace Corps volunteer and worked in the eastern city in Bacau where she became involved with helping children from poor Romanian families.
Artmark said the proceeds from the book’s sale would be donated to the Citește-mi 100 de povești! (Read me 100 stories!) program organized by the OvidiuRo Association which was set up by Leslie Hawke.
The funds will be used to buy books for kindergartens in poorer areas in Romania.
Leslie Hawke stayed in Romania after she left the Peace Corps and used OvidiuRo, to helping disadvantaged children get an education. She fundraised and focused on advocacy before leaving Romania in 2019 but remains involved in the fund.
A Promised Land, is the first part of a memoir by Barack Obama and sold more than 3.3 million copies in the United States and Canada in the first month of publication. It was the best-selling book in 2020 and received the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Memoirs and Autobiographies in 2020.
Two graphic works by Pablo Picasso also sold at the same auction. The ‘Blue Nude’ went for 2,000 euros, far more than the 250 euros estimated selling price while Nude on an Armchair sold for 2,250 euros almost ten times more what was expected, Artnark said.
The money raised will go towards renovating the Brasov Art Museum.
