- Fine art broker Sotheby’s has disclosed an upcoming NFT auction featuring the manuscript of the 1991 novel Snow Crash, the first book to mention the metaverse
- The auction for the manuscript, by author Neal Stephenson, will open on February 27
- Sotheby’s believes the Snow Crash manuscript will fetch up to $60,000
Fine art broker Sotheby’s has disclosed an upcoming auction of a manuscript of the 1991 novel Snow Crash, the first book to mention the metaverse, including an NFT version. The auction will also feature items linked to the popular fiction novel such as a tachi sword owned by Hiro, a protagonist in Neal Stephenson’s novel. According to Sotheby’s, the auction will coincide with the launch of the Infocalypse NFT collection that features generative art NFTs linked to the Snow Crash novel.
Never-Before-Seen Details
Snow Crash was the first to offer a glimpse into a virtual world where inhabitants exist as avatars, over two decades before the concept of the metaverse, as we know it, came to be. The auction will feature the novel’s original manuscript containing never-before-seen details of what was added or removed in the novel before its publication in 1992.
“This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”
Sotheby’s is excited to announce Snow Crash – an offering of physical and digital items connected to the revolutionary 1992 science fiction novel by @nealstephenson. https://t.co/lvqYJKXWuU
Bidding opens 27 February. pic.twitter.com/SnkFVhpU1v
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) February 23, 2023
According to a Sotheby’s executive, the novel’s author predicted today’s metaverse and by extension “our digital development,” adding that the auction will be a “one-of-a-kind sale.” Apart from the original manuscript, the auction will also include a physical tachi sword owned by a protagonist in the fictitious story, with the auction house revealing that the sword will also be available as an NFT.
$180,000 for the Sword, $250 for the NFT
Sotheby’s also said that the auction will coincide with the launch of Infocalypse, a generative art NFT collection inspired by Snow Crash. The auction house said that they anticipate getting up to $60,000 for the manuscript, up to $180,000 for the sword and $250 for each of the generative NFTs. This is not the first Sotheby’s auction involving NFTs. Last year, it auctioned 101 Bored Apes for a whopping $24.3 Million.
Attention Snow Crash readers and fans!
Infocalypse, an open edition collection of digital art created to mark the 30th anniversary of @nealstephenson's novel Snow Crash, which coined the term "Metaverse", will open 27 February.
Find out more: https://t.co/3a4DfSrdBg https://t.co/nL1HRYboyf
— Sotheby's Metaverse (@Sothebysverse) February 23, 2023
Having sold one million copies in North America alone and forming the foundation of today’s metaverse three decades ago, the novel’s original manuscript and other linked items will likely fetch a premium price at the auction.
