Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery's world famous heroine, is still a draw, with a first edition of the book selling for more than anticipated at auction.

The beloved tale of the plucky red-headed orphan was expected to sell for $8,000-$12,000 US. When the bidding was over, it had sold to a private U.S. buyer for $24,000 US (including buyer's premium).

The same unnamed buyer also purchased a lot of first edition Anne sequels for $1,320 US (including buyer's premium). The seven sequel volumes, including Anne of Avonlea and Anne's House of Dreams, had been expected to sell for $700-$1,000 US.

The first edition of 'Anne of Green Gables' sold for $24,000 US at a Sotheby's rare books auction in New York Friday. (Photo courtesy Sotheby's New York)
The first edition of 'Anne of Green Gables' sold for $24,000 US at a Sotheby's rare books auction in New York Friday. (Photo courtesy Sotheby's New York)

The first edition of Anne, published in 1908 by Boston's L.C. Page & Company, was described by Sotheby's New York as "exceptionally rare" and in "superb condition."

It's only the fifth time in about three decades that a copy of the original 1908 printing has been offered at auction, Tessa Milne of Sotheby's Books and Manuscripts department told CBC News Thursday.

The Lucy Maud Montgomery books were among a collection of rare and first edition books that belonged to Rambo director George Cosmatos, who died earlier this year of lung cancer, in Victoria, B.C.

Milne added that Cosmatos had worked to find publications in exceptional condition.

"Like a true collector, he went for the very, very nicest copies he could find."

Anne of Green Gables was also published in the U.K. in 1908 but the first Canadian edition didn't turn up until 1942, the year Montgomery died. The story was turned into a TV movie in 1985.