Several publishers bid for the book in a two-day auction that was described as "furious and frenzied" by another publisher involved.

Sotheby's two-day auction of postwar art begins at 7 P.M. on Tuesday, offering 74 works that the house expects will total $23.7 million to $32.1 million.

Christie's two-day auction on Monday and Tuesday brought a total of $71.7 million, which was within its expectations of $66.4 million to $94.8 million.

But after a two-day auction last week, New American Library agreed to pay $300,000 for paperback rights to the book.

The two-day auction is being staged by Topps, the preeminent company in bubble gum cards.

The two-day auction in Lexington showed an average price of $235,000 for 89 selected yearlings, down 8 per cent from last year.

Instead, the top-rated French cuisine restaurant auctioned off all of its assets through a two-day auction hosted by the Great American Group auction firm.

Charles Rembar, a publishing lawyer, conducted the two-day auction.

The acquisition, at a two-day auction that drew seven bidders, marks the largest sum ever paid for reprint rights to a first novel.

At Christie's, of the 413 works offered, 41 did not sell in a two-day auction that brought, in all, $41.7 million.