Bruce Lee Signed First Edition Sells for $115,050 at Auction
Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense (1963) · April 30, 2026 Auction
A New Auction Record for a Bruce Lee Book
On April 30, 2026, a signed and inscribed first edition of Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense (1963) by Bruce Lee sold at Weiss Auctions for a $97,500 hammer price and $115,050 including buyer’s premium, establishing what is believed to be the highest price ever achieved at auction for a Bruce Lee signed book and among the strongest prices ever publicly recorded for a Bruce Lee autograph. This result sets a new benchmark for Bruce Lee autograph prices at auction.
The final price was nearly four times the pre-sale high estimate of $25,000, driven by the exceptional depth of the inscription, the identity of the recipient, and supporting provenance documentation that placed the book directly within Bruce Lee’s inner circle. Public auction records for Bruce Lee signed material while strong have historically remained far below this level.
1963 First Edition of Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense by Bruce Lee
The Book: First Edition, 1963
Published in 1963 and copyrighted by Bruce Lee, Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self-Defense was Lee’s first book, produced years before his Hollywood career and at the very earliest stage of his public teaching. It was self-published in Oakland, California, predating his television work and the formal development of Jeet Kune Do as a discipline.
First edition copies in any condition are scarce. A signed and inscribed example with a verifiable association to a named student from Lee’s inner circle is, as far as can be determined, possibly unique in the collector marketplace.
The Inscription
In his own hand, Bruce Lee inscribed the book: "To Richard, Simplicity is the end of art, the beginning of nature. My best always, Bruce Lee."
This is not a routine presentation. The passage closely paraphrases one of Lee’s most enduring philosophical principles, one that became central to his teachings and later formed a cornerstone of Jeet Kune Do. The inscription carries far more weight than a simple dedication: it is a direct transmission of Lee’s philosophy to one of his most trusted students.
Bruce Lee’s inscription to Richard Bustillo, ink on the title page of the first edition
"Simplicity is the end of art, the beginning of nature."
Richard Bustillo: A Student of the Inner Circle
Richard Bustillo was one of Bruce Lee’s closest students and one of the foremost authorities on Jeet Kune Do Concepts. His connection to Lee was not incidental. Bustillo later went on to instruct Lee’s own children, Brandon and Shannon, placing him at the center of one of martial arts’ most important lineages.
An association copy inscribed to a student of this standing, one who carried Lee’s teachings forward across generations, carries a historical significance greater than the physical scarcity of the book itself. This is precisely what drove the bidding well beyond estimate.
Provenance and Accompanying Documentation
Included with the lot was an original Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute receipt made out to Bustillo and signed by Dan Inosanto, one of Lee’s most trusted associates and a pillar of the Jeet Kune Do tradition. This document provided an extraordinary direct link to Lee’s inner circle and early teaching period in Oakland and Los Angeles.
The combination of the inscription, the recipient’s identity, and the direct provenance established a story that collectors found compelling and that the final bidding reflected.
Copyright page of the 1963 first edition, copyrighted by Bruce Lee and published through Oriental Book Sales, Oakland, California
A Record in Context
The $115,050 result is believed to represent the highest price ever realized at auction for a Bruce Lee signed book and among the strongest prices ever publicly recorded for a Bruce Lee autograph. Public auction records for Bruce Lee signed material is always in demand however has historically remained far below this level, with signed items rarely exceeding $20,000, making this result a significant outlier driven by provenance, association, and the depth of the inscription.
The combination of a deeply philosophical and personalized inscription to a named inner-circle student, an accompanying dues receipt signed by Dan Inosanto, and the book’s unique position as Lee’s first published work put this example in a category of its own. The result also reflects a broader pattern in the signed books and autograph market: material with deep, verifiable, and personally meaningful provenance consistently outperforms generic signed examples by a significant multiple.
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