PARIS (AP) — Thousands of French investors are hoping to recover some of the money they lost in an alleged pyramid scheme when a collection of rare manuscripts goes up for auction starting next month.

The 130,000-piece collection has been estimated to be worth a sum that could run eight or nine figures. It includes the original 1785 manuscript for "The 120 Days of Sodom," the explicit and ultimately influential novel the Marquis de Sade wrote in the Bastille prison.

A judge ordered the documents seized three years ago as part of a fraud investigation. Other valuable highlights are a hand-writt...