14 DAY TRIAL // “The Bay Psalm Book” is now considered the world's most expensive printed book sold at an auction after being bought for the incredible amount of $15 million in New York city.
The piece of history is a translation of biblical psalms printed by Puritan settlers in Cambridge, Massachusetts back in 1640. The volume was displayed in a glass case at one of Sotheby's auctions in New York and was sold in just a few minutes. The printed work had gilt edges and browning pages and was auctioned for a small, select crowd.
The buyer is an American billionaire called David Rubenstein who couldn't even be present at the auction and bid by telephone from Australia, according to SBS.
The renowned financier and philanthropist plans to share the unique artifact with the American public by loaning it to libraries across America before choosing a long time exposition spot, the same way he shared other expensive items he bought, like the Magna Carta.
Sotheby's valued the psalm collection to an estimated $15-30 (€11-22) million and declared that they were very happy with the bid they received. The bidding opened at $6 (€4.4) million and almost stopped at $12.5 (€9.2) million, before the current owner entered the auction.
David Redden, auctioneer and head of Sotheby's books, was incredibly happy with the result of the auction and described the item as “very strong and hefty, important because of its story, because it is the first book printed in America and the first book written in America,” according to SBS.
The publication holds a great significance for America's fight for independence as New England used it to declare its independence from the Church of England back in the days. There were around 1,700 copies of the original edition, but only 11 survived and are included in famous collections like the ones at Harvard College or Library of Congress.
The previous record for the world's most expensive printed book was held by a copy of John James Audubon's “Birds of America” volume sold in December 2010 for $11.5 (€8.5) million. Other records in the field of old book or manuscripts are held by Leonardo Da Vinci's Codex Leicester manuscript bought by Bill Gates in 1994 with $30.8 (€22.7) million.