What are the 10 most expensive books in history

What makes a book, this mystical object, acquire unsuspected values? Is it just a question of seniority? Or is it so important what is the originality of the edition? And its content, although today it is so easy to reproduce it in many formats, Do you also have a weight when closing a sale price of several million dollars?

Judging by the values ​​achieved by selling the 10 most expensive books in history and the world, all this seems important.

These ten sales transactions have been completed between 1983 and 2017, but especially in recent years the desire to auction historical books, manuscripts or printed, incunabulary or not, seems to have exploded.

And who are the Buyers of these relics?

Public libraries and state registers are common consumers of this type of product. For example, the British Library disbursed about $ 14 million in 2012 for the gospel of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, the oldest book that is recorded in Europe, according to the BBC.

While the Codex Leicester, which brings together texts and drawings of the genius of the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo Da Vinci, was bought for a little over 30 million dollars by the American magnate and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, in 1994.

Then, the list of the 10 most expensive books in the world and history:

10- The tales of Canterbury, by Geoffrey Chaucer

This famous collection of 24 stories written between 1387 and 1400 was published for the first time in manuscript form and later became one of the first printed books in England. where he contributed to some works to establish English as a literary language.

A copy of the first edition, printed in 1478, It was bought in 1998 by the former Mags Brothers Reading House for $ 7.5 million. according to BBC.

9- Talmud of Babylon, by Daniel Bomberg

A compilation of rabbinical discussions on ethics, philosophy, history and customs, among others, and central text of Judaism, this Babylonian version was printed in the sixteenth century in Venice by the company of Daniel Bomberg.

Only 14 copies were made, of which one was bought in 2015 by antique dealer Stephan Loewentheil for $ 9.3 million, according to The Jewish week of New York.

8- The birds of America, by John James Audubon

This ornithological collection has been hand-illustrated by the naturalist John James Audubon and includes 435 life-size drawings of North American birds. 119 copies of the book were made between 1827 and 1832. They are usually auctioned for huge sums. UIn 2010, a Sotheby's auction in London cost $ 11.5 million., reported the BBC.

7- Gospels of Henry the Lion

Masterpiece of illuminating manuscripts, the hand-made practice of decorating the text with drawings and colors, was composed and illustrated in 1175 by monks from the Benedictine order at the request from Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, to decorate Brunswick Cathedral For a long time, it was the world's most expensive book and, by 1983, it had been bought for $ 11.7 million.

6- Rothschild prayer book

It is a very colorful prayer book of the 16th century, containing drawings by some of the most important Flemish artists of the time and who have lived many times in Europe. In 1999, he was bought for $ 13.4 million by Australian businessman Kerry Stokes, according to sales agency Christie's.

First volume published and printed in English in North America in 1640, the Book of Psalms of the Bay was published in 11 copies. It has been used for a century before becoming a vestige of immense value. One of these copies was sold in 2013 to financier David Rubenstein for $ 14.2 millionHe emphasized the BBC.

4- Gospel of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

It is the oldest book recorded in Europe, a surrender of the Gospel according to St. John, made somewhere between the seventh and eighth century, then found in the twelfth century in the tomb of Saint Cuthbert himself . In 2012, the British Library bought it for $ 14.3 million.

3- Magna Carta Libertatum

Treaty of pact and peace celebrated in 1215 between John I, King of England, and a group of rebellious nobles who have asked for recognition of their rights and freedoms. It is considered the basis of modern constitutions and the emergence of the nation-state. A copy of 1297 was purchased in 2007 by $ 21.3 million in a Sotheby's auction, pointed out the New York Times.

2- Codex Leicester, by Leonardo Da Vinci

It is a compilation of texts and drawings by the Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci in the sixteenth century, on a wide range of topics ranging from astronomy to paleontology. Its buyer was none other than the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, which disbursed $ 30.9 million in 1994.

1- The Book of Mormon, by Joseph Smith

The fundamental text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings together the writings of different prophets. It was compiled and published by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement. The original 1830 manuscript, which served as the matrix for his first impression, was purchased in 2017 for $ 35 million by the same Mormon church. as reported by Salt Lake Tribune.