The 10 most expensive books in the history of mankind

[SergeiSK]

The ten most expensive books in human history to date includes three manuscripts and seven printed copies.
1. "Leicester Codex, Leonardo da Vinci (The Codex Leicester, Leonardo da Vinci) $ 30,8 million in 1994, the auction Christie's ($ 44,6 million in current prices).
Notebook records of Leonardo da Vinci, made during his life in Milan in 1506-1510, respectively. The manuscript consists of 18 sheets of paper covered with writing on both sides and folded in such a way that together they formed a 72-page notebook. Notes Leonardo painted in a special way, his own "mirror" type - they can be read only by means of mirrors. Entries are devoted to various phenomena of nature are thought Leonardo: why the moon is shining, why and how the water flows in rivers, where are the fossils, which consist of minerals and so on. Notebook also contains a large amount of mathematical calculations, diagrams and drawings. "Leicester" Code was named in honor of Earl of Leicester, who bought the manuscript in 1717. In 1980, the notebook from the heirs of Leicester bought the famous industrialist, collector and friend of the Soviet regime Armand Hammer, in whose honor it is for a short period called the "Code Hammer» (Codex Hammer). After his death in 1994, the Code was put up for auction, during which was acquired by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. On his initiative, "Leicester Codex permanently exhibited in museums around the world.
2. The Gospel of Henry the Lion (Das Evangeliar Heinrichs des Löwen) $ 12,4 million in 1983, an auction Sotheby's ($ 26,7 million at current prices).
Manuscripts of the Gospel, made around 1188 by order of Henry the Lion (1129-1195), Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, the representative of the Welf dynasty, for several centuries had great influence in Europe. The manuscript includes the four Gospels, has 226 pages, decorated in a unique style of the monks and novices Benedictine abbey Helmarshauzen. After the death of Henry the Lion manuscript has long been considered lost. In the XIX century it was discovered in Prague in 1861 it was purchased by George V, King of Hanover, whose founder is Henry Leo. Five years later, King George V was deposed and fled to Austria, and among other things, took with him the manuscript. Next, trace the relics again been lost, but in 1983 an unknown seller put the "Gospel of Henry the Lion" at the auction house Sotheby's. During the auction, its owner has become Germany - participated in financing the purchase of the federal government, the governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony, as well as fund the Prussian Cultural Heritage. " Currently, the manuscript is kept in a library named after the Duke August in Wolfenbüttel (Germany).
3. "Birds of America", John James Audubon (The Birds of America, John James Audubon) $ 8,8 million in 2000, the auction Christie's ($ 11 million in current prices).
"Birds of America" - a book unique in many respects. Its first edition was printed in the U.S. in the years 1827-1838, during which time it was released only about 200 copies, printed in giant format that Audubon himself called «double elephant folio» - each page has 50 inches (127 cm) tall. Full copy of "Birds of America" includes 435 hand-painted prints prints sized 90 to 60 cm, on which birds are depicted in full size.
At present we know of the existence of 119 complete copies of the "Birds of America, 108 of them are stored in museums around the world and only 11 - in private collections. To market these books come very rarely, and every such case collectors books are regarded as a sensation.
4. "Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) $ 7,5 million in 1998, the auction Christie's ($ 9,9 million in current prices)
Unique instance of the first edition of "Canterbury Tales" Geoffrey Chaucer, "father of English poetry" and one of the founders of English literature. The book published in 1477 in the printing of English pioneer William Caxton at Westminster Abbey. So far, survived only 12 known copies of the first edition of which only exhibited at Christie's book is in private collections. The book has its own rich history: her first appearance at auction refers to the year 1776, when it was sold at Christie's for £ 6. In 1998, the book became the property of the London booksellers.
5. "Duke of Northumberland Bestiary» (The Northumberland Bestiary) $ 5,85 million in 1990, an auction Sotheby's ($ 9,6 million in current prices)
Handwritten bestiary - a sort of medieval encyclopedia of fauna, which contains 112 color images of real and imaginary creatures and their descriptions for 148 pages. Author manuscripts is not known, a copy is dated approximately 1250-1260 years. Similar British bestiaries worldwide kept no more than 40, and they rarely come onto the market. As experts explain house Sotheby's in 1990, before the bestiary was last auctioned in 1889. In addition, a copy of the Duke of Northumberland - one remaining in private hands, not in a museum collection. At auction in 1990, its new owner was a private collector from the United States, whose name was not disclosed.
6. Gutenberg Bible (The Gutenberg Bible) $ 5,4 million in 1987, the auction Christie's ($ 10,2 at current prices)
Unique copy of the Bible pioneer Johannes Gutenberg, the oldest surviving books printed with a set of movable type. And it was her 42-line version of the format in folio (there is a later 36-line option, known as the Bamberg Bible). 42-line-Bible-known among bibliophiles as "Mazarin Bible", by the name of the cardinal and first minister Giulio Mazarin, France, in a paper which in 1760 was first detected by the first instance of such a Bible. According to the Gutenberg Museum, all in the early 1450-ies were printed about 180 copies of the 42-line-Bible, of which survived to our time, 48 including 21 - complete. Sold at Christie's in 1987, the Bible - part time, it is only the first volume. The buyer was a Japanese Maruzen Corporation. Currently, this copy is kept in the library of Keio University.
7. "First Folio: comedy, tragedy and chronicles" by William Shakespeare (William Shakespeare's First Folio: Comedies, Histories and Tragedies) $ 5,2 million in 2006, an auction Sotheby's ($ 5,5 million in current prices)
Copy of the first edition of William Shakespeare's play, published in 1623 by John Heming and Henry Kondelom, members of Shakespeare's troupe. "First Folio" - accepted among bibliophiles term to refer to the book its full title - "Mr. William Shakespeare's comedy, chronicles and tragedies. Printed with accurate and authentic texts. In the "First Folio" included 36 of Shakespeare's plays, almost all of his plays, except for "Pericles" and "Two noble kinsmen." So far, survived only 40 complete copies of the first edition of which is in private hands there are only two, including those sold at Sotheby's.
8. On fruit trees, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau) $ 4,5 million in 2006, the auction Pierre Bergé & Associés (Brussels) ($ 4.8 million at current prices)
Treatise on fruit trees, a French physicist, chemist, agronomist, a member of the Academy of Sciences Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau (1700-1782). The book collected and summarized his almost thirty years of observation and experiments with fruit trees. Beautifully decorated two-volume set with illustrations of a number of famous artists of that time, representing 16 species of fruit trees, their fruits, leaves, seeds and fruits. This copy of the book was once bought a personal library of King Louis XV, for what was printed in a particularly luxurious form, with a gilt cover.
9. "Geography" (Cosmography "), Ptolemy (Ptolemy's« Geographia »(aka« Cosmographia »). $ 3,99 million in 2006, Sotheby's ($ 4,3 million in current prices)
A rare instance of the world's first printed atlas, printed in 1477 in Bologna, Italy on samples of maps of the ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician and geographer Claudius Ptolemy 150 years BC. er. Atlas belonged to a famous British collector Lord Vardingtonu, the collection is comprised of approximately 700 ancient books and about 60,000 cards. The first edition of "Cosmographia" was the pearl of this collection, which had almost been destroyed by fire in his country house in 2004, but was rescued by the efforts of relatives and neighbors of the collector. However, a year after the death of Lord Vardingtona his heirs put up "cosmography" in the auction.
10. The Hebrew Bible (Hebrew Bible) $ 3,18 million in 1989, Sotheby's ($ 5,5 million in current prices)
The Jewish Scriptures, called the Jewish Tanakh scholars and consisting of 24 books in three sections: Torah, Nevi'im and Ktuvim. On the content is almost completely corresponds to the Christian Old Testament. This copy is created in Babylon in the IX-X centuries by. er. and is one of the oldest and most expensive of the Hebrew manuscripts.
Valeriy Igumenov
Forbes.Ru
7 December Sotheby's once again put up for sale a book by John James Audubon "Birds of America", published in the XIX century. So the list could easily upgrade.

[SergeiSK]