8of 8
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 1,046 messages
  • May 18, 2023 12:13
2.5K
added
25K
prices
100
info pages
25K
reviews
1K
posts
May 18, 2023 12:13
Yesterday, Wednesday 5/17/2023, the Codex Sassoon was auctioned at Sotheby's for 38.1 million dollars (converted about 35 million euros) including auction costs. That is the highest amount a book has ever fetched at auction.
The Codex Sassoon is an almost complete Jewish bible (according to The New York Times eight pages are missing; according to the NRC 12, containing the first ten chapters of Genesis), which experts have dated to the late 9th century or early 10th century. It is the oldest existing, almost complete, Jewish bible.
The oldest complete Jewish bible is a century younger.

The Codex Sassoon is also important for another reason: the book contains notes from Jewish scholars on the interpretation and pronunciation of the Hebrew text.
The book will soon be donated by the buyer to the ANU, the Museum of the Jewish People, in Tel Aviv.

A list of other expensive books (source: NRC):

1. The 1830 printer's manuscript of The Book of Mormon sold for $35 million in 2017.

2. The Codex Leicester, a booklet handwritten by Leonardo da Vinci, bought by Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8 million (today, adjusted for inflation, that would be more than $50 million).

3. The Sherborne Missal, a handwritten and hand-illustrated religious book from the early 15th century, was sold in 2001 for $21.21 million.

4. The Gospel of Saint Cuthbert (late 7th century) sold for $14.34 million in 2012.

5. The Bay Psalm Book, the first book to be printed in North America (year: 1640), grossed $14.20 million in 2013.

[Edit]
So the book 'The Birds of America' is not the most expensive book in the world (and it never was). Probably the most expensive bird book in the world.
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 1,046 messages
  • May 18, 2023 22:31
2.5K
added
25K
prices
100
info pages
25K
reviews
1K
posts
May 18, 2023 22:31
[Edit]
Progressive insight: The Birds of America has been called the most expensive printed book in the world, but as of 2013, the Bay Psalm Book is the most expensive printed book,

Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 2,917 messages
  • May 18, 2023 23:03
2.5K
added
500
prices
50K
reviews
2.5K
posts
May 18, 2023 23:03
vertigo
But both are expensive!
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 1,046 messages
  • May 18, 2023 23:10
2.5K
added
25K
prices
100
info pages
25K
reviews
1K
posts
May 18, 2023 23:10
Dick52
That's right, Dick, but The Birds of America seems to be declining in value. In 2019, a complete copy in New York only fetched 6.6 million dollars ;-)
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 2,917 messages
  • May 19, 2023 11:11
2.5K
added
500
prices
50K
reviews
2.5K
posts
May 19, 2023 11:11
vertigo The rich birds may have left
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 1,046 messages
  • May 19, 2023 17:49
2.5K
added
25K
prices
100
info pages
25K
reviews
1K
posts
May 19, 2023 17:49
:-)

However, Audubon's loose, framed birds continue to do well. Larger target group. Audubon also continues to rise in the world artist rankings on Artprice (2020: 1773; 2021: 520; 2022: 479). Since 2005, he only entered the top 1000 in 2016 and 2017.
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • 90 messages
  • June 04, 2023 13:08
1K
added
1K
prices
25
info pages
50
posts
June 04, 2023 13:08
Audubon's name has been tainted (touched) by attention to his practices (From WP Audubon Society article ):

Name-sake controversy

The society was named in honor of John James Audubon , a Franco-American ornithologist and naturalist who painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America in his famous Birds of America book (1827–1838). Despite these accolades, John James Audubon's legacy has been tarnished by numerous accusations of plagiarism and scientific fraud , [29] [30] [31] [32] [ 33] [34] [35] which his biographers (and Audubon's leadership) have routinely dismissed or minimized, even while admitting to his history of racism and slavery. [36] [37] John James Audubon was also a body snatcher who collected human skulls to assist the race supremacist work of Samuel G. Morton . [38] [39] In the wake of the protests following the murder of George Floyd , there have been public appeals to strip the name Audubon from the society and change the names of species that honor him. [40] [41] [42] The Audubon Society has publicly supported the removal of Confederate monuments , including acknowledging that "it's not just an issue of physical monuments". [37]

An internal Board of Directors vote in 2023 resulted in a decision to retain the Audubon name for the national organization, with the subsequent resignation of three of its 26 board members. [43] In February 2023, the union representing Audubon employees renamed itself The Bird Union. [44] Also in February, the Seattle chapter of Audubon announced they would change the name, and later announced the new name would be Birds Connect Seattle, effective June 2023


So maybe that will affect the prices.
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
  • Catalogue administrator
  • 1,046 messages
  • June 05, 2023 22:32
2.5K
added
25K
prices
100
info pages
25K
reviews
1K
posts
June 05, 2023 22:32
rvraa
To be able to conclude that, we have to wait for the statistics of 2023.
Message has been translated from Dutch
Show original message
8of 8