A very rare and old psalm book has very much chance of becoming the world’s most expensive book. Sotheby’s will sell it this fall in New York, where it is expected to fetch as much as $30 million. This is one of only 11 examples known to have resisted the test of time, and it dates back to 1640. It is believed to be the first book ever to have been printed in the United States.
Vice chairman of Sotheby’s, David Redden, said: “We have sold books as much as$11.5 million in the past, which are far less rare than this”. The historic book was only issued in 1,700 examples by puritan settlers in the US, and the Old South Church in Boston used to own 5 of those that had made it to the modern ages.
Right now the Old South Church only has 2 examples left, and its elders decided to sell one of them to raise money for the church’s mission and some building repairs. The other three are currently at Brown University, Yale University, and the Library of Congress. The hymnal measures 6 inches by 5 inches, and the last time a copy was sold it raised $151,000, but that happened in 1947.
