A book is a publication consisting of separate sheets on which certain information is applied in various ways, whether it be printed text or a manuscript.
Book as a collection item
A book is a printed matter that consists of more than 48 pages and is usually hardcover.
In the modern world, books can differ from standard representations, in particular due to the appearance of electronic books, children's tales that have a non-standard appearance (for example, cards or voluminous spreads).
Now it’s not difficult to buy a book. There are many products, it is available to everyone. However, there are books that are very difficult to obtain.
There are very rare (possibly in a single copy) books, which are hundreds of years old. It is such publications that are becoming especially desirable for collectors around the world. They spare no money and are ready to give away millions to replenish their collection with a rare copy.
Rare Collector's Editions
What are they, the most expensive books in the world? Below are a dozen of those.
- "The First Book of Urizen," William Blake. Published in 1794, it is one of the author’s main prophetic books. At the end of the 20th century, this work was sold at a New York auction to a private collector for 2 and a half million dollars.
- "Tales of Bard Biddle," J.K. Rowling. Even before the author of `` Harry Potter '' became popular all over the world, and her books began to be bought up in millions of copies, she wrote seven copies of fairy tales by hand. Six of them were gifts for friends, and the seventh was auctioned in 2007. She was valued at 3.98 million dollars.
- "Geography", Claudius Ptolemy. This is the first print atlas of the world famous date back to 1477. However, this is also the first illustrated work. Atlas was sold at a London auction for $ 4 million.
- A Treatise on Fruit Trees, Henri de Monceau, Pierre Poato, Pierre Tervin. A copy of this five-volume was sold in 2006 for 4 and a half million dollars.
- "The Gutenberg Bible". According to the data, there are 48 copies of this work in the world. One of them was sold in 1987 for almost $ 5 million.
- Shakespeare's First Tome. Currently, this publication is one of the most valuable and sought-after books for any connoisseur of antiquity. In 2001, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen purchased a book for $ 6.1 million.
- Canterbury Tales, Jeffrey Chaucer. The first edition of this work dates from the 15th century and was sold for $ 7.5 million at auction.
- "Birds of America," James Oddubon. The first edition belongs to the category of “most expensive books” for a reason. In 2010, it was sold and, accordingly, bought for 11 and a half million dollars.
- "The Gospel of Heinrich Leo", Order of St. Benedict. This is a true masterpiece among manuscripts dated to the 12th century. The book was created by order of the Saxon Duke - Heinrich Leo, it includes 266 pages and contains 50 illustrations. In 1983, the German government acquired it at auction for $ 11.7 million.
- And so we came to the logical question of what is the most expensive book in the world. And this is the Leicester Codex by Leonardo da Vinci. In 1994, the Codex was bought by Bill Gates for a fabulous $ 30.7 million. In today's equivalent, it is approximately 49 million.
But if you think that only foreign publications are valued at millions of dollars, then you are mistaken. Here is a list containing the most expensive domestic works.
The rarest domestic books
So, the top 5 "The most expensive books in Russia."
- "Russian folk pictures", Dmitry Rovinsky. The publication was released in 1881. And already in 2013 it was sold at auction for 11 million rubles. In total, there were 250 copies in the world. The number of volumes is 11 units.
- "Eugene Onegin", A.S. Pushkin, 1829-1832 edition. The famous novel was created by the author for seven years. Each chapter was printed as it was written. The convolution contains all the chapters of the work. The price for the book is 8.6 million rubles.
- "The antiquities of the Russian state, published at the highest command", Fedor Solntsev. The author - a specialist in artistic archeology, in his scientific work described the historical monuments of architecture in the Russian Empire as accurately as possible. Published in 1849, the price for which it was sold in 2013 amounted to 7 million rubles.
- "The general arm of the noble clans of the All-Russian Empire." The list of Russian noble houses was replenished for 37 years, from 1803 to 1840. 10 volumes include 1262 emblems. The book is a rare edition and is estimated at 6 million.
- Mikhail Chulkov, "A historical description of Russian commerce at all ports and borders ...". Multiple papers have been added to the description, containing information on the development of Russian trade, industry and transport connections since the time of Peter I. Year of publication: 1781-1788. The price of the work is 5.9 million rubles.
These were the rarest and most expensive books. But this is not a complete list of rare editions. Maybe few people know, but even the most expensive antique books can number several thousand or even millions of copies, of course, in this case, the first editions are of particular value, the price for which can reach several million.
The main criteria for evaluating collection books
The rarest and most expensive books are selected according to the following criteria.
- Books of Ivan Fedorov or his students. There are not many editions of the first printer in the world, but because of their sad state, the price of some works does not rise above 300 thousand rubles.
- Antique books published in the 18-19th centuries, illustrations for which were written by famous artists.
- Not completely destroyed books. Writers are creative people and therefore easily injured. For various reasons, including negative reviews from critics, they bought up almost the entire circulation and destroyed their own works. Books that survived this frenzy are valuable collector's books.
- The first books of future luminaries of literature. Drafts of writers are especially valuable. Of course, finding such ones requires a handwriting examination.
- Intravital editions of great writers, especially with their autographs.
The most expensive books, as a rule, are the rarest.
The most expensive book
Every educated person has heard of Leonardo da Vinci, and at least a little, but is familiar with his work and inventions. Almost everything that a genius took was becoming great, and some of his inventions and thoughts were ahead of their time.
The Leicester Codex, or simply, A Treatise on Water, Earth, and Heavenly Bodies, is one of the most valuable creations of the Italian genius. The treatise looks like a notebook with notes on the structure of the world, which the scientist wrote down while being in Milan from 1506 to 1510.
Entries contain illustrations made by the author. Here, the inventor shared the conclusions of his observations and experiments that he conducted throughout his life.
In 1717, the treatise was acquired by the famous English house, in whose honor it received its name.
Fate of the book now
The book was purchased at auction by the richest man on the planet at that time - Bill Gates - back in 1994 for almost 31 million dollars.
This is currently the most expensive book in the world. Her photo is often adorned with brochures of the largest and most famous museums in the world, where the owner of the treatise annually delivers the exhibit.
Books of the USSR
In the former Soviet Union, rare books were also much appreciated. The main criteria for their selection were the ratio of the number of copies and demand on the market, binding and, of course, safety.
Highest Rated Books of the Soviet Union
So, before you are the most expensive books of the USSR.
Intravital publications of Trotsky, Zinoviev, Bukharin, as well as books with illustrations from the 1920s and 1950s. These include the first editions of Soviet science fiction, books about the war.
Books published until 1990 with autographs of authors and a small print run.