THE HIGHEST PRICED BOOK.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2650, 6 July 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HIGHEST PRICED BOOK.

Thu following quovy appears in the Bulletin do 1' imprimerie :—"What was the highest price ever given for any book? We leave this question to be decided by competent authorities among book lovers. We may, however, venture to say that we know of one for which a sum of 250,000f. (£10,000) was paid by its present owner, the German Government. That book is a missal, formerly given by l J ope Leo X. to King lleury VIII. of England, along with a parchment conferring on that Sovereign the right of assuming the title of ' Defender of the Faith,' borne over .since by Euglish Kings. Charles II made a present of the missal to the ancestor of the famous Duko of Hamilton, whose extensive and valuablo library was sold Homo years ago by Messrs Kotiieby, Wilkinson aud i lodge, of London. The book which secured the highest offer was a Hebrew )>ible, in the posM-ssion of tlio Vatican. In 1512 tho Jews of Venice profo-oil to I'opo Julius II to buy the Bible, and to pay for it its weight i:i gold. It was so heavy that it required two men to carry it. Indeed, it, weighed 3251b, thus representing the value of half a million of francs (£*20,000). Though being much pressed for money, in order to keep up tho 1 Holy League ' against Ivinur Louis XII of France, Julius II declined to part with the volume."