Source: thecelebritycafe.com

Psalm, I am: a Sotheby’s employee handling a copy of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in what is the US in 1640, considered the world’s most valuable book. Photo: Emmanuel Dunand

The first book written in the US has fetched $US14.2 million ($15.59 million) in New York, becoming the world’s most expensive printed book sold at auction.

The translation of Biblical psalms, The Bay Psalm Book was printed by Puritan settlers in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1640 and sold at a one-lot auction in just minutes by Sotheby’s on Tuesday.

Bidding opened at $US6 million and closed swiftly at a hammer price of $US12.5 million, rising to $US14.165 million once the buyer’s premium was incorporated.

The book, with its browning pages and gilt edges, was displayed in a glass case behind the auctioneer to a relatively small crowd which attended the less than five-minute… continue reading at thecelebritycafe.com