Psalm Book Believed To Be The First Book Ever Published In The U.S. Sells For Record $14.2M

(Sotheby’s)

Maybe you’ve got some old books on your shelf, passed down from Gran’s days hiding in the hayloft dreaming about the land of Oz, or a family Bible that’s been in the family for over 100 years. But then there’s the book believed to be the first ever published in the United States — and as such, it’s quite a bit older and a lot more expensive than anything kicking around in Great Aunt Gertie’s attic.

The Bay Psalm Book is believed to be our country’s first printed tome, dating back to 1640. There are only 11 copies known to exist, and not all of them are complete.

So it’s no surprise that a copy of the famous book sold for a record $14.2 million at an auction in New York City, reports the Associated Press, outstripping a previous record of $11.5 million for a copy of John James Audobon’s Birds of America that sold in 2010.

The nice and ostensibly very wealthy businessman/philanthropist David Rubenstein is the lucky new owner, and is planning on lending it out to libraries areound the country for whoever wants to ogle it.

Meanwhile, there’s nothing wrong with reading your grandma’s battered storybooks. Not everyone can have a record-setter.

Psalm book fetches record $14.2M at NYC auction [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist