10;The First Book of Urizen by William Blake — $2.5 million

Originally printed in 1794, The First Book of Urizen is one of the major pieces (and some say the most important) in Blake’s series of prophetic works. One of only eight known surviving copies was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1999 for $2.5 million to a private collector.

9;The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling — $3.98 million

Before this book, meant to be the same children’s book that figures heavily in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, became a mass-market paperback, J.K. Rowling created seven original copies, each one handwritten and illustrated by Rowling herself. Six were given to friends and editors, but in 2007, one of the seven was put up for auction. It was
snapped up by Amazon.com for a whopping $3.98 million, making it the most expensive modern manuscript ever purchased at auction. The money from the sale of the book was donated to The Children’s Voice charity campaign.

8;Geographia Cosmographia by Claudius Ptolemy — $4 million

The world’s first printed atlas, and the world’s first book to make use of engraved illustrations, Ptolemy’s 1477
Cosmographia sold at Sotheby’s London in 2006 for £2,136,000, or almost $4 million at the time.

wetin i read comot, abi na book of the living?

7;Traité des arbres fruitiers [Treatise on Fruit Trees] by Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau, illustrated by Pierre Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin — $4.5 million

Definitely the most expensive book ever written about fruit trees (featuring sixteen different varieties!), a copy of this lush, five volume set of illustrations and text sold for about $4.5 million in 2006.

clive2u:
wetin i read comot, abi na book of the living?

Book of the living fit cost pass all these ones.

6;The Gutenberg Bible — $4.9 million

A copy of the Gutenberg Bible sold in 1987 for a then-record $4.9 million at Christie’s New York. Only 48 of the books — the first to be printed with movable type — exist in the world.

5;First Folio by William Shakespeare — $6 million

Though the First Folio’s original price was a single pound (one or two more if you wanted it bound in leather or otherwise adorned), intact copies are now among the most highly prized finds among book collectors, with only an estimated 228 (out of an original 750) left in existence. In 2001, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen
purchased a copy for $6,166,000 at Christie’s New York.

lovely. nice pics

lalasticlala

Make the books no reach a Nigerian's hand o, na piracy go finish them.

4;The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer — $7.5 million

A first edition of the 15th century bawd-fest sold for £4.6m (or about $7.5 million at the time) at Christie’s in London in 1998. Of the dozen known copies of the 1477 first edition, this was the last to be held privately, and was
originally purchased for £6 by the first Earl Fitzwilliam at the sale of John Radcliffe’s library at Christie’s in 1776. Talk about growing your investment.

3;Birds of America by James Audubon — $11.5 million

In 2000, Christie’s auctioned off a copy (one of only 119 known complete copies in the world) of Birds in America for $8,802,500. Ten years later, another complete first edition was sold at London at Sotheby’s for £7,321,250 (or
about $11.5 million) Today, another copy of the enormous four volume set goes up for auction at Christie’s, and perhaps another world record will be made.

The Bible is still the most important book

2;The Gospels of Henry the Lion by Order of Saint Benedict — $11.7 million

Originally commissioned by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, for the altar of the Virgin Mary at the Brunswick Cathedral, this gospel book was purchased by the German government at Sotheby’s of London in 1983 for £8,140,000, or about $11.7 million (at the time). At 266 pages, including 50 full-page illustrations, the book is considered a masterpiece of the 12th century Romanesque illuminated manuscript.

1;The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci — $30.8 million

The most famous of da Vinci’s scientific journals, the 72-page notebook is filled with the great thinker’s handwritten musings and theories on everything from fossils to the movement of water to what makes the moon glow. The manuscript was first purchased in 1717 by Thomas Coke, who later became the Earl of Leicester, and then, in 1980, bought from the Leicester estate by art collector Armand Hammer (whose name the manuscript bore for the fourteen years he owned it). In 1994, Bill Gates nabbed the journal at auction for $30,800,000, making it the most expensive book ever purchased. But hey, at least Gates put his purchase to good use — he had the book scanned and turned into a screensaver distributed with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.

Hmm. Book $30m God give me inspiration make I write book

J.K Rowling can write eh

very Informative

Maxcollins042:
J.K Rowling can write eh

lol... no be dat J.K Rowling wey you dey think oh.. lolz

geez18:

lol... no be dat J.K Rowling wey you dey think oh.. lolz

Which J.K Rowling this one come be?

Knowledge is power!

ai yam not ondastanding

What about THERE WAS A COUNTRY

What about those books in the movie Goosebumps? They must be very expensive.

are the books fire and water proof

Book of Life is the most important and expensive book. If you know, you know.

Naijawebmaster:
Book of Life is the most important and expensive book. If you know, you know.

But e no dey market.

Naijawebmaster:
Book of Life is the most important and expensive book. If you know, you know.

ur book of life is still a 'book'
SMH..

EbukaHades10:
But e no dey market.

E too expensive na. No human fit buy am. Na why e no dey market.

WERE Jonathan book na

thankyou

EbukaHades10:
9;The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling — $3.98 million

Before this book, meant to be the same children’s book that figures heavily in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, became a mass-market paperback, J.K. Rowling created seven original copies, each one handwritten and illustrated by Rowling herself. Six were given to friends and editors, but in 2007, one of the seven was put up for auction. It was
snapped up by Amazon.com for a whopping $3.98 million, making it the most expensive modern manuscript ever purchased at auction. The money from the sale of the book was donated to The Children’s Voice charity campaign.

I just knew J.K Rowling will make the list