Top 10 Most Expensive Books In The World

[Music] the top 10 most expensive books in the world welcome to a Lux calm the place where future billionaires come to get inspired hey there a Luxor's welcome back to our channel we have something a little bit different for you today a mix of culture money and some world records you guessed it we're talking about the most expensive books that have ever existed and no it's not Fifty Shades of Grey or the Bible for a book to be worth several millions of dollars it needs to be written by a famous author have a controversial or a highly important subject and be a few hundred years old just like wine books get better and more expensive with age and a few of the first copies of some of the most famous books are still among us of course we can't pinpoint on just one book that is the most important or relevant because there are so many however there are a few manuscripts that shaped our modern world and are now worth quite a lot of money and can be found in the biggest and most important libraries this list might look a lot different if the Great Library of Alexandria didn't burn down or if the Nazis would have valued other authors other than just their own on the bright side the ones that we do have today are indeed the most precious books history is kept safe and hopefully we'll keep doing so since some books are very old their state is quite fragile and the ink possibly fades out in some areas that's why it's so important to keep them in extremely good and safe conditions so future generations will have a piece of history to look upon yes technology can help us preserve the book for years and years as a digital copy but that takes away the whole feeling of a book the texture and the smell holding a book in your hand flipping through the pages and making notes will always be the ultimate sensorial experience our children will probably not experience iPads and Kindles are great tools for minimalist lovers digital nomads and our environment but we have to admit that a physical book can be utterly luxurious and special so let's not waste any more time shall we and see which are the most expensive books in the world who are the proud authors and why they cost so much money if you're new here welcome be sure to subscribe and follow us on instagram at a luxe information is power ale Xers and we're giving it to you for free feel free to bookmark this video since that's the digital equivalent of the physical bookmark number 10 JK rowling the tales of Beedle the bard three point nine eight million dollars first on our list is probably one of the most famous female writers in history JK Rowling she's one of the first authors to become a billionaire and her beloved Harry Potter series are the best-selling series of all time yes she's full of World Records and inspiration the tales of Beedle The Bard is a children's book that is also mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the last book of the Harry Potter series as a gift Dumbledore gave to Hermione the book has been released in a limited edition of seven copies only handwritten by JK Rowling herself one of the books the moonstone Edition was sold at auction for three point nine eight million dollars and the profits were donated to charity that's such a JK Rowling thing to do at this price the modern literature book has become the most expensive book of its kind scoring another record for its great author other than the money stats about this book we did some more digging to find out about it's limited edition books and seems like the other six copies were gifted to those who were involved in the Harry Potter series another fascinating thing about this book is it acts as a vehicle for introducing the Deathly Hallows to the Harry Hermione and Ron trio number nine all really we do ml demo so treatise on fruit trees 4.5 million dollars moving on we have an amazing and useful illustration book the treatise on fruit trees by owner Louie to Imelda Maul so one of the most important books of its kind the first edition the one we're talking about here dates back to 1768 and it has 181 full-page edgings it is written in collaboration with our Ghana Mistura native FAS and up to this day the essays still provide essential and necessary instructions for gardeners it might not seem interesting for some of you but growing and keeping fruit trees in the best condition is not easy peasy it takes a lot of skill and knowledge and not everyone can master it this book although it's from the 18th century still holds the techniques most people use today the first edition with beautiful red Moroccan leather and gold lining is estimated to be worth around sixty five thousand dollars and four point five million dollars which is a lot of money on fruit trees exclusively but there's good value for money if you ask us since the book consists of a five volume set of illustrations and text by the author himself it's a rare book from the late 1700s with fundamental work knowledge and culture of fruit trees and the Pierre and swamp watt so and Pierre Jean Francois Turpin illustrations were sold for four point five million dollars back in 2006 if you know an agronomist or you have plant or tree lovers in your family then maybe buy them one of these limited copies they will definitely love it number eight Gutenberg Bible four point nine million dollars flipping some pages we end up to a special book a unique piece of history and modernism the Gutenberg Bible is the first major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe and the book that marked the beginning of the printing press and if that info is not enough keep in mind that this beauty was printed by Johannes Gutenberg himself in manes Germany back in 14:50 ish that fact alone makes the value of this book skyrocket to a few million dollars even though it's written in latin doing some further research we found out that only 49 copies have survived over the years and one of them was sold for 4.9 million dollars back in 1987 of course it's hard to set a value of money for the Bible the holy book God's words but for one of the first ever printed versions it can and by the way have you guys noticed that one of the first books that Gutenberg printed was the Bible today we can find around 2.5 billion copies of the Bible translated into two thousand languages so we can reach everyone the Gutenberg Bible can be admired in new york public library or the Library of Congress in Washington and 13 other countries the Vatican included number seven William Shakespeare comedies histories and tragedies six point one six million dollars if to be or not to be is still the question that pops into your mind then you paid attention in English class William Shakespeare is one of the most famous and respected writers in the whole world he contributed to the development of the English vocabulary and no matter who you ask they sure know one of his famous tragedies Romeo and Juliet even though most people have heard of him or have read Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet Shakespeare wrote many other comedies tragedies and plays in this exclusive list we're talking about the folio William Shakespeare comedies histories and tragedies from 1623 and it's considered to be one of the most influential books ever published in the English language not a lot of copies were made back then and only a third of them survived since the 17th century a few of these copies that did make it are now stored in libraries where people can see them and if need be use them one of them was actually sold for six point one six million dollars at an auction in 2001 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and to think back then just one copy was sold for one pound the equivalent of 169 pounds today and nowadays they are one of the most expensive books in history crazy number six Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales 7.5 million dollars the story goes on with the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer this book is actually a collection of 24 stories that runs over 17,000 lines written in Middle English circa 1387 to 1400 which makes the book extremely fragile and old although most of the story is written in verse and prose typically for the medieval age it focuses on a group of pilgrims as they travel from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of st. Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral there were only 12 copies made of this book and one of them was sold for the huge amount of 7.5 million dollars back in 1998 this expensive copy has had quite an interesting journey it was acquired by the first Earl Fitzwilliam for only six pounds back in 1776 and then passed it on for generations until it was sold for millions of dollars 20 years ago this price is no surprise to anyone since the book has had a massive influence on English literature if you haven't read the tales or lack imagination you can visit the Library of Congress where Ezra winter has painted a mural depicting the pilgrims from the Canterbury Tales and it's located on the wall of the North Reading Room or if you're more into films than books then maybe watch the 1975 BBC 2 TV adaptation by Alan plater oh by the way if you're into books and audio books as much as we are we recommend you go to a Lux calm / free book and get yourself a free audiobook when you sign up most of our community enjoys listening to books when in traffic or at the gym so give it a shot number 5 John James Audubon the birds of America eleven point five million dollars because illustrations have a special place in most people's hearts we have one more book depicting birds this time some subjects like biology or plants need good and realistic drawings where all the details can be seen and explained and since portable cameras were invented pretty late illustrations were the most accurate way of understanding and learning the birds of America by painter and naturalist John James Audubon is a collection of 435 hand colored life-sized prints and includes a series of now extinct species of birds from the US dating from 1827 there are only 119 complete copies known to the world and some of them were sold for millions of dollars so far three of them were sold for 7.9 million dollars one for eight point eight million dollars and the last one for eleven point five million dollars the drawings are so amazing and detailed they were even used for a fabric painting in the UK soon after they were released today another copy is set to be optioned off and it's expected to have a higher price than the previous ones if you ever stumble upon one on a museum or auction remember that you're facing a piece of art and possibly some of the finest illustrations ever created and since we all love a little gossip from time to time we have a shady story about the making of the prints apparently some of the coloring and background work for round 50 of the prints was done by Audubon's assistant Joseph Mason but he is not credited for any of the work anywhere in the book although he is a talented semi well-known artist humans will always be selfish that much we can say for sure number four roth shield prayer book thirteen point four million dollars keeping the old manuscript style theme we have going on here we are moving on with a great book that belonged to an even greater family the Roth shield prayer book it dates back from the late 15th century and it's full of amazing illuminated details on the sides of the pages the opening pages show a beautiful Requiem Mass amass used for the dead while the rest of the books 67 pages contains different illustrations made by the most renowned Renaissance Flemish artists the book is a masterpiece with splendid paintings and rich details which some say has great value for any art and history lover some of the famous illustrations depict Mary Magdalene of the famous prostitute that some say carried Jesus Christ's children the book was stolen from Lewis Nathanael von Rath shield in 1938 and purchased later by an Australian businessman for thirteen point four million dollars which makes this manuscript the most expensive it's good to see that some people still appreciate the value of history and time nowadays the fragile leather and gold Hardware manuscript can be admired in the National Library of Australia if you ever happen to visit the library then the tour which depicts the manuscript as well as some pages of the Gutenberg Bible are a must see number three st. Cuthbert Gospel fourteen point three million dollars if the Gutenberg Bible was once one of the most important books ever printed take note that we have one more religious piece on this list the Holy Bible as we know it was written by the 12th disciples of Jesus and upon that some of them wrote other Gospels that were later discovered even Judas has written a gospel but the church does not recognize it nor the one written of Mary Magdalene the Saint Cuthbert Gospel also known as the Stonyhurst gospel or Saint Cuthbert Gospel of st. John dates back to the eighth century and is a small pocket size containing some parts of a notorious Gospel of John one of the most beloved disciples of Jesus what makes this tiny book so expensive is the fact that it's the most well capped book of its kind from that age and it's written in Latin the name of the gospel comes from its late owner Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne northeast England in whose tomb it was placed after he died around 687 it has survived a lot of travels and Viking invasions and 1,500 years later it was bought by the British library for fourteen point three million dollars and it will be on public display as of 2018 this gospel is by far one of the oldest books in the world and on our list but most expensive we'll get to that in a minute number two Leonardo da Vinci codex sliced her 30.8 million dollars moving closer and closer to number one Leonardo da Vinci comes into the picture with his 72 page journal codex leister it was first named codex hammer but later changed with its first owner's name Thomas Koch Earl of leister who purchased it in 1719 as we all know da Vinci was a genius and this manuscript is also one of his most desired papers the codex provides a unique look into the brilliant mind of renowned Renaissance artist mastermind scientist and inventor as well as an exceptional illustration of the link between art and science and the creativity of the scientific process as Leonardo thought of it handwritten with notes and observations the manuscript contains info regarding astronomy physics and chemistry all in Italian the 18 pages folded in half and written on both sides was in fact one at an auction in New York City by another great mind in businessman Bill Gates he bought it for thirty point eight million dollars which is now the equivalent of roughly fifty million dollars apparently Bill Gates sure knows how to invest his money he was not the richest man just from Microsoft while he had the Codex bill scanned the pages and turned them into a screensaver and wallpapers for the windows 95 Edition and with this Bill Gates won over our hearts forever and since we're talking about Leonardo da Vinci and his work we remembered a famous best-selling book that got millions of people hooked and sparked a lot of controversy back in 2003 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was and still is a great mystery thriller novel that's based on Leonardo da Vinci's hidden messages about religions best-kept secrets if you want to learn some more about this great modern writer and his books then click in the top right corner to watch our video number one the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith 35 million dollars and now we're bringing you the biggest and most expensive book that was ever sold this book is also highly controversial but even more than the book the religion it depicts and the people that follow it are believed to be a part of a secret world-leading organization we're talking about the Mormons and the Book of Mormon written by Joseph Smith although Mormons are viewed as the Illuminati of the modern world they actually believe in Jesus Christ and are very attached when it comes to this book that is believed to have writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421 it was first published in 1830 and has been traveling quite a lot since then last year in 2017 the remaining manuscript was bought by the Church of Latter day Saints for thirty-five million dollars making this book the most expensive on our list they paid that much for the manuscript not because it's old or famous but because it's written by their founder Joseph Smith who described the book as being the most correct of any book on earth he wrote the book after a revelation he had when he was 17 years old and with divine guidance since Mitt Romney Ryan Gosling or Katherine Heigl are active Mormons it's no wonder their church has the money to buy their Bible and with that a Luxor's we've reached the end of our books so to say and although most of them are unique copies owned by private people or institutions we do appreciate history and great books this story ends right now but not without asking you guys if you're more into reading the book or watching the movie leave us your answer in the comment section below and as always for sticking with us all the way to the end you get a bonus the magna carta Liberata twenty one point two million dollars magna carta Liberata or simply the Magna Carta is not a book but a charter agreed on by the King of England back in 1215 this document if we may call it that or a declaration was meant to bring peace between the crown and the Barons protect the church and provide justice to all none of those were respected by the crown or barons and the Charter was announced by Pope Innocent the third two years later the magna carta treaty became the mission of each monarch to fix but it was never really used again because as the years went on the Parliament voted new laws that made the treaty irrelevant apparently modern democracy won the war against feudalism a few copies were made and they are still around to this day the amazing document the foundation of medieval English law was handwritten on sheepskin with quill pens and sealed with the Royal Great Seal by an official and a few of the edited copies are available at the British Library another copy is said to have been bought for 20 1.2 million dollars by David Rubenstein an American financier and philanthropist with a net worth of three billion dollars thank you for spending some time with us a lexer make sure to subscribe so you never miss a video if you want more we hand-picked these videos you might enjoy or head over to Alex calm for the best in fine living content on the planet be a part of the largest community of luxury enthusiasts in the world and tell your story

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Keywords: Alux, Alux.com, fine living, new life, extravagant things, most expensive book in history, most expensive books ever, most expensive books in the world, top 10 most expensive books, most expensive harry potter book, most expensive bible, most expensive religious writing, most expensive

Id: lKqjY-iuG7A

Length: 19min 57sec (1197 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 12 2018