Would you be willing to pay $14 million just to own a translation of the Biblical psalms? If you answered yes, too bad because someone has already beat you to it.



Shown above is "The Bay Psalm Book", which was recently sold at a record-breaking $14.165 million during a one-lot auction by Sotheby's.

According to a Sotheby's spokesman, the auction house had valued the book at $15-30 million. Bidding opened at $6 million and closed within minutes after the premium price was proposed. The identity of the buyer was not immediately announced.

The book was written by settlers who had come to America to seek religious freedom. They came up with their own preferred translation from the Hebrew original of the Old Testament book. As Selby Kiffer from Sotheby's special projects department describes it, the book is "not simply one of the great icons of book history, it is one of the greatest artifacts of American history."

[Business Insider]