In an auction in Paris on April 30, a 15^th-century edition of the Torah was bought for $3.87 million, a record for a book of its kind. Before auction, the estimation of value came in at $1.38-$2.07 million. Christie’s listing for the book described the tome as a “major turning point in the history of printing in general and of Hebrew books in particular.”

Printed in Hebrew in Italy in January of 1482, this edition came with a number of now-standard formatting achievements, including vocalization and cantillation marks as well as inclusion of all five books of the Pentateuch.

Other recent book-related auctioning feats include the sale of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America going for $3.7 million in early April this year and some Joseph Conrad texts and writings that went for £788,330 in July of last year.

Source: GalleyCat