First book printed in the US sells for $14.2 million at Sotheby's auction

One of 11 remaining copies of the first book ever written and printed in the United States has just sold for $14.2 million at a Sotheby's auction. According to CNN, the Bay Psalm Book set a record for a book sold at auction — even though the final price was well short of the $15 to $30 million Sotheby's expected the book to sell for. "It's so very valuable because it is the beginning of Western civilization in our country," said Sotheby's vice chairman David Redden. While Sotheby's got less money at this auction than it expected, the $14.2 million sale well eclipsed record-holding book sale (John James Audubon's Birds of America sold for $11.5 million in 2010).

via Tech News Headlines - Yahoo! News http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/27/5152150/first-book-printed-in-the-us-sell-for-14-2-million-at-sothebys-auction