Not having any success trying to sell my books at .99 cents per copy, the following headline caught my attention. "Worlds Most Expensive Book Goes Up for Sale" That peaked my interest. Could it be an original handwritten copy an unpublished William Shakespeare play. Maybe it would be the earliest known written version of Homer's Odyssey. I clicked the link. The new headline read. "Birds of North America will be Auctioned for Between 7 to 10 Million Dollar." Surprise. IT WAS A PICTURE BOOK! I should have known. Don't get me wrong, I understand why this rare, multi-volume 3 1/2' tall hand colored version of every species of bird known in North America in 1800 is so valuable, but come on. This is more art than it is book. I wonder what the most expensive book of WORDS ONLY might be. I doubt it will ever be an electronic copy of my ebook story "Black Wolf." (available at
Smashwords.com for only .99 cents.)
Jim
WOW! Thanks for sharing Lester. I should have known there would have been a bible in there somewhere. I got the Shakespeare part right. If you notice a disturbing trend here, my initial incredulity is not completely unfounded. Seven of the ten books are picture books! Eight out of eleven if you count the Doctor Seuss book. Not only that, one of them is a comic book. Thanks to the staff writers at Onlinecollege.net, here’s the list.
ReplyDelete1. The Gutenberg Bible valued at $25-35 million
2. Codex Leicester, the scientific writings and sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, $30.8 million, the most expensive book ever sold
3. First Folio, first edition of Shakespeare’s plays, $22.6 million
4. Birds of America by John James Audubon, $8.8 million, the most expensive printed book sold
5. Treatise on Fruit Trees by French botanist Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau, $4.5 million
6. Geographia, cartography, $3.9 million dollars.
7. Mercator’s Atlas of Europe, cartography, $1,243,000.
8. Tamerlane and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, $662,500, the most valuable piece of American literature ever sold.
9. Action Comics #1
10. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss worth $8,400
Let me summarize. For picture books, I’m including #2 - the drawings of da Vinci, #s 4 & 5 - drawings of birds and fruit, #s 6 & 7 – maps, #9 – comic book, and #s 10 & 11 – children’s books. So if I remove the picture books from the list I’m left with the bible, Shakespeare, and Poe. Not bad. I still don’t see on the list an electronic copy of my ebook story "Black Wolf." (available a Smashwords now. LOL)