World's most expensive book goes on sale...again!
An edition of John James Audubon's Birds of America, which fetched a whopping $8.8 million (£5.7 million) a decade ago, is now up for grabs again at the British auction house Sotheby's. Valued at between £4 million and £6 million, the rare early 19th-century book highlights 1,000 life-sized illustrations of nearly 500 breeds. Only 119 complete copies of the book are known to be in the existence, with 108 copies owned by museums and libraries. The famous wildlife artist spent 12 years to complete his study and during the time, he traveled across America to shoot the birds. After that, he hung the birds on wire to paint them. Audubon's Birds of America is among the collection of books, manuscripts and letters from the collection of the late Lord Hesketh.
A rare copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, which Sotheby's said to be "the most important book in all of English Literature,” is also up for sale. It is expected to sell for between £1 million and £1.5 million. Also on the block are the letters written from Elizabeth I relating to Mary Queen of Scots. The auction will take place on December 7, 2010.
