Saturday 9 March 2013

The Most Expensive Book in the World:

A rare, complete copy of John James Audubon's "Birds of America" was sold for £7.3 million ($11.4 million) at Southeby's in London, UK, on 7 December 2010.


The book contains 1,000 life-size illustrations of 435 birds drawn and printed by the West Indian-born American artist Audubon (1785–1851) between 1827 and 1838. The illustrations were originally sold a page at a time to collectors, and only 119 complete editions are known to exist. Prior to the auction, the book formed part of the collection of Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh (1916–1955). 

The full title is Birds of America: A Visionary Achievement in Ornithological Illustration, and the pages are what printers call double elephant folio - 39.5 by 26.5 inches (100 by 67 cm), allowing Audubon to render the paintings actual size.

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