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Top 10 Most Expensive Books in the World

Books can change lives — and in some cases, cost more than a mansion. Here are 10 of the most expensive books ever sold, where history, rarity, and brilliance meet billions.

1. Codex Leicester – Leonardo da Vinci

💰 Price: $30.8 million (1994)

📖 Summary: A 72-page notebook of Leonardo’s scientific observations on water, astronomy, fossils, and light.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Written entirely in da Vinci’s own hand and mirror script.

🧠 Buyer: Bill Gates.
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2. The Book of Mormon (Original Manuscript, 1830)

💰 Price: $35 million (2017)

📖 Summary: A handwritten manuscript by Oliver Cowdery, an early Mormon leader, used as the basis for the printed Book of Mormon.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Foundational religious text and one-of-a-kind manuscript.
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3. Bay Psalm Book

💰 Price: $14.2 million (2013)

📖 Summary: The first book ever printed in British North America (1640), containing translations of psalms into English.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Only 11 known copies remain, all in institutions — except one.
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4. The Rothschild Prayerbook

💰 Price: $13.6 million (2014)

📖 Summary: A richly illuminated prayer book from the early 16th century, featuring gold leaf and intricate medieval artwork.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Masterpiece of Gothic art, once lost during World War II.
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5. Gutenberg Bible

💰 Price: $5.4 million (1998)

📖 Summary: The first major Western book printed using movable metal type, completed around 1455.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Only 49 copies survive; marks the beginning of the printing revolution.
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6. The Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer

💰 Price: $7.5 million (1998)

📖 Summary: A first edition of Chaucer’s famous Middle English tales, printed in 1477 by England’s first printer, William Caxton.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Monumental English literary work; extremely rare edition.
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7. Shakespeare’s First Folio

💰 Price: $9.98 million (2020)

📖 Summary: The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, published in 1623, just seven years after his death.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Preserved 18 plays that would otherwise be lost.
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8. Birds of America – John James Audubon

💰 Price: $11.5 million (2010)

📖 Summary: A four-volume collection of hand-painted, life-sized illustrations of 435 bird species from North America.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Art, science, and rarity combine in this massive folio.
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9. Magna Carta (1215 Original Copy)

💰 Price: $21.3 million (2007)

📖 Summary: One of the few surviving original issues of King John’s Magna Carta from 1215, a cornerstone of constitutional law.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Symbol of liberty and legal foundations of democracy.
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10. The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling (Handwritten Edition)

💰 Price: $3.98 million (2007)

📖 Summary: A hand-bound, handwritten, and illustrated book by J.K. Rowling, gifted to seven close friends of the author.

🔍 Why it’s valuable: Only 7 copies in existence — rare modern literary collectible.
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