3. Magna Carta – $21.3 million ($24.3 million in 2016)
Magna Carta, the Latin for “Great Charter”, is third on our most expensive book list. Back in 2007, just a few days before Christmas, the Sotheby’s held an auction in New York. This magnificent manuscript was the star of the event.
The staggering purchase was made by David Rubenstein, which you saw earlier in this list as the buyer of Bay Psalm Book. However, Rubenstein didn’t buy those for his own collection. He bought them to be retrieved back to the National Archives for public display. What a generous philanthropist.
The original one was drafted in 1215. This particular Magna Carta is actually just a copy written in 1279. Nevertheless, it is still worth $21.3 million. That is $24.3 million today.
Quoting the Sotheby’s, Magna Carta is an object of both emulation and veneration. This charter was agreed to by King John of England.
