Books and Beyond: World's most expensive books

This week on Books and Beyond, Karen and Louisa talk about the world’s most expensive books.  

Listen to this episode on the Auckland Libraries podcast and read on for the books mentioned in the show.

The top 10 most expensive books of all time:

1. Book of Mormon: 
2. The Codex Leicester
3. St. Cuthbert Gospel
4. Bay Psalm Book
5. Rothschild Prayer Book
6. Gospels of Henry the Lion
7. The Birds of America
8. The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
9. Shakespeare’s First Folio
10. The Gutenburg Bible

Other works about rare and unique books and their fate:

• The bad-ass librarians of Timbuktu: and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts by Joshua Hammer.

• Lost, stolen or shredded: stories of missing works of art and literature by Rick Gekoski.

• The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám translation by Edward Fitzgerald.

• Auckland Libraries Special Collections collection of Rubáiyáts.

• Norman Mailer’s MoonFire deluxe edition by Taschen Publishing.

Does the price paid for a book always correspond to its value?

Karen’s most valued books:

• Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas.

• Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales.

Louisa's pick:

• The Sue Barton Nurse series by Helen Dore Boylston.

Auckland Libraries' new radio show Books and Beyond explores the world of books with guest authors, recommended reads, gems from the Central City Library basement and… beyond.

Catch us on Planet FM104.6, Sundays at 9.35 pm. Listen to recent shows via the Auckland Libraries podcast.