Oldest U.S. Book Sells for $14.1M

A 373-year-old book, believed to be the first printed in North America, sold at auction Tuesday night for a whopping $14.1 million. The volume of Psalms is one of just 11 known copies of the estimated 1,700 books printed by the Massachusetts Puritans. Buyer David Rubenstein of the Carlyle Group, who owns several other historical documents, said he plans to lend the book to libraries across the country to display. The $14.1 million price tag set a record for a book sold at auction, besting John James Audubon’s Birds of America, which sold for $11.54 million in 2007 (about $12.39 million today).