A volume from the Babylonian Talmud printed in the 16th century was sold yesterday (Tuesday) in New York at auction, for a record sum of $9.3 million.
This made it the most expensive Jewish book in the world.
Sotheby's auction house said that the price of the book, printed by printer Daniel Bomberg, was initially estimated at between $5-7 million.
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The auction also sold 11 Jewish items, including a 12th-century Bible, which sold for $3.6 million.
Total sales amounted to $14.9 million - thus breaking a world record for the auction of Jewish items.
Today, there are only 14 printed Talmud books in the world from Daniel Bomberg's printing house, which have survived intact from the 16th century.
Bomberg, who was a Christian from the city of Venice, was the first to print the Babylonian Talmud, starting in 1520.
The copy, sold to businessman Leon Black of New York, was preserved for centuries in the library of Westminster Abbey in London.
