Here are some wildly expensive books, from the archaic to the peculiar:
The Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling -$3.98 million
Before becoming a purchasable paperback in 2008, this J.K. Rowling story was first handwritten and illustrated by the author. Six of these unique copies were given to editors and friends, but an auction copy was purchased by Amazon, making it the highest priced modern manuscript.
The book is meant to represent the collection of wizardly fairy tales mentioned in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows."
"Birds of America" by John James Audubon - $11 million
Considered a feat of both artistic and scientific poignancy, this three feet by two feet collection of wildlife portraiture includes images of the Passanger Pigeon, the Labrador Duck, and four other extinct species. Wishing to create life-size images of the animals, Aubudon used engraved plates to create this pricey printed book.
"First Folio" by William Shakespeare - $5.1 million
Although this initial anthology of Shakespeare's life's work omits "The Two Noble Kinsmen," entire passages from Hamlet, and of course, the two "lost plays," the 228 remaining editions are each easily worth seven figures. When the collection was first released, however, a copy only cost one pound.
Action Comics No. 1 - $1.5 million
Traditional books, fiction and non, aren't the only works of literature subject to costliness. The stereotype of comics collectors drooling over laminated first editions does have some truth to it, as the price tag on DC Comics' "Action Comics No. 1" indicates. Printed in 1938, it is most noted for the debut of Superman, and includes the story of his arrival on earth.
Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Leicester - $44 million
Fawned over for the effortless welding of art and scientific theory, Leonardo da Vinci's notes, thoughts and scribblings amount to the most expensive book of all time.
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