Sotheby’s New York Auction 26 November 2013: SOTHEBY’S TO AUCTION THE WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE BOOK The Bay Psalm Book – The First Book Printed in America – Is Estimated to Sell for $15/30 Million FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, SOLD TO BENEFIT ITS MISSION AND MINISTRIES
On 26 November 2013, Sotheby’s New York will auction one of the finest surviving copies of the Bay Psalm Book – the first book printed in what is now the United States of America. The Congregationalist Puritans who emigrated to Massachusetts Bay in search of religious freedom quickly set about to translate and produce a version of the Book of Psalms that was a closer paraphrase of the Hebrew original than the one they had carried from England. The first edition of the resulting Bay Psalm Book was printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640, and Sotheby’s will auction one of the 11 surviving copies in the dedicated auction. The present example comes from the collection of the Old South Church in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts – one of two remarkable copies presently in its collection – and the proceeds of the sale will benefit the church’s mission and ministry in the Greater Boston area.
No example of the Bay Psalm Book has appeared at auction since 1947, when another copy achieved a record auction price for any printed book at the time – many multiples of what other icons of printing achieved in that period, including the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare’s First Folio and Audubon’s Birds of America. The present example of the Bay Psalm Book from the Old South Church’s collection comes to auction at Sotheby’s New York with a pre-sale estimate of $15/30 million.
The Book will be on view in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries from 12 – 14 April, before embarking on a traveling exhibition in cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas in the coming months – please visit www.sothebys.com/baypsalmbook for updates. The Book will return for exhibition in New York in advance of the auction beginning 18 November, in the week preceding the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.
David Redden, Director of Special Projects and Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Books Department, commented: “The Bay Psalm Book was not only the first book printed in America, and the first book written in America. This little book of 1640 was precursor to Lexington and Concord, and, ultimately, to American political independence. With it, New England declared its independence from the Church of England.”
Mr. Redden continued: “The Bay Psalm Book is a mythical rarity. Unseen on the marketplace for more than two generations, it has become too rare to collect. Yet here it is today, this modest little book printed in the American wilderness but embodying the values that created our nation: political freedom and religious liberty.”
Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister and CEO of Old South Church, said: “With the sale of this extraordinary asset we intend to strengthen our ministries of mercy, justice, and beauty. We hope to increase our grants and outreach programs, as well as maintain our National Historic Landmark building – open and free to the public, seven days a week – in excellent repair.”
Selby Kiffer, International Senior Specialist in Sotheby’s Special Projects department, commented:“Of inestimable significance, The Bay Psalm Book is not simply one of the great icons of book history,it is one of the greatest artifacts of American history.”
Sotheby’s New York
Auction 26 November 2013
Property from the Collection of the Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts,
Sold to Benefit its Mission and Ministries
The Bay Psalm Book
For the first time since 1947, and only the second time since the nineteenth century, a copy of the first book printed in America will be sold at auction. The Whole Booke of Psalmes—universally known as The Bay Psalm Book—was translated and printed in 1640 in the virtual wilderness of Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Congregationalist Puritans who left England in search of religious freedom. This is one of the finest of the eleven copies that survive from the original 1,700 that were printed. Of inestimable significance, The Bay Psalm Book is not simply one of the great icons of book history, it is one of the greatest artifacts of American history.
Estimate $15/30 million
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