500-Year-Old Book Found in Utah

The Daily Beast

Brian Skoloff / AP Photo

 

Book dealer Ken Sanders wasn’t expecting anything great when he started unwrapping what he said was a “really, really old book” from a plastic bag, but it turned out the Utah man had a 1493 illustrated history of the world. The Nuremberg Chronicle is one of the earliest and most ornately illustrated books produced after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. The book was passed down to the Utah man by his great uncle. "I was just absolutely astounded. I was flabbergasted, particularly here in the interior West," Sanders said. "We might see a lot of rare Mormon books and other treasures, but you don't expect to see a five centuries old book, you don't expect to see one of the oldest printed books in the world pop up in Sandy, Utah."
Missing two thirds of the pages, the book turns out to be worth less than one might expect, probably less than $50,000. A copy in better condition would be worth close to $1 million.

Read it at Associated Press