A man with a million dollars a year to spend will not make any real impression in the painting world, but in the book market such a sum will command a great deal of respect. Aim to spend 10 million a year and the buyer in a hurry is almost necessarily limited to grand books and high spots in order to spend the money.
In 1926, the book dealer Dr. Rosenbach bought at auction for Mrs. Edward S. Harkness the copy of the Gutenberg Bible which she gave to Yale. He paid $106,000, then the highest price paid for any printed book. The story was in newspapers all over the world. Rosenbach was overwhelmed by a flood of mail offering him Bibles of every description, including one from a lady who wrote:
“I see by the papers you have just bought Mrs Gutenberg’s Bible for $106,000. I have a Bible half as old that I will sell for half as much.”
- Herman W. Liebert, Investing in Rare Books and Manuscripts
