The Most Expensive Book In The World

The Task is a book of philosophical poetry, written by philosophical poet Tomas Alexander Hartmann. While the guy doesn't seem to exist online, nor does he appear in the news aside from his newest book, he believes his work demands a high price. The Task has a print-count of only one edition, thirteen pages, with a cover price of €153,000,000. Yes, six zeroes, making it the Most Expensive Book In The World. He believes that, because he had worked on the book for thirty years, he deserves a €5,000,000 stipend as restitution, payable by the one person willing to read the book. Hopefully Amazon will carry it, and offera 20% discount once in a while — imagine the affiliate's portion of that!

Hartmann isn't the only person banking on producing the Most Expensive Book In The World, however. Publisher Marilena Ferrari has produced a finely-done hand-made book documenting the life and works of Michaelangelo. The book has a hand-carved marble cover, a bas-relief of Madonna del la Scalla, and the interior are nicely-printed black-and-white lithographs of Michelangelo's works. There will only be 33 editions produced with the marble cover, at a price of €100,000.

Collectors, however, control the price of antiquties, and the true bearer of the Most Expensive Book In The World, one that actually sold at that price, is the 12th century book of Gospels of Prince Henry the Lion, which sold at Sotheby's for €16,000,000. The illuminated, 800-year-old book had made its way through various hands and wars over the years nearly intact, which makes it well worth the money — which I can't say the same for some philosopher-poet's 13-page booklet.