While these books aren’t made of gold nor decorated with diamonds, they are worth millions. Several individuals have gotten their hands on some of these treasures in exchange for a couple of million dollars. To many, these books are simply priceless.

Christie’s, the art business and fine arts auction house, has been one of the main players in the exchange of these unglamorous yet highly-valued treasures. The following five books are known to be the most expensive books in the world. Perhaps they are the final piece in your mahogany library, or simply a book to get lost in while enjoying a Louixs.

5 - First Folio, by William Shakespeare – $6 million
It was bought in 2001 for a little over $6 million by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at Christie’s New York. Its original price was a pound, or three if you wanted it adorned or bound in leather. Although there were originally 750 copies, there are only about 228 left in existence. Just wait and see what other Microsoft executive has paid millions for another book in this list.

4 – The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer – $7.5 million
Sold at Christie’s in London in 1998. Of the dozen known copies of the 1477 first edition, this was the last to be held privately, and was originally purchased for £6 by the first Earl Fitzwiliam at the sale of John Radcliffe’s library at Christie’s in 1776.

3 – Birds of America, by James Audubon – $11.5 million
In 2000, Christie’s auctioned off a copy (one of only 119 known complete copies in the world) for $8,802,500. Ten years later, another complete first edition was sold at London at Sotheby’s for about $11.5 million.

2 – The Gospels of Henry the Lion, Order of Saint Benedict – $11.7 million
It was originally commissioned by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, for the altar of the Virgin Mary at the Brunswick Cathedral, this gospel book was purchased by the German government at Sotheby’s of London in 1983 for about $11.7 million (at the time). The book has 266 pages, 50 full-page illustrations. It is considered a masterpiece of the 12th century Romanesque illuminated manuscript.

(Drumroll…)

1 - The Codex Leicester, by Leonardo da Vinci – $30.8 million
It is the most famous of da Vinci’s scientific journals. The 72-page notebook is filled with the great thinker’s handwritten ponderings and theories on everything from fossils to what makes the moon glow. The manuscript was first purchased in 1717 by Thomas Coke, who later became the Earl of Leicester. In 1994, Bill Gates got his hands on the journal at an auction for $30,800,000, making it the most expensive book ever purchased. Gates clearly shared such wealth, as he had the book scanned and turned into a screensaver distributed with Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.

(Via The Atlantic)