Paying £4,621,500 ($7.53 million U.S.) for a first edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, American-born billionaire Sir Paul Getty now owns his life's dream. Christie's sold the red-leather-bound classic to Getty's representative from a London book dealer July 8. The volume's record price exceeded the previous high of $5.3 million paid at auction in 1987 for a 1455 Gutenberg Bible.
"I have always hoped that it might be sold one day by the family," Getty told the Associated Press. "But I never dared to expect that I would be able to own such a book and ensure its retention in this country."
Getty said he had long admired the book, which was printed by William Caxton, England's earliest typographer, in 1477. The philanthropist, who became a naturalized Briton last year, has given at least $200 million to retain art treasures in Britain.
Posted July 13, 1998.