London - The first atlas ever printed sold for a record price at auction on Tuesday.
The 1477 edition of Claudius Ptolemy's landmark atlas sold at Sotheby's for a record £2,14-million (about R31-million), establishing a new record for any atlas ever sold at auction.
The atlas was part of a collection sold by the family of Lord Wardington, a prolific British map and atlas collector who died last year and is one of only two copies still in private hands.
The price paid by a private collector, who was not present at the auction, eclipsed the previous record of £1,46-million paid for the Doria Atlas sold at Sotheby's in October 2005.
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Ptolemy was a Greek-speaking geographer, astronomer, and astrologer who lived in Roman Egypt. He authored several scientific treatises that were influential on both Islamic and European science, and devised maps and atlases of the Roman Empire.
"The price for the 1477 Ptolemy atlas was extraordinary - a fitting testimony to the rarity and importance of the work - but the excitement it generated was echoed throughout the sale," said Catherine Slowther, Head of Maps and Atlases at Sotheby's.
The atlas could have been lost, when in April 2004 a fire raged through the Wardington family estate. Local villagers formed a human chain and carried the books to safety, while over 95 firefighters tackled the blaze, saving the library. - Sapa-AP
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