Codex Sassoon, oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, set to fetch $30-50m at auction

The Codex Sassoon, the oldest almost complete Hebrew Bible, is headed to auction where it is expected to fetch between $30-50 million dollars, The New York Times reports.

This would make it the most expensive book or historical document ever sold.

Believed to be from the late 9th or early 10th century, the book was considered lost for over 600 years until it reemerged in 1929.

It has been in private hands since and will be sold by Sotheby’s in May.

Buddy, can you spare $50 million??

I got an exclusive peak at the Codex Sassoon, the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, to be auctioned at Sotheby's in May.

Created c 900 AD, lost until 1929, since then in private hands. (Yes, I touched it! Magical) https://t.co/jieAMx6JX0

— Jennifer Schuessler (@jennyschuessler) February 15, 2023

“This represents the first time the text appears in the form where we can really read and understand it,” Sotheby’s Sharon Liberman Mintz says.

The book is currently owned by Swiss financier and collector Jacqui Safra.