At Sotheby’s in New York on May 17th the Codex Sassoon was sold to the American Friends of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, made possible by a donation from Alfred H. Moses for $38,126,000. Occasionally some material’s value and importance transcends the normal and expected high quality that auctions regularly offer. The Codex hit the triple bingo with old, rare, and significant to a large and well healed religious community. Religion has long been a powerful motivator to acquire relevant material. Such opportunities randomly occur. Here are several other examples.
The original printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon brought $35,000,000 in 2017.
The Old South Church’s copy of the Bay Psalm Book was sold at auction to David Rubenstein in November 2013 for $14.2 million.
The St. Cuthbert Gospel, a pocket gospel book that was buried with Saint Cuthbert (d. 687), was subsequently removed from his coffin in 1104 and became associated with the Durham Cathedral. This divine relic brought $14.3 million in April 2012.
The Sherborne Missal, an illuminated missal used in Sherborne Abbey, was purchased for $21.2 million by the British Library in 2001.
The Rothschild Prayerbook, an illuminated book of hours thought to date to 1505-10, originally owned by Anselm Salomon von Rothschild was purchased by Kerry Stokes in January 2014 for $13.6 million.
As well, if you go back further the Gospels of Henry the Lion, that were commissioned by Henry the Lion (1129/1131-1195) for the Brunswick Cathedral was purchased by the German government in December 1983 for $11.7 million.
And there is the Babylonian Talmud, one of 14 complete sets printed by Danial Bomberg that are known to exist. It was purchased by Stephan Loewentheil December 2015 for $9.32 million.
Of course there were many other significant acquisitions of non-religious materials that tower within their categories but, while religion has seemed to lose some luster in every day life, their icons continue to be deeply appreciated.
Collecting lives on even as their form and intensity shifts through the decades.
The acquisition of the Sassoon Codex reminds us that very important material finds solid footing through periods of uncertainty. Congratulations to Mr. Alfred H. Moses. Mazel tov!
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")