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Carole Mikita reporting A book so small it can fit in the palm of your hand sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars at a New York City auction house today.
The book of Latter-day Saint hymns - dated 1835 - sold at Christie's this afternoon for $230,000. Experts in the rare book business say few exist. There are about 10 in libraries around the country and perhaps a dozen privately-owned.
The story of how it came to be is what makes it equally valuable to millions of church members.
The tiny book has deep significance to Latter-day Saints. The fourth edition hymnal belonged to Emma Smith, the wife of church founder Joseph Smith She compiled a book of hymns for the fledgling church back in 1835.
A book from that publishing date was auctioned at Christie's in New York City today. Described in mint condition and listed for between 200 and 300 thousand dollars, a collector bought it for $230,000.
Joan Nay is a rare book expert who showed us the earliest copy Sam Weller Books has.
Joan Nay, Rare book dept., Sam Weller Books: "You can see the binding, quite worn. You can still see part of the title, LDS Hymns. It's a tough book to find, it's extremely valuable, we rarely see it in any kind of good condition, particularly if it's complete."
The pocket-sized book contains only the words of the hymns, no musical scores. In that century, people knew the tunes.
There's added significance for Latter-day Saints because they believe that in a revelation to Joseph Smith, Emma was actually directed by the Lord to compile the hymnal. Emma was directed to 'make a selection of sacred hymns.' She included 33 written by Latter-day Saints and 57 from other Christian faiths.
Since the Mark Hoffman forgeries in the mid 1980s, Latter-day Saint collectors are wary of rare book and manuscript sales. Auction houses are more careful, too.
Joan Nay, Rare book dept., Sam Weller Books: "Christie's has a great reputation and I am pretty sure they would have done their homework. Their reputation's on the line too."
Rumor is that some Utahns were planning to bid, but the name of the actual buyer remains confidential.
