Post by Kev on Apr 19, 2004 6:39:11 GMT -5
LIVERPOOL could become the first city in the world to put on permanent display a collection of rare prints worth at least £5m.
The Birds of America by John James Audubon is a collection of 435 hand-coloured engravings, up to 100cm by 75cm (double elephant) and is the world's most valuable printed book.
The last one to be sold was bought by an anonymous private collector for £4.8m at Christie's in New York in March 2000.
One of the sets is in Liverpool's Central Library, bought for £165 in 1860 after a wealthy merchant bequeathed £1,000 for books and materials.
A spokesman for the council said they had bid for grants to carry out a £30m redevelopment of the library where the Audubon is kept in time for the Capital of Culture year in 2008, and had so far agreed £15m through the Private Finance Initiative.
The Birds of America by John James Audubon is a collection of 435 hand-coloured engravings, up to 100cm by 75cm (double elephant) and is the world's most valuable printed book.
The last one to be sold was bought by an anonymous private collector for £4.8m at Christie's in New York in March 2000.
One of the sets is in Liverpool's Central Library, bought for £165 in 1860 after a wealthy merchant bequeathed £1,000 for books and materials.
A spokesman for the council said they had bid for grants to carry out a £30m redevelopment of the library where the Audubon is kept in time for the Capital of Culture year in 2008, and had so far agreed £15m through the Private Finance Initiative.
