A small Psalm book—which just happens to be the first book ever printed in the United States—has sold for $14.2 million. The final bid for The Bay Psalm Book set a new record at Sotheby’s auction house, becoming the most expensive printed book its ever sold. The book was sold by Boston’s Old South Church—a church founded in 1669 that has included Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin among its members. Church officials say that they plan on using the money to increase funds to its local outreaches. The senior minister told the AP, “It is life-changing for the ministries we can do.” The small Biblical text, which was published by Puritans in Massachusetts has rich religious and American history. The chief of rare books at the Library of Congress said The Bay Psalm Book was so special, because “American poetry, American spirituality and the printed page all kind of combine and find themselves located in a single volume” …
