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Historians believe an almanac may have come off the press before the Bay Psalm Book. But Mark Dimunation, chief of rare books and special collections at the Library of Congress, says the almanac was more of a pamphlet or a broadsheet rather than a book. No copy of the almanac exists today. He notes that in the Americas, in general, books were printed in what is now Mexico as early as 1539. The Bay Psalm Book is "an iconic piece. It's the beginning of literate America," said Dimunation. "American poetry, American spirituality and the printed page all kind of combine and find themselves located in a single volume." "But there's also something much more modest and humble about this piece, which makes its survival all the most extraordinary," he said, noting that the hymnals were utilitarian books that were subjected to a lot of wear and tear. The last time a copy came on the auction block in 1947, it sold for a record auction price of $151,000. At the time, it surpassed auction prices for the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare's First Folio and John James Audubon's "Birds of America." The book is on view at Sotheby's through Sunday. It will travel to several cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas. ___ Online: Sotheby's: http://www.sothebys.com/
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