Forget the unique, annotated first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that sold for €175,000 earlier this year: it's much older books that continue to shatter records. At Sotheby's in New York this week, one of the few surviving copies of 1640's Bay Psalm Book sold for $14.2 million (around €10 million), becoming the world's most expensive printed book in the process.

Printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts almost four centuries ago, the book is one of the 1,700 initial copies of The Bay Psalm Book - an English translation of the Hebrew psalms. It's believed to be the first book printed in the colonies that would become the United States. It was the third printed work of printer Stephen Day in Massachusetts Bay Colony, having been preceded by an almanac and pamphlet.

Today, there are only 11 known surviving copies of the Bay Psalm Book, also known as the Whole Booke of Psalmes. Most copies are owned by educational and religious institutions. The copy auctioned this week - the first sold since 1947, which went for over $150,000 (over €110,000) - was one of two owned by the Old South Church in Boston. They sold the book to fund repairs and the ongoing operations, although plan to hold on to their 'extra' copy for themselves.

The book was sold to David Rubenstein, an American philantropist and financer said to be worth over $3 billion. Rubenstein intends to lend the book to exhibitions and libraries around the world. As quoted by Reuters, David Redden of Sotheby's said, "We are thrilled that this book, which is so important to our history and culture, is destined to be widely seen by Americans who can appreciate its singular significance".

While yesterday's auction shattered the previous record for a printed book by almost $3 million, it is not the most expensive book ever sold. Several handwritten texts have been auctioned for staggering sums, including the current record of the almost €22.7 million paid by Bill Gates for one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks back in 1994.