A 16th-century copy of the Talmud sold at auction Tuesday for $9.3 million in New York, a global record for any piece of Judaica, auctioneers Sothebys announced.
The extremely rare Babylonian Talmud had been expected to fetch between five and seven million dollars.
"The extraordinary volume was purchased by Stephan Loewentheil for the 19th Century Rare Book & Photograph Shop" in New York, the auctioneers said, according to AFP.
The so-called Bomberg Talmud led a sale of items from the Valmadonna Trust, the world's foremost collection of Hebrew books and manuscripts, which totaled $14.9 million.