A VALUABLE old Bible from 800 years ago has been sold it for an eye-watering price.
The unique sacred book was first made for a travelling friar in the 13th century.
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The historical item is a pocket sized bible written in Latin and includes 150 golden illustrations of dragons, birds and lions.
It dates back to 800 years ago and it represents a key historical period of the production of the bible.
Dominic Winter Auctions said: “This is a fine example of a typical Paris Bible, arguably the greatest revolution in both biblical scholarship and book production of the 13th century.
“Through the development of extremely thin vellum and extremely small script, it became possible for the first time to produce a complete bible in a single easily portable volume.
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The Paris Bible or Parisian Bible is known to be part of a series of books created by the University of Paris.
The institution transformed manuscripts traditionally produced by monks in monasteries to scriptures into the bibles we know today.
The new productions were divided by chapters and included introductions and prologues in the first pages.
The book was intended for individual use rather than exclusively for monks in churches and monasteries.
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Since then, the bible became a staple for everyone including students, bishops and priests.
Mr Winter added: “The production of large numbers of these bibles was probably in response to the needs of students at the burgeoning university of Paris and of itinerant friars.
“It was essential they were portable and they included calendars.”
The artefact is thought to have been made between 1233 and 1240 for a Dominican friar.
It was later owned by a 19th century diplomat and also Beeleigh Abbey in Essex.
The piece of religious history fetched an eye-watering £42,000 earlier this week.
The book was sold at South Cerney, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
It comes as another 500-year-old book cover was previously sold for an eye-watering price after being kept in an old trunk for decades.
The embroidered bible casing has been dated back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I – and went under the hammer for a whopping £120,000.
This incredible artefact is decorated with the iconic Tudor rose design, complimented with vibrant yellow, blue and red flowers.
Elsewhere, a metal detectorist uncovered Britain’s oldest hoard of gold coins dating back 2,173 years.
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Stephen Eldridge found the 12 Iron Age pieces – worth £30,000 – while searching farmland in Buckinghamshire.
Experts at the British Museum identified them as originating from a tribe in what is now Picardy in France and made in 150BC.
