Archimedes text sold for $2 m after court battle

[securma@xs4all.nl]

                 Archimedes text sold for $2 m



                 AN ancient text by the Greek mathematical genius
                 Archimedes sold for $2 million (£1.2 million) last
                 night at Christie's, which won a last-minute court
                 challenge over ownership to proceed with the auction
                 in New York.

                 The rare 10th-century Byzantine Greek palimpsest is
                 believed to be the oldest and most authentic copy of
                 Archimedes' major works to survive. It contains
                 transcriptions of his writing on geometry and
                 physics.

                 The bidding started at $480,000 on the work, which
                 had a pre-sale estimate of between $800,000 and $1.2
                 million, and rose rapidly to $2 million and a final
                 sale price of $2,202,500 after Christie's added its
                 commission.

                 The sale went ahead after a court battle in which the
                 Greek Orthodox Church , had claimed ownership of the
                 manuscript.

(Daily Telegraph London)




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