Two rare volumes of an ancient Chinese encyclopedia sold for more than €8 million ($9 million) at auction Tuesday, more than 1,000 times the (estimate) price. The encyclopedia, known as the Yongle Dadian, was (original) commissioned by the Yongle Emperor, the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty, who reigned (统治) from 1402 to 1424. More than 2,000 scholars worked the encyclopedia between 1404 and 1408, according to a press release from Beaussant Lefèvre, the Paris-based auction house that made the sale.
The Yongle Dadian is the largest encyclopedia in the world, and originally consisted of 22,877 (chapter). In 1562, the Jiajing Emperor, the 11th Ming ruler, (order) two copies of the encyclopedia to be made, but the original (lose) due to the many wars, thefts and fires that occurred under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the auction house said. the two volumes sold Tuesday are copies, they are extremely rare, with only 400 known volumes, or 4% of the original encyclopedia, left in (exist), according to Beaussant Lefèvre.
The books, measure 20 inches by 12 inches, were written in red and black ink on paper. While (print) techniques had been developed at the time, the encyclopedia was written by hand due to its length.
