Franco Maria Ricci's Michelangelo, Probably the Most Expensive Single Volume Printed Edition Ever Published

On December 2, 2008, the day after the U.S. government officially declared the U.S. in recession, visitors to the New York Public Library viewed the book, Michelangelo: La Dotta Mano (The Learned Hand) published by FMR (Franco Maria Ricci), Milan, Italy, and donated to the library by the FMR Foundation.

Limited to 99 copies on hand-made paper, with a cover incorporating a marble relief, weighing 62 pounds, and offered at a list price of 100,000 Euros per copy, this may be the most expensive, and also possibly the most over-priced, single volume printed edition ever issued. According to The New York Times online, 33 copies were produced by this date, of which 20 were sold.

In January 2009 you could take a virtual tour of the book at FMR online. This site appeared to be down in March 2012.