The "World's Most Expensive Book" Stolen in France: Bronze Cover by Dalí

The "world's most expensive book," The Apocalypse of Saint John, was stolen overnight between Sunday, October 4th, and Monday, October 5th, from the contemporary art gallery in Issoire, Auvergne, France. The theft was reported by Christian Karoutzos, the owner of the private museum, when he discovered the work missing on Monday morning.

The Clermont-Ferrand Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating, described the book as an item of "great value." The mystery remains as to how the thieves managed to carry away a work weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms—about as much as a refrigerator—without being noticed. Karoutzos told French public radio: "France was assassinated last night, French heritage was assassinated."

The work is unique in the world thanks to its bronze cover sculpted by Salvador Dalí, adorned with precious stones and created in the 1950s for the French publisher Joseph Forêt. The book contains 150 pages of parchment illustrated by great 20th-century artists such as Jean Cocteau and Bernard Buffet.

The Apocalypse of Saint John is considered the most expensive book in the world primarily due to its cover, a unique artwork created by the surrealist master Salvador Dalí. The Spanish artist crafted this bronze sculpture in the 1950s on commission from the French publisher Joseph Forêt, as part of a luxury publishing project.

The entire volume represents a fusion of art and sacred literature: beyond the precious cover, it contains 150 pages of parchment inspired by the Gospel of Saint John, illustrated by some of the most celebrated painters and writers of the last century. With an overall weight exceeding 200 kilograms (150 of which are from the cover alone), it is also one of the heaviest books in existence.

Before the theft, the work was displayed in a private contemporary art gallery in Issoire, in the French region of Auvergne. Its uniqueness and priceless value, estimated at several million euros, made it a centerpiece of French artistic heritage, now stolen under circumstances that remain mysterious.