The MP of the "Opposition platform - For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk showed a fragment of the Bible of Johannes Gutenberg printed in 1455.
"I bought it right away and, to be honest, I didn't even bargain for the price," Medvedchuk said.
According to him, it is a fragment of the Gutenberg Bible, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.
Medvedchuk said that he does not know how this fragment appeared to Ukraine but knows that it is taken from a Bible purchased in the last century by an American bookseller, Gabriel Wells, who sold his copy in parts.
The MP assured that he purchased the fragment on the advice of consultants in about 2011-2012, but declined to say at what price.
He also says he is ready to provide access to the valuable relic to researchers so that everyone can ascertain the originality of its acquisition.
It is noted that the collection of old books of Medvedchuk has about 8000 volumes, including the first editions of poets Alexander Pushkin and Taras Shevchenko.
Allow us to remind you that:
Medvedchuk declared millions of profits, antique books and hundreds of icons. In particular, a fragment of the Gutenberg Bible printed in 1455.
Out of the 180 first printed books in the history of humankind, only 49 have survived. Almost all Gutenberg Bibles are now in the world's best libraries, such as the Library of Congress in Washington, the national library in Paris, the British Library in London, or the University Library of Göttingen.
20 years ago, the Gutenberg Bible was sold at auction in Japan, and according to experts, its price reached several dozens millions of dollars. Two copies of the first-ever printed book were found a few years ago in Moscow, where they were taken from Leipzig after the Second World War, along with three thousand other German old printed books. Russia has been silent for 70 years about the fate of these unique specimens.
German scientists called on Medvedchuk to provide information about a fragment of the Bible of Johannes Gutenberg.