Rothschild Prayer Book, worth $15.5m, goes on display in Canberra

The 500-year-old Rothschild Prayer Book is now on display at the National Library in Canberra, thanks to an Australian billionaire who wants the world to see it.

The Rothschild Prayer Book on display at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, Thursday, May 21, 2015. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP

One of the world’s most expensive and highly sought-after books will be on display to the public at the National Library of Australia from tomorrow.

The Rothschild Prayer Book has been loaned to the National Library in Canberra by Kerry Stokes, his son Ryan announced today.

The precious book was purchased last year by Australian billionaire Kerry Stokes for $15.5 million at an auction in New York, with a bid he didn’t think would be successful.

“When the auction finished he called and originally kind of played it down as if he wasn’t successful before saying, ‘we got it,’” said son Ryan Stokes.

Businessman Ryan Stokes poses with the Rothschild Prayer Book at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, 2015. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Source: AAP

Created in the ancient Belgian city of Bruges in the 1500s, the manuscript has travelled the world. It vanished for centuries before eventually ending up in Austria in the private collection of the Rothchild family. 

“They kept it until 1938 when Hitler took their art collections in Vienna,” said art historian Margaret Manion.

Speaking at a media preview this morning, Ryan Stokes, who serves as Chairman of the National Library, said his father always intended for the public to see the book before it went into his private collection.

Ryan Stokes's father, Kerry Stokes, purchased the 14th century book for $A15.5 million dollars at auction in New York last year. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Source: AAP

“I think [that] in that first conversation when he actually told me 'we got it' at auction he told me 'we know the perfect place for it to go on public display' and I certainly was keen for it to come here,” Mr Stokes said.

Although the public can see it up close, there will be no chance to read it. It’s housed in a custom-built, temperature-controlled and tamper-proof case.   

The book features miniatures, depicting saints, mythical creatures, landscapes and everyday objects.

The exhibition is open to the public from Thursday May 22 until August 9, along with more than 20 of the Library’s own rare medieval and Renaissance treasures.