(1) Matthew Brown, Custer's "Last Flag" sold for $1.9 million. Associated Press, Dec. 10, 2010.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Custers-Last-Flag-sold-for-19-apf-3200805730.html?x=0&.v=2
Note: guidon (n; Middle French, from guide): "a small flag; especially : one borne by a military unit as a unit marker"
All definitions are from www.m-w.com.
(2) Ellen Gamerman, Stalking a Masterpiece; Collectors are circling one of the world's most expensive books. A tale of trophy hunters, billionaire bidders and ruffled feathers: inside the sale of 'Birds of America.' Wall Street Journal, Nov. 26, 2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635704575604751410902906.html
My comment:
(a) The work 'Birds of America' was sold on Dec. 7, 2010 for $11.5 million.
(b) John James Audubon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon
(1785-1851; born in Haiti and raised in France; at age 18 with a false passport came to US in 1803 and Anglicized his name from Jean Rabin)
(c) Please
(i) read only paragraphs 11 and 12 of the text, and
(ii) take a look at the side bar, located in the left column.
Note to the sidebar:
* Gospels of Henry the Lion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospels_of_Henry_the_Lion
(for the altar of the Virgin Mary in the church of St. Blaise's Abbey, Brunswick, better known as Brunswick Cathedral; made on commission at the Benedictine Helmarshausen Abbey; about 1188; text of the four gospels)
Henry the Lion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Lion
(1129-1195, German)
Braunschweig
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braunschweig
(German--Brunswick in English; a small city in Lower Saxony, Germany)
* Emily Brontë (1818-1848) and Anne Brontë (1820-1849)
Wuthering Heights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights
(The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective; wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather; a photo of the title page)
Agnes Grey
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Grey
(the title is the name of governess; first published in 1847)
governess (n): "a woman who cares for and supervises a child especially in a private household"
* Codex Leicester
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Leicester
(The codex is named after Thomas Coke, later created Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1717. Of Leonardo's 30 scientific journals, the Codex may be the most famous of all)
codex (n: Latin--more at CODE): "a manuscript book especially of Scripture, classics, or ancient annals"
* First Folio
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/First_Folio
(The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeare's plays; its actual title is Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Printed in folio format and containing 36 plays (see list of Shakespeare's plays), it was prepared by Shakespeare's colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death.)
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
folio (n; Latin ablative of "folium"):
"1a: a leaf * * *
3a : the size of a piece of paper cut two from a sheet; also : paper or a page of this size
b : a book printed on folio pages"