Church loses out on rare book deal

"An historic collection of religious books whose sale for GBP36,000 was approved last year by a Church of England diocese has been sold on by a book dealer for more than GBP500,000. The Diocese of Truro sanctioned a deal in September 2006 to sell hundreds of old Bibles and manuscripts from its library to John Thornton in a move to clear shelf space. Auction sales alone after Thornton gained access to the collection have generated about half a million pounds. Thornton has now closed his shop in Chelsea, West London, and has told The Times that he is planning to retire to the country" - The Times