Manuscript sold in London for 1.72m

An anonymous buyer bought Palmer Seminary’s eighty-page Beethoven manuscript at a London auction for $1.72 million, which is roughly $21,500 a page.

The manuscript, discovered at Palmer in July, was sold at Sotheby’s of London. The manuscript was displayed at Palmer and then in New York and London, where Sotheby’s has offices.

Executive director of communications Linda Olson said most of the money will be put toward the seminary.

The money will be used to pay off some of the seminary’s debts. It will also be used to increase the endowment fund.

A small amount will also be given to Eastern’s urban education programs, according to Olson.

One unresolved question is whether the undergraduate program will receive any of the money.

“All of that is still under discussion,” said Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans, a staff writer at the seminary.