QUICK TAKES - June 10, 2009

A rare copy of Benjamin Franklin’s “Poor Richard” almanac sold Tuesday at a New York City auction for $556,500. It’s the second highest price paid for a book printed in America.

Sotheby’s auction house said an anonymous bidder won the 1733 book, which was discovered recently at the local historical society in Berwick, Pa., a town of 10,000 residents north of Philadelphia.

Sotheby’s written Americana expert Selby Kiffer said it was one of three known copies of the Franklin classic from 1733. He said he thought it was a facsimile until the binding proved to be original.

Sotheby’s said it sold George Washington’s copy of the Federalist Papers for $1.4 million in 1990.