$500,000 Talmuds?

TALMUD WATCH:

Rare Edition of Talmud May Yield Big Bucks

(Tuesday, June 26th, 2012) (The Yeshiva World)

The starting price for volumes of Shas Bavli and Yerushalmi with handwritten notes from the Vilna Gaon offered for sale is $500,000. The sale offered by the Kedma Company includes mesechtos Rosh Hashanah, Taanis, Yoma, Sukka, and Megilah, as well as Talmud Yerushalmi Meseches Shekalim.

Editions containing the Gra’s notes were reprinted in 1880-1886 but according to the seller, the volumes for sale do not include all the notes from the Gra or those that were printed were amended. The volumes being offered for sale are from those with the Gra’s original comments, and these comments have been lost over the years.

[...]

That sounds pretty cool, but whether it is cool to the tune of $500,000 we shall see.