To help you brush up on your knowledge of the very old and very valuable, we’ve compiled a list of the ten most expensive books ever sold — no white gloves necessary. Click through for an overview, and then head upstairs to check your attics for any forgotten dusty tomes — you could be a millionaire and not even know it.

The First Book of Urizen, William Blake — $2.5 million

Originally printed in 1794, The First Book of Urizen is one of the major pieces (and some say the most important) in Blake’s series of prophetic works. One of only eight known surviving copies was sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1999 for $2.5 million to a private collector.

1964 lithograph by Andy Warhol. Signed and inscribed by the artist: “To Elizabeth with much love.”

A beaded Versace evening jacket, entitled “The Face.”

Late 1970s tunic made from linked metal discs.

“The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond,” a 33.19-carat gem gifted to Taylor by Richard Burton in 1968.

A Valentino evening bag.

A charm bracelet also given to Taylor by Burton. One of the 20 charms is a locket that opens to reveal four medallions, each one engraved with the name and birthdate of one of Taylor’s children.

The dress Taylor wore for her first wedding to Burton. Designed by Irene Sharaff.

Taylor commissioned Cartier to design the mount for La Peregrina, the famous pear-shaped pearl, once one of Spain’s crown jewels.

This Bulgari brooch of emeralds and diamonds was an engagement gift from Burton. Taylor wore it with the yellow dress at their wedding.

Apparently, Burton gave Taylor these rings after she beat him in a game of ping-pong. They are now called the “Ping-Pong Diamonds.”

A gorgeous velvet and satin Valentino ball gown with matching evening bag.

[All photos courtesy Christie's via NPR]

Bonus link: This Is Tom Cruise Jumping Off the Tallest Skyscraper In the World

10. Bugle 7, $31,000
Bold, overarching statements often fall flat on their face. This is not one of them: Bugle 7 is the most underrated box of our generation. Mercilessly strapped to the edge of a bicycle, Bugle 7 effortlessly depicts the humanity of mankind. Just as the box is bound by a bungee chord, we, too, are bound by the bungee chord of mortality. This work of art is humility incarnate.

9. Bounty 28, $39,000
Box critics have always debated the merits of bountiful box display. Is the act of combing multiple boxes into a singular work of art a bold claim against individualism and — dare we say it — an endorsement of fascism? Whatever the motive of the artist, none can deny the relevancy of Bounty 28′s controversy in the box art industry and in modern art as a whole.

8. Bestrokk 9, $43,000
Bestrokk 9 is the work of an anonymous artist who has planted similar pieces throughout all major U.S. cities. Once a prized piece of social commentary on the struggle of the working class, Bestrokk 9 has over-saturated the mainstream consciousness, as it is produced in overbearingly abundant qualities. Bestrokk 9 has since steadily declined in value throughout the last two decades.

7. Bionical 405
The most direct descendant of Brillo 5, Bionical 405 was created in reaction to the universal acclaim of Brillo 5. It is most identifiable for its depiction of the classic archetypal battle of Man Vs. Nature. Man goes into forest. Man cuts down trees with his bare hands. Man sends wood to a manufacturing plant. Man makes cardboard box. Man is victorious.

6. Burger 10, $67,000
The common box shopper often overlooks Burger 10, so here’s a tip from the inside: Go to your nearest burger joint. We both know that you have nowhere to go, but you must resist your temptation to eat at the restaurant. Recite these lines verbatim, “May I take the burger to go?” It comes in a box. It’s Burger 10 in the flesh. You are now very, very rich.

5. Bruce 1, $82,000
Bruce 1 is the cornerstone of virility. Its phallic structure is just as much an ode to the average man as it is a eulogy to the Greek gods. It is man who created these legends and it is man who renounced them. The most intriguing aspect of Bruce 1 is that its mythology trumps its earthy form. They say women become pregnant just by looking at it. They say men are not immune either.

4. Baloo 98, $95,000
Widely speculated to be a cardboard representation of T.S. Eliot’s allegorical poem, The Wasteland, Baloo 98 is significant to both the American Literature movement and the Modern American Art movement. It’s candid portrayal of a box “down on its luck” is unprecedented to this day.

3. Bodyshop 711, $190,000
Bodyshop 711′s fearless geometry single-handedly ended the cubist movement in box art. Reviled by its contemporaries, Bodyshop 711 has received new-found acclaim in the last several years. We don’t blame them for taking so long to catch on — true genius can take centuries to comprehend. And we have done just that.

2. Banana 6×5, $275,000
A utilitarian work of box art, Banana 6×5 is the Eastern response to American box art. It has seemingly merged artistic integrity with uninhibited practicality. Banana 6×5 provides a safe means of food storage for supermarkets worldwide.

1. Best 000, $300,000
Upon its unveiling to the public, Best 000 garnered praise from every esteemed critic within the box art industry. Reprinted with permission: “Best 000 isn’t just a cardboard box — it’s a lifestyle.” “I named my first child ‘Best 000.’” Best 000 defines me as a person.” “Not since Brillo 5 have we seen such an accurate display of what a cardboard box actually looks like.” “If Best 000 had reproductive organs, I’d have a family of five by now.”

Which is your favorite box? Do you own a cardboard box? How much do you think it’s worth?

No shocker, according to a report on Bloomberg, such renegade antics don’t pay. “Cai Mingchao, the Chinese art dealer who is refusing to pay for the $40 million Qing bronzes he successfully bid for in the Yves Saint Laurent auction, wept when he realized that his credibility was shot and he may now have to close his business.” He’s 40.

And then the news gets sadder: “”This has damaged me: I have lost the business I love,’ said Cai, in his office in the southeastern city of Xiamen. Cai said he had bid with the intention of paying, then had second thoughts and decided it’s wrong to do so.”

Wait, what? That doesn’t sound like Robin Hood. That sounds like a greedy art dealer with buyer’s remorse! What about proving a point Cai? Sticking it to the French? “‘These days,’ said Cai, ‘you can’t even get a loan of 10,000 yuan ($1,289) without pledging your house or car as collateral, and I could just bid on an item worth hundreds of millions of yuan with one phone call.’”

Huh? You had us, and then you lost us. And now you’re starting to sound like our great aunt who spends her days spaced out in front of the Home Shopping Network.

Maybe your motive doesn’t matter to the important people (the Bloomberg piece points out, “the 1995 United Nations Unidroit Convention limits claims on stolen cultural artifacts to within 50 years of their theft”), but we liked you way more before. Now we’d just recommend a spot on Intervention. And possibly disconnecting your cell phone service.

But that logic may prove incorrect this time around. (Of course, any business with the label “recession-proof” is almost asking to have the label ripped off.) Book sales have been slipping, most of the big publishing houses (Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins) have instituted layoffs that include eliminating whole divisions, and one publisher, Houghton Mifflin, put the kibosh on any new acquisitions — a drastic move that surprised even insiders. Meanwhile, Borders, the second-largest bookstore in the US after Barnes & Noble, is in serious trouble, though the chain’s woes began well before the current crisis. And all this is not to mention that the long-predicted era of the e-book has finally come to fruition with the Amazon Kindle, forcing a refiguring of publishing-industry attitudes (overdue, many would say) toward technology. Publishing, in other words, has a convergence of crises on its hands, and the recession is hitting it harder than expected.

Film is another industry known for weathering hard times gracefully; just think of those Depression-era photos of the down-on-their-luck masses flocking to the talkies for a bit of escapist fun. True to form, box-office grosses in January set records, with ultra-light fare like Paul Blart: Mall Cop leading the way, and Slumdog Millionaire, the feel-good economic fairy tale, dominating the awards season. Domestic box-office receipts, though, only tell a small part of the story. Movies coming out now were produced many months ago, so the real test is whether filmmakers and studios can secure financing for future projects — and the credit crunch is slamming Hollywood.

Studios are much more reluctant to spend millions of dollars up front on production, so they’re cutting back. Paramount, for instance, is making 20 movies next year, instead of its usual 25. Even heavyweights like Steven Spielberg are feeling the pinch: his Dreamworks studio split with Universal and headed to Disney over a financing kerfuffle. And the town hasn’t been immune to layoffs, with Warner Bros. recently letting 800 employees go in a cost-cutting move. But, while the mood around Tinseltown isn’t wildly optimistic — Sundance was unsurprisingly less bubbly than in recent years, and Oscar parties are going the austere route — there’s still a sense that the industry is less susceptible than many to economic ruin.

The art world, on the other hand, is a more complex beast. There’s no question that it’s struggling — the big auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, are in freefall; art fairs aren’t generating the buzz they once did; and buyers are drying up at galleries. And yet, it doesn’t seem to be an uncommon opinion that a recession could actually be a positive here, at least in some sense. Critics contend that the art world has grown bloated, full of itself, and unfocused during the boom years — one doesn’t see book or movie critics calling for a hard time to cleanse their realms, but in the art world, it’s not uncommon. Art and money, after all, have always had an uneasy relationship.

Over the past few years, the pro-recession argument goes, the business has grown increasingly cash-hungry and unwieldy, with buyers, sellers, dealers, and promoters taking precedence over the person who is supposed to ultimately matter — the artist. With bigger and bigger money involved, hype has fostered a herd mentality, with artists increasingly driven to market themselves, instead of turn out something unique. More and more art is being produced, but with fewer and fewer original ideas. Traditionally, this argument continues, artists are more able to make work on their own terms with the money gone and the pressure off. Of course, as in book publishing and film, this all means that students coming out of school, young workers in the industry, and the most vulnerable in general will be the hardest hit.

Will a leaner, meaner art (and book, and film) industry be worth the losses? Only time will tell.