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Maggs Bros. Ltd., London

Proudly displaying the manuscript to newsreels and members of his staff, London bookseller Ernest Maggs was responsible for opening negotiations to buy the Codex Sinaiticus from the Soviet Union. In 1933 the Soviet government sold its 347 leaves of the codex to the British Museum for 100,000 pounds—more than half of which was raised by public subscription—out of a need for hard currency. These leaves can still be seen on display at the British Library (formerly part of the British Museum).