'World's biggest book' launched at fair (Germany)

The world's biggest book fair in Frankfurt is used to seeing some big book launches, but none came larger than a six-by-nine-foot (two-by-three-metre) Atlas unveiled on Wednesday. Yours for a cool 100,000 dollars, Australian publisher Gordon Cheers said that the last book even close in size to his 128-page volume was the Klencke Atlas, produced in 1660 as a gift for Charles II of England. "But that was about one foot smaller than this," Cheers proudly told AFP. "This is the first time a book this size has ever been seen." Just to turn a page takes all his strength and the book took people three hours to get into position for visitors to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which runs until Sunday. This makes his Atlas the antithesis of this year's book fair, which is devoted to smart, mobile content. "It's all about creating a legacy," the Sydney-based publisher said. "Today, everything is digital and it's gone in a second. This will still be around in 500 years."