Birds of America

The nineteenth-century masterwork, which has 435 hand-colored images, has long been regarded as a seminal work on natural history in the United States. The winning offer of $11,500,000 was placed by an unnamed collector over telephone, according to auction house Sotheby's. Indeed, since each image is considered precious, there were concerns that the volume would be divided and sold as individual pieces of art. However, experts believe that is improbable, given it is potentially more valuable intact.

"No one comes close to John James Audubon in terms of frontier elegance," Heather O'Donnell, a specialist at New York's Bauman Rare Books, remarked. "The account of his lonesome voyage into the American woods and his effort to capture what he had seen there lends the Birds of America an emotional depth that no other books can equal."

Audubon was regarded as a naturalist and an artist, with an unmatched ability to observe, categorize, and depict birds. And, according to those specialists, the exorbitant price was paid not just for the aesthetic worth of Birds of America, but also for its scientific merit.

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Price at launch: $11.5 million

Author: John James Audubon