Even non-book-lovers know about the Audubons, although perhaps not the extent of their rarity. I get asked about them in Broken Arrow, OK, as though some customer might drop one off in exchange for a copy of Twilight.

John James Audubon’s “Birds of America,” brought more than $10 million at auction on Tuesday, becoming the world’s most expensive published book.

Featuring 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the auctioned book is one of the best preserved of those remaining in existence. The sale at Sotheby’s auction house had been anticipated for months, and even non-bidders were given a chance to see the rare volume.

The price? $10,270,000. An anonymous collector bid by telephone in offering the final bid.

Because each picture is so valuable, there have been fears the volume will be broken up and sold as separate works of art. However, experts believe that’s unlikely. The tome is probably more valuable intact. And collectors hold Audubon in such reverence that the notion of ripping apart a perfect copy would be akin to sacrilege.