We wouldn't want to say that $7,922,500 isn't an awful lot to pay for one set of four books.

But we do have to point out that it's not a record.

Thursday, we previewed the Christie's New York auction of a rare set of John James Audubon's Birds of America. As we reported, there was talk that it might fetch more than the record $11.5 million paid for another full set of the books in 2010.

Alas, Christie's says, the "hammer price" paid by an American collector was within the "expected" range of $7 million to $10 million — but not near the premium price paid two years ago.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.