A rare copy of the most expensive book in the world, John James Audubon’s “Birds of America,” will be up for sale at Sotheby’s in London on December 7.

Only 119 copies are confirmed to exist, of which 108 are in libraries, universities, and museums. One copy is worth $6.73 million to $10.1 million.

It contains 1,000 life-sized illustrations of almost 500 breeds. It took wildlife artist John James Audubon 12 years to complete his study.

Artwork from the European branches of the collapsed US investment bank Lehman Brothers will go under the hammer in London next month in a two-million-pound auction, administrators said Sunday.

Works by Lucian Freud and Gary Hume will figure at the sale at Christie’s auction house on September 29, which comes two years after the bank’s demise.

“We think that there are many people around the world who would like to acquire some art with a Lehman connection,” said administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Sotheby’s says it is auctioning about 3 million pounds worth of jewelry once owned by Wallis Simpson, the American socialite who became Duchess of Windsor.

Britain’s King Edward VIII, who renounced his claim to the British throne in 1936 to marry the divorcee, showered her with gifts of jewellery throughout their courtship and marriage.

The pieces on sale include a Cartier heart-shaped emerald, ruby and diamond brooch (above) commissioned in 1957 to mark their 20th wedding anniversary.

A view over Rome painted by artist JMW Turner was sold for 29.7 million pounds in London, setting a new record at auction for the British master.

“Modern Rome — Campo Vaccino” was bought Wednesday for the equivalent of 44.9 million dollars at Sotheby’s by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

The previous auction record for a Turner work was 20.5 million pounds, which was set by “Giudecca, La Donne della Salute and San Giorgio” in April 2006.

A self-portrait by Edouard Manet sold for 22.4 million pounds ($33 million) at Sotheby’s in London on Tuesday.

It was the highest price paid for a picture by Manet. The previous record for a Manet was 16 million pounds at a sale in New York in 1989.

The oil on canvas work is in somber tones and shows the bearded artist wearing a bowler hat with a paint brush in hand.

The original handwritten lyrics for the hit Beatles song “A Day in the Life” was sold at a Sotheby’s auction Friday for 1.2 million dollars.

Bidding for the manuscript shot past expectations to reach 1,202,500 dollars. Sotheby’s had expected a final price of between 500,000 and 700,000 dollars.

The single sheet of paper has lyrics on both sides, in John Lennon’s handwriting.

The song was the final cut on the band’s eighth studio album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” released in 1967.