For the first time since 1989, all four of William Shakespeare’s Folios will be offered at auction in a single lot.
Sotheby’s plans to sell the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s collected works next month, carrying a high estimate of around $6 million, the auction house announced Wednesday, which would have been Shakespeare's 461st birthday.
The First Folio, published in 1623 after Shakespeare’s death, is among the most significant books ever produced, containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, including “Macbeth,” “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Around 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, with around 230 believed to survive today, according to Folio400, a publication celebrating the work’s 400th anniversary in 2023.
Of those 235, most are in public institutions such as the British Library and New York Public Library. Very few copies described as “complete,” with all of its original leaves present, remain extant, with one selling for nearly $10 million in 2020.
The three Folios that followed are updated editions of the First Folio, containing revised language and clarifications.
Due to the Great Fire of London, the Third Folio is actually the rarest of the bunch, with an estimated 182 surviving today, according to the Shakespeare Census.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.