Four of William Shakespeare’s folios published over 350 years ago could fetch a staggering £4.5 million when they go under the hammer next month. The books, which compile Shakespeare’s plays, will go on sale at Sotheby’s in London on May 23rd – a month after the English Bard’s birthday on April 23rd.
Experts say the first folio, which contains 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, is “the most significant publication in the history of English literature”. While they add that without it up to half of the writer’s plays would have been lost, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.
Alongside the King James Bible, the auctioneers say the book has had “the greatest impact on the development of the English language itself”.
The first book’s initial print run is thought to have been around 750 copies, which prompted the release of the subsequent volumes to keep up with demand, with the books published between 1623 and 1685.
It is thought that the first 750 books would have cost almost £100 to make, due to the price of the 227 sheets of crown paper in each.
The folios were put together by John Heminges and Henry Condell, who were close friends of Shakespeare as actors and shareholders in the King’s Men, the acting company to which Shakespeare belonged for most of his career.
Shakespeare even left the pair money for a mourning ring in his will.
The earliest recorded purchase of the first folio was in December 1623, when Edward Dering bought two copies for £2.
The third folio is the rarest of the books, with the Shakespeare Census listing 182 copies still in existence, just over half of the number of surviving second and the fourth folios.
It is believed the third book’s rarity is because a proportion of stock was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Born in 1564, Shakespeare is considered one of the UK’s greatest writers, with his best known plays including Romeo And Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet. He died on his birthday in 1616 at the age of 52.
Despite being recognised across the globe as the greatest and most important playwright in history, PM Sir Keir Starmer sparked fury after removing a portrait of William Shakespeare from No 10.
The portrait depicting the Bard and writer of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Twelfth Night, painted by Louis Francois Roubiliac, is part of the Government Art Collection.