LONDON (AP) 鈥 A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare鈥檚 collected works is expected to sell for up to 4.5 million pounds ($6 million) at auction next month.
Sotheby鈥檚 auction house announced the sale on Wednesday, Shakespeare's 461st birthday. It said the May 23 sale will be the first time since 1989 that a set of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios has been offered at auction as a single lot.
The auction house estimated the sale price at between 3.5 million and 4.5 million pounds.
After Shakespeare鈥檚 , his plays were collected into a single volume by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell, actors and shareholders in the playwright鈥檚 troupe, the King鈥檚 Men.
The First Folio 鈥 fully titled 鈥淢r. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies鈥 鈥 contained 36 plays, of which half were published there for the first time. Without the book, scholars say, plays including 鈥淢acbeth,鈥 鈥淭he Tempest鈥 and 鈥淭welfth Night鈥 might have been lost. Sotheby鈥檚 called the volume 鈥渨ithout question the most significant publication in the history of English literature.鈥
About 750 copies were printed in 1623, of which about 230 are known to survive. All but a few are in museums, universities or libraries. One of the few First Folios in private hands sold for $9.9 million at an auction in 2020.
The First Folio proved successful enough that an updated edition, the Second Folio, was published in 1632, a third in 1663 and a fourth in 1685.
Although the First Folio is regarded as the most valuable, the third is the rarest, with 182 copies known to survive. It is believed the third book鈥檚 rarity is because some of the stock was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The Third Folio included seven additional plays, but only one 鈥 鈥淧ericles, Prince of Tyre鈥 鈥 is believed to be by Shakespeare.
