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A rare volume containing some of William Shakespeare's most famous plays, printed only seven years after his death, will go on sale for millions of dollars at auction in July, Sotheby's here said Thursday.
Describing it as "the most important book in English literature", Sotheby's said it was printed in 1623 and contains 36 plays, half of which had never been printed before.
"The First Folio preserves 18 of his plays, including some of the most major, which otherwise would have been lost for all time," said Peter Selley, Sotheby's English literature specialist.
These include "Macbeth," "Twelfth Night," "The Tempest," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "As You Like It," according to the auction house.
"Relatively complete copies of the Folio in contemporary or near contemporary bindings very rarely come to the market. This sale will be a truly exceptional event," Selley said.
The Folio goes under the hammer at Sotheby's London sale room on July 13 and is expected to fetch between 2.5 million pounds and 3.5 million pounds (5.4 million euros or 6.1 million dollars), the auction house said.
Some 750 copies were printed and only around a third of these survive, mostly incomplete.
The copy is being sold by the trustees of a theological library established in the early 18th century.
It retains its mid-17th century binding of plain brown calf skin and contains extensive markings and annotations that provide an insight into its early readership.
The copy has had the longest uninterrupted library ownership of any surviving example of the First Folio, from at least 1716 until the present day.
Copies in their original binding very rarely come on to the market and there is only one recorded as remaining in private hands. It belongs to the estate of the late Sir Paul Getty.
"William Shakespeare has had an impact on the artistic imagination, on language, literature and all the performing arts, more profound and more widespread than any other writer who has ever lived," Selley said.
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AFPEntertainment-Britain-literature-auction-Shakespeare
AFP 301751 GMT 03 06
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