Sotheby's to sell first folio of Shakespeare Still in its mid 17-century calf binding: only one such copy is recorded as surviving in private hands. One of the finest copies to appear at auction in London since the Second World War.
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - THE MOST IMPORTANT book in English literature, the First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays (1623), will be offered for sale in Sotheby’s sale of English Literature and History in London on Thursday, July 13, 2006. Published seven years after Shakespeare's death, this seminal volume contains a total of 36 plays, 18 of which had never previously been printed and – were it not for their appearance here – might otherwise have been lost to posterity. Some 750 copies were printed and about a third of these survive, mostly incomplete. The price when new was probably 20 shillings. Dr Williams’s copy of the First Folio is remarkably untouched, is in a mid 17th-century binding, and contains extensive markings and annotations that provide an invaluable insight into its early readership. It is estimated to fetch £2.5-£3.5 million*.
Peter Selley, Sotheby’s English Literature Specialist, said: “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. The First Folio preserves 18 of his plays, including some of the most major, which otherwise would have been lost for all time. Relatively complete copies of the Folio in contemporary or near
contemporary bindings very rarely come to the market. There is only one copy recorded as remaining in private hands. This sale will be a truly exceptional event.”
It is being sold by the trustees of Dr Williams’s library which was established in the early 18th century under the will of Dr Daniel Williams, the leading dissenting minister of his generation. The Library maintained by Dr Williams’s Trust is one of the oldest open to the public still conducted on its original benefaction. Situated in Gordon Square, close to the British Library and the University of London, it is the pre-eminent research library for English Protestant dissent, but many of the collections are of national and international significance. The Library is used by academics, independent scholars, local historians and students, including a large number from overseas, especially North America.
Dr David Wykes, Director of the Library, said: “The Library has been proud to own this remarkable copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, but its sale will secure the finances of the Library and safeguard our important historic collections of manuscripts and printed books for future generations. We also believe the sale will enable us to enhance the service we offer our readers and to better develop and conserve our unique collections.”
Without the First Folio, assembled by Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors in the King’s Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays would not have survived: there would be no Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, A Winter’s Tale, The Tempest, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, Henry VIII, King John, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, Timon of Athens, Two Gentleman of Verona, or Henry VI Part I.
Shakespeare
