shakespeare first folio for sale original

The original edition was probably 1,000 copies, shared between five publishers. The book is also notable for containing the first appearance in print of John Milton, his poem in praise of “my Shakespeare”.

The type was reset, and pagination and formatting standardised whereas the First Folio contained several quirks in pagination relating to the manner in which the printing rights for the plays would have been acquired to enable its publication. The Second Folio was published in 1632, nine years after the First proved to be a commercial success, and it included 1,700 changes. At US$7.50m (£6.25m) I would say it represents excellent value for a collector who appreciates the finer points of what makes a copy like this so special,” he says. There are a few marks left by early readers, but the French linen paper still has a wonderful crisp texture, unlike so many copies that were washed and pressed flat in the 19th century. “The attraction of this copy is the early binding and the freshness of the contents. The copy lacks four of the eight preliminary leaves which are supplied here in facsimile. Importantly the entire text of the plays themselves are complete and unsophisticated (the pages are original to this copy and have not been made up with pages from other copies of the same work). Each of the books is being offered for sale individually.Īccording to Harrington, the First Folio being offered is one of the most desirable examples to come to market in recent years on account of its fine condition, early English binding and fresh inner pages. Together with the Poems, possessing any of the four Folios would be the greatest prize for any significant rare book collector, and owning them all obviously a huge coup,” says Pom Harrington, owner of Peter Harrington. “There is no other single individual who has had as great an influence on how we use the English language or employ story-telling devices as Shakespeare – ranging far beyond the realm of theatre to the farthest fringes of popular culture. The sale is being led by a fine copy of the First Folio in a handsome late 17th or early 18th-century English calf binding, very rare in this state, and with all the text leaves of the plays present, clean and crisp. Peter Harrington held a special viewing of the Four Folios and the Poems at its Mayfair shop this week and is expected to publicly show the Folios in the coming weeks. This is a rare occasion for a single collector to acquire all the collected 17th century works of Shakespeare for US$10.5 million (£8.76 million). To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio, London rare bookseller Peter Harrington has announced a landmark offering of copies of each of the four Folios as well as a first collected edition of Shakespeare’s Poems.

Shakespeare first folio for sale original