Shakespeare's Folio to be Sold at Sotheby's: Rare Literary Treasure to Hit Auction Block
Razor-Sharp Words and Dramatic Plots
Ditch the timid vibe, picture a universe without swagger. An overconfident fellow struts around, bragging and flaunting his stuff, all without an ounce of shame or embarrassment. Or what if there was no courtship? The mere thought is almost too horrifying to imagine.
Thankfully, we don't have to live like that—we can saunter around, flirting with whoever catches our eye while blushing to our heart's delight. But only because the First Folio was published. Without this crucial publication, nearly half of the plays attributed to the mighty Bard himself, including swagger, blushing, and courtship, would have been snuffed out. And oh, did you know it also brought us words like outbreak, addiction, gossip, torture, and puking? Looks like we might have had a much more serene existence without it.
The First Folio, published in 1623, just a smidgen of time after its author's departure from the stage, has been instrumental in enriching the English language and literature. Now, all four Shakespeare Folios, those magnificent tomes, are to be auctioned off by Sotheby's in London on May 23, with an estimate of £3.5-£4.5 million—a price tag that matches the hefty sum it went for when first acquired all those years ago.
Before this ritualistic event, the First, Third, and Fourth Folios had joined forces and been tucked away by Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh-Evelyn. Yes, you read that right; I doubt there's a longer, more convoluted job description than his name. But he was much more than a codenamed superhero; he was a bibliophile polymath who mastered the art of measuring the skies using barometers and discovered a novel way to calculate the standard length of a yard. Essentially, he was a bookworm who adored numbers.
In truth, I reckon if he were alive today, he'd be frothing at the mouth over the prospect of owning the complete set of these Folios. The last time this golden opportunity presented itself was at a Sotheby's auction in New York in 1989, and after this upcoming auction, it's highly unlikely that the victorious bidder will want to part ways with their prized possession any time soon. Let's just say, this is an opportunity that doesn't pop up every day.
The combined collection was compiled between 1623 and 1685. A measly 750 copies of the First Folio were churned out, and they were all gobbled up within a mere decade, prompting the publication of... yep, you guessed it—the Second Folio in 1632. The decades to follow were marked by unlucky turns of events such as the civil war, the plague, and Puritan grumbling.
But these obstacles failed to deter the public's obsession with the Bard's work. Thus, the Third Folio was born in 1664 with seven additional plays (though Pericles, let's be honest, was a questionable addition). The final installment, the Fourth Folio, was released in 1685.
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These physical volumes stand as evidence that Shakespeare wasn't a poet penning his verses for the aristocracy, but a playwright serving the masses and entertaining the crowds.
The First Folio contains 36 plays, 18 of which were never printed before. Without it, we might not have some of his most cherished plays today, including Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, As You Like It, Measure for Measure, and Twelfth Night. Iconic lines, if you can believe it, could have vanished into thin air. 'Et tu, Brute?' (Julius Caesar) would've remained a forgotten phrase. 'Out, damned spot' (Macbeth) would've vanished into obscurity. And where would we be without 'Your arse is the best thing about you' (Measure for Measure)? I shudder at the thought.
Mark your calendars for the Sotheby's auction on 23 May. For more information, check out their website.
Lotte BrundleLotte is our platform's Digital Wordsmith. Before hopping aboard in 2025, she honed her skills as a comma whiz and headline writer at The Times and The Sunday Times. She honed her craft at The Fence as their most prominent Paul Mescal connoisseur. She reluctantly calls noisy south London home, a world away from her peaceful Kentish upbringing.
Books serve as a window to entertainment, encompassing a vast array of plays penned by the Bard himself, like 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Julius Caesar', 'Macbeth', 'The Taming of the Shrew', 'The Tempest', 'As You Like It', 'Measure for Measure', and 'Twelfth Night'. These dramatic masterpieces, some of which were never printed before, have been preserved in the First Folio, a testament to Shakespeare's influence as an entertainer and storyteller rather than a poet solely for the aristocracy.
