Rare Book Monthly

Articles - June - 2016 Issue

Results: 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's Death Brings Special Items to Sale

A Shakespeare Folio for each century since his death

A Shakespeare Folio for each century since his death

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Dubbed "the first universal author" by American literary critic and Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University Harold Bloom, and described by his contemporary Ben Jonson as "not of an age but for all time," Shakespeare was celebrated in life, and even more so in death. His influence on the literary world has not wavered, being universally studied and analyzed in high school and college classrooms. To celebrate the anniversary, last month Christie's London held a special four item sale of Shakespeare items. We'll get to those results a little further down.

As the greatest writer in the English language, printings and publications of Shakespeare are innumerable. However, material contemporary to Shakespeare's time is far more rare. During his lifetime, Elizabethan playwrights did not prioritize seeing their works in print. Dramas were rarely meant to be read in addition to being performed. Nineteen of the thirty-seven plays in Shakespeare's canon were printed in quarto format, though for over two centuries were mostly considered fraudulent because playwrights were often uninvolved and even unaware of the printings. Modern opinion on the quartos shifted in the late nineteenth century with a reexamination of the quartos, and they are now considered for the most part to be "good" and honest printings not stemming from piracy or plagiarism.

A collection of Shakespeare's work did not appear in print until 1623 with the publishing of Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, also known as the First Folio. The importance of this publication cannot be understated. Eighteen plays appear in print for the first time—material that would have otherwise been lost to history. The plays that appeared here first are: Macbeth, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, All's Well That Ends Well, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, King John, Henry VI part 1, Henry VIII, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Cymbeline. Three plays now accepted as genuine in whole or in part were not included: Pericles, Two Noble Kinsmen, and Sir Thomas More.

So what items did Christie's auction? It's been 400 years since Shakespeare died, so it was only fitting for them to offer the Four Folios. The Second, Third, and Fourth Folios are successive reprintings stemming from the First Folio, with certain additions. The Second, for example, contains John Milton's first appearance in print via an epitaph on Shakespeare, while the Third and Fourth Folios contain the added play Pericles. The First Folio is considered the most desired item, for obvious reasons, however the four combined make for an extremely impressive set. Christie's also states that the Third Folio is actually the rarest.

The First Folio of Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, edited by John Heminge and Henry Condell, and printed in London in 1623 (third issue), was estimated for £800,000-1,200,000. This previously unknown copy sold for a final price of £1,874,500 and is the second highest realized price for a copy of the First Folio in the Rare Book Transaction History (a different copy sold at Sotheby's in 2006 for £2.8M). The Second Folio carried an estimate of £180,000-250,000 and sold towards the low end of estimates for £194,500. The Third Folio was estimated £300,000-400,000, and being the rarest of the Four, fared better than the Second Folio, going for £362,500. Finally, the Fourth Folio was estimated £15,000-20,000, and on a percentage basis beat its estimate by the largest margin by selling for £47,500, more than double the high estimate. All told, the four items combined for sales of £2,479,000, or $3,621,248.83, surpassing the sale's total high estimate of £1,870,000.

Complete lots for the sale are already available within the Rare Book Transaction History and the auction report on Rare Book Hub is available here. The catalog with lots and images are available directly on the Christie's website here.

Rare Book Monthly

  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025 Freeman’s | HindmanWestern Manuscripts and MiniaturesJuly 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman
    Western Manuscripts and Miniatures
    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Previously unknown illumination from one of the most renowned Gothic Choir Book sets of the Middle Ages. $6,000-8,000.
  • Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025 Sotheby’sBooks, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to ModernNow through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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