Shakespeare’s First Folio sold for $9,978,000 at Christie’s in New York today. This established a new world auction record for any work of literature. The First Folio was included in ‘The Exceptional Sale’ and exceeded its estimate of $4,000,000-6,000,000. Bringing together for the first time the collected plays of Shakespeare it ranks as the greatest work of the English language and world literature. Already celebrated on its first publication in 1623, it has remained a highly sought-after masterpiece over four centuries. Only six complete copies are known in private hands.
After six minutes of bidding between two other phone bidders, the First Folio was bought via phone bid by Stephan Loewentheil, who commented: “William Shakespeare is incomparably the greatest writer in the English language and one of most important international cultural influencers in all history. The First Folio is the most important collection of plays ever published and revered throughout the world. It is an honor to purchase one of only a handful of complete copies of this epochal volume. It will ultimately serve as a centerpiece of a great collection of intellectual achievements of man. We at the 19th-Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop are pleased you have worked through Christie’s to obtain this wonderful treasure”.
