Shakespeare's "First Folio" is one of the most valuable works in the world, along with the Gutenberg Bible
Few antique books attract as much interest from bibliophiles as the rare copies of the "First Folio," a collection of 36 plays by Shakespeare. One of them will be offered at auction in July at Sotheby's in New York. It could wind up fetching a seven-figure sum.
Shakespeare's "First Folio" is one of the most valuable works in the world, along with the Gutenberg Bible. It is a first edition of the complete works attributed to the Elizabethan playwright in folio format, published in 1623 by John Heminges and Henry Condell, two actors and friends of Shakespeare. Historians agree that, without them, 18 plays by the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon, including "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night," might never have been published.