Set of Shakespeare folios to be sold in rare London auction

LONDON: A set of four Shakespeare folios estimated to be worth more than £3.5 million ($4.7 million) will go on sale in London next month, auction house Sotheby´s said on Wednesday.

The First Folio, published in 1623, was the first collection of William Shakespeare´s plays and is considered one of the most important books in English literature.

Without it, up to half of the writer´s plays would likely have been lost, including “Macbeth”, “Twelfth Night” and “Julius Caesar”.

Around 235 of the 750 copies believed to have been published during this initial printing have survived.

A new print run in 1632 gave rise to the Second Folio, which contained amendments to the initial folio, while the Third Folio containing seven additional plays appeared in 1664.