⁍ A rare 1623 book that brought together William Shakespeare’s plays for the first time sold for a record $9.97 million at auction.
⁍ ‘Comedies, Histories and Tragedies’ was compiled by friends of the English playwright seven years after his death.
⁍ The First Folio marked the first time that Shakespeare’s plays had been organized as comedies, tragedies and histories.
– A full copy of a 1623 book that brought together 36 of William Shakespeare’s plays for the first time sold for a record $9.97 million at auction on Wednesday, Reuters reports. The First Folio, one of only six known complete copies in private hands, smashed the previous world auction record of $6.16 million set in 2001. It includes 18 plays that had never been published before and might have been lost, including “Macbeth” and “Julius Caesar.” “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,” said Stephan Loewentheil, the founder of the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop in the US.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-books-shakespeare/first-collection-of-shakespeares-plays-sells-for-almost-10-million-idUSKBN26Z2BW