Shakespeare Book to be Auctioned A very rare William Shakespeare folio of plays will be auctioned off by Sotheby's in July. It is expected to make more than $6 million or £3.5 pounds. The book was printed in 1623, not long after the death of Shakespeare and is still in its original binding.
Sotheby's says it is the "most important book in English literature", but it is not the only one around. There is an estimated 40 full copies still in existence today.
For sale: book that stopped Shakespeare's labors from being lost
"There are copies of Shakespeare folios in libraries and institutions around the world. But copies in their original binding hardly ever go up for sale, and there is only one recorded as remaining in private hands. It was sold by Oxford's Oriel College to the late Sir Paul Getty.
Sotheby's said the most recent comparable copy of the first folio to be sold fetched $5.6 million (£4.7 million at current rates) at Christie's in New York in 2001." Scotsman
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