An original edition of William Shakespeare's First Folio has set a new record the auction. Presented on 14 October at Christie's in New York, the book sold for $9.98 million (£7.65 mil) after a six-minute battle, setting the world record for a literary work in print. The estimate was set between $4 million and $6 million (£3.07-4.6 mil).
The copy from the so-called 'First Folio edition' is a collection of 36 plays by the playwright published by two of his friends in 1623, seven years after his death. Printed for the first time in a single edition were famous works like Macbeth, The Tempest and Julius Caesar. Of the original 750 copies edited, there are only 235 copies still in circulation, very few of which are in private hands. Experts claim that only five or six copies remain outside of institutions and academia.
This record-priced edition had been held by Mills College in Oakland, California since the 1960s. It was the first (among the original editions) to go under the hammer since 2001. At the time, the copy was auctioned for $6.1 million, setting the then record.
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"A complete copy of the First Folio is something you see more or less once in a generation," said Margaret Ford, director of the International Books and Manuscripts Department at Christie's.
The buyer is Stephan Loewentheil, an owner of shops specialising in rare books and photography in New York and Baltimore.
"[The First Folio is] the greatest work in the English language, certainly the greatest work of theater, so it’s something that anyone who loves intellectualism has to consider a divine object," Lowentheil said. Loewentheil also left with a letter from 1809, written by Edmond Malone, biographer and great Shakespeare specialist, which attests to the authenticity of the work.
The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci – a collection of scientific writings – acquired by Bill Gates for $40.5 million in 1994, remains the the most expensive manuscript book of all time.
