First edition Shakespeare folios to fetch millions at auction
A collection of first-edition plays of William Shakespeare's works are expected to fetch millions at auction.
Sotheby's announced on the playwright and poet's 461st birthday (April 23) that a set of First, Second, Third and Fourth Folios are going under the hammer in London on May 23.
It is estimated the set will go for between £3.5 million and £4.5 million.
The original folio - which had 750 copies printed in 1623 - is called 'Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies', and it featured 36 plays.
The book is believed to have influenced 'The Tempest' and 'Macbeth'.
Only 230 copies are known to have survived today - with some taking up spots in libraries and museums.
Sotheby's said it is "the most significant publication in the history of English literature", according to CNN.
The Second Folio was published in 1632, followed by The Third Folio in 1663 and The Fourth Folio in 1685.
The Third Folio is thought to be rare because only 182 copies are known to still exist as most of them got destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
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