A rare book went for nearly $10 million at a Christie’s auction on Wednesday, October 14, 2020. Read story here.
It’s one of only five privately owned copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio that are considered complete. The book sold in this transaction is in an early 19th-century binding.
The First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death by two of his actor friends, and contains 36 plays. Of these, 18 hadn’t appeared in print, and otherwise would have been lost to history — including “MacBeth” and “Twelfth Night.”
Of the 750 original copies, 256 still exist, of which 56 are complete, most in institutional collections. The seller in this case was Mills College in California. Who pays that kind of money for a book? The buyer is a Brooklyn-based rare book dealer and antiquarian, who appreciates it for both its historical and aesthetic value, but rare books like fine art also tend to appreciate and are considered investments.
Photos: The buyer, Stephan Loewentheil (above left); the book (below).
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