Shakespeare first folio fetches £435,250

By Staff

Saturday, June 7, 2008, 10:27

A rare first folio of William Shakespeare"s play has been sold for 435,250 pounds in an auction at Christies. The book published in 1623, seven years after the playwright's death, contains 36 plays, 18 of which had not been published before.

At first it was sold for 20 shillings, which is equivalent to 100 pounds today. The present copy was sold to Sir Thomas Munro of Lindertis in 1837 and remained in the family until 1976 when it was sold at Christies for 12,000 pounds

The plays include 'Macbeth', 'Twelfth Night', 'The Tempest', 'The Taming of the Shrew' and 'As You Like It'.

"The preservation of over half Shakespeare's works is owing solely to the publication of the First Folio, the undisputed keystone of any serious collection of English literature," Telegraph quoted Rupert Neelands of Christies, as saying.

The sale of manuscripts and literature at the Christies also included the first draft of one of Sir Winston Churchill's famous wartime speeches, which raked in 139,250 pounds. Sir Winston's moral-boosting speech was delivered to MPs during the height of the Battle of Britain in August 1940.