This was a world where anything, including humans, could be bought The most recent copy to sell at public auction reached almost $10m. The notable bibliophile the Duke of Roxburghe paid an outlandish sum for a copy in 1790, firing the gun on a price race that has continued unabated. Editors and scholars were rediscovering this as the most authoritative text of the plays (not, as had long been thought, the 1685 or Fourth Folio), and the book was reframed as a significant classic. After a slow start, prices began to rise significantly in the mid-18th century. The earliest buyers were high-status men: a bishop, a young Kentish gentleman, a nobleman. But in addition to its cultural or artistic value, copies of this book have increased significantly in financial value.Īt its original publication, this book cost £1, or the equivalent of several years of cheap theatre-going at a penny a pop. We tend to celebrate the First Folio, and, indeed, without this book, half of Shakespeare’s plays would have been lost, and without them, Shakespeare would not be a global cultural figure. The luxury goods market – in Wedgwood porcelain, in Chippendale furniture, and in valuable books – was stimulated by increased wealth derived from enslaved Africans.

For other commentators, plantation profits fuelled extravagant spending and conspicuous consumption among the Georgian gentry. In his landmark study Capitalism and Slavery in the 1940s, the Trinidadian historian Eric Williams argued that the slave economy pump-primed Britain’s Industrial Revolution (and that it was the development of alternative sources of profit through manufacture, rather than moral concerns, that motivated abolition). And the history of this book also contributes to ongoing debates about what happened to the vast profits made from the trade and exploitation of enslaved peoples in the late 18th century and beyond. These stories have their meeting point in one specific object: the valuable book known as Shakespeare’s First Folio, published 400 years ago in 1623. As scholar Gary Taylor puts it, “Shakespeare’s coronation as the King of English poets” dates from the third quarter of the 18th century, boosted by the actor David Garrick’s lavish Shakespeare Jubilee celebrations in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. The second is the establishment of William Shakespeare as the national bard. According to estimates from the Slave Voyages database, the number of enslaved people carried by British ships more than doubled, from around 410,000 in the first quarter of the century to more than 830,000 in the third. The first is the increased dominance of Britain in the transatlantic slave trade. Literature Portal - All articles about literature, books and writers.T wo stories, usually seen as disconnected, unfold themselves during the second half of the 18th century. Copies that arrive at auction realize fabulous prices.

The First Folio is one of the most valuable printed books in the world. The most (82) are in the Folger Library in Washington, D.C. Two hundred twenty-eight copies are still in existence. Other copies are in the hands of millionaire book collectors. Scholars rely on the First Folio for the texts of the plays not printed in quarto editions.įew copies of the First Folio are extant, with most being in museum and library collections. About half of Shakespeare's plays were printed in what is known as quarto editions during his lifetime. It contains all of Shakespeare's plays except Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The Two Noble Kinsman, and the two 'lost plays', Cardenio and Love's Labour's Won. The collection was the project of two of Shakespeare's theatrical colleagues: John Heminges and Henry Condell. These categories have remained in use to the modern age with the addition of 'Romances'. The plays have been categorized into literary genres for the first time: history plays, comedies, and tragedies. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Its original price was 1 pound, the equivalent of about £95–£110 or US$190 to $220 in 2006. In its day, the First Folio was an expensive book. It is believed about 750 copies were printed. The term 'folio' refers to the size of a page a folio page is about 15 inches (38 cm) tall. The First Folio is the common name for the first complete edition of Shakespeare's plays.

First folio books