Six Shakespeare First Folios on Show at Christie's

Christie’s is celebrating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s First Folio with a landmark non-selling exhibition, Shakespeare’s First Folio: The First Four Hundred Years, uniquely bringing together six copies, the largest single display of First Folios assembled in the United Kingdom, on display at Christie’s in London, May 2-26 .
 
Christie’s has assembled five examples of the work which are currently in private hands, as well as exhibiting a copy on loan from the University of London, the earliest documented First Folio in America.
 
Margaret Ford, Christie's International Head of Books & Manuscripts, said: “No other exhibition in the UK has ever displayed so many copies, four of which have never been shown in public before, and we are incredibly grateful to the owners of these copies for their generous loans. Christie’s recently sold a copy of the First Folio at auction, in 2020, for a world record price of $10 million, and we’re now delighted to hold this exhibition, open and free for all to attend, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Folio, and also during such an important moment in London, coinciding as it does with the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.”
 
The display at Christie’s King Street will include the Arundel Castle copy, courtesy of the Duke of Norfolk, one of only five complete copies in private hands, joined by those from Senate House Libraries and private collections across Britain.