First Folio "Fragment" of William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Published in 1623, will Hit The Auction Block October 29th

2024-04-23 07:12:01 Art & Entertainment

1390

Reno, NV, USA, October 22, 2021 -- An exceedingly rare First Folio single play ?fragment? of William Shakespeare?s The First Part of Henry the Fourth, published in 1623, will be offered during Holabird Western Americana Collections? Autumn Splendor Western Americana Auction, slated for October 28th-November 1st. The First Folio play will be offered on Day 2 ? Friday, Oct. 29th - live and online.

The auction is being held in the Holabird gallery located at 3555 Airway Drive in Reno. Online bidding will be via iCollector.com, LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com.

The full catalog can be viewed online now, at www.holabirdamericana.com. For those planning to attend the auction in person, regulations and protocols regarding COVID-19 will be enforced.

The First Folio of Shakespeare's plays has been widely referred to by historians, collectors and scholars as the most important literary work in the English language. It is considered by most of academia to be one of the most important books ever published. It?s impossible to tell what the fragment will ultimately sell for, but Holabird has assigned it an estimate of $50,000-$100,000.

?The possibility of owning a piece of the most important literary work extant is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity,? said Fred Holabird, the president and owner of Holabird Western Americana Collections. ?We?re proud to present this original copy of a First Folio fragment of Shakespeare's The First Part of Henry the Fourth. Its new owner will possess literary history.?

The work?s full official title is The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of HENRY Sirnamed HOT-SPVRRE. The fragment represents one complete play (in a two-part production of Henry IV) that was published in 1623 in England, in the First Folio of William Shakespeare?s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, Published according to True, Original Copies.

The First Folio was reportedly compiled and edited by two of Shakespeare?s actors and friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell. It was printed in London by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount. The fragment has been rebound in bright red patent leather and consists of 13 pages printed on antique Renaissance rag paper, originally numbered 46,49-62,65-73 in the First Folio.

As an original fragment of Shakespeare's First Folio, these bound pages are, by very definition, unique. Nowhere else exists a copy of Shakespeare's original, very first, professionally published copy of The First Part of Henry the Fourth that is identical to this one - from the provenance to the unique watermark design to the old Renaissance rag paper and gold-trimmed red binding.

In September of this year, Dr. Eric Rasmussen, the University of Nevada / Reno Professor and Department Chair of English and Philosophy, a world-renowned Shakespearean scholar and one of the leading experts on Shakespeare's First Folios, examined the fragment and authenticated it as an original 1623 fragment of Shakespeare's First Folio. He added its value was ?inestimable.?

Inside the front cover of the fragment, a custom book plate is affixed with the name Otto Orren Fisher, a nationally renowned collector of rare books and manuscripts. An industrial surgeon, Dr. Fisher began his hobby of collecting with the goal of owning one rare item in his lifetime. Upon his death in 1961, he owned more than 80,000 rare books that occupied three floors of his home.

Overall, this First Folio fragment is in very fine condition. There are some small chips and tears on the edges of some of the inside thinner paper pages, and the paper is discolored in varying degrees from page to page, commensurate with the fragment?s age ? 400 years old. During Dr. Rasmussen's inspection, nothing concerning about the condition of this fragment was noted.

For more information, visit www.holabirdamericana.com.