First collection of Shakespeare's plays sold for record $10 million

A copy of the first collection of plays byWilliam Shakespearewas sold Wednesday for $9.97 million at auction in New York, setting a new record for a work of literature.

The price paid for the work, widely known as the First Folio exceeded by far the estimated range of $4-6 million set by Christie's, which held the auction.

The collection, printed in 1623 and containing 36 plays by the English master, is frequently described as the greatest literary work in the English language.

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Wednesday's auction price also marked a new world auction record for any printed work of literature, and smashed the previous high of $6.16 million for aShakespeareFirst Folio that was set in 2001, auction company Christie's said.

"Comedies, Histories and Tragedies" was compiled by friends of the English playwright seven years after his death. It includes 18 plays that had never been published before and might have been lost, including "Macbeth" and "Julius Caesar."

"It is an honor to purchase one of only a handful of complete copies of this epochal volume. It will ultimately serve as a centerpiece of a great collection of intellectual achievements of man," Loewentheil said in a statement.

The First Folio marked the first time thatShakespeare's plays had been organized as comedies, tragedies and histories. The book's large size - previously reserved for law books and works of theology - helped raiseShakespeare's status in future years, Christie's books experts said.

Without the First Folio some ofShakespeare's most famous lines would likely have been lost, including classics like "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears," from "Julius Caesar," and "If music be the food of love, play on," from "Twelfth Night."

Wednesday's sale was the first time in nearly 20 years that a complete copy of the First Folio had come to auction. It was put up for auction by Mills College, a private liberal arts college in Oakland, California.