Scholars, collectors, and lovers of English literature will have the rare opportunity to view – and for interested institutions or a private collectors – acquire, one of the most important books ever printed, William Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623).
NOVEMBER 2025: Presented by world-leading rare book firm Peter Harrington, a copy of this cornerstone literary work, will be offered for sale at £4.5 million at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Art fair, taking place from November 19–23 at Manarat al Saadiyat. It is one of only 24 copies to remain in private hands.
No institution, museum, or private collection in the Middle East currently holds a copy of the First Folio. Its appearance in Abu Dhabi represents an extremely rare opportunity for a regional collector or cultural institution to join the ranks of the world’s most prestigious libraries – from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., to the British Library in London – in stewarding one of the world’s greatest literary treasures.
“Shakespeare’s work transcends time and geography,” says Pom Harrington, owner of Peter Harrington. “It has been credited as shaping and solidifying Shakespeare’s influence on the English language. But when you see the excitement the Folio generates wherever it travels – whether to Tasmania or Toronto – you’re reminded how extraordinary it is that a 17th-century book printed in England can still inspire wonder, centuries later and worlds away from where it was first printed.”
Securing Shakespeare’s Legacy
Printed in London in 1623 by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, The First Folio is the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, preserving thirty-six works – including eighteen that might otherwise have been lost forever. Without this volume, the world would have no Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, or The Tempest.
The First Folio was compiled by two of Shakespeare’s closest friends and fellow actors from his company The Kings Men, John Heminges and Henry Condell, who gathered the plays seven years after his death. More than a commercial venture, it was a labour of love that transformed private grief into an enduring monument, securing Shakespeare’s legacy for all time.
Behind the stately pages lies a tale of negotiation and a determination: Copyright in the seventeenth century differed greatly from modern practice. Shakespeare had no authorial copyright in any of his plays. The rights to print the plays as individual playbooks were bought by individuals. Heminges and Condell had to buy back printing rights from multiple publishers to unify the plays. Their heartfelt preface entreats readers: “Do so, but buy it first.” But what began as a risky commercial venture became the foundation stone of modern literature.
It took nearly two years to print, with each page laboriously typeset by hand. Several compositors, each with their own quirks in spelling and punctuation, worked on the text, meaning no two copies are exactly alike. Even at the time, the Folio was an expensive, prestige object, with a bound folio costing up to two months’ wages of a skilled worker. Of the roughly 750 copies originally printed, only 233 are known to survive, with just 24 remaining in private hands worldwide.
The Shuckburgh Copy
The Shuckburgh Copy of the First Folio is a particularly fine example of the First Folio. It is bound in sumptuous red morocco by Roger Payne, one of England’s most celebrated bookbinders, whose clients included the great bibliophiles of the 18th century. This volume contains the complete text of all Shakespeare’s plays and is notable for its crisp, unrestored pages and beautifully tooled gilt spine, a masterpiece of both printing and binding.
Its provenance traces back to Sir George Augustus William Shuckburgh-Evelyn (1751–1804), a renowned mathematician, astronomer, and Fellow of the Royal Society, whose distinguished library also included a Gutenberg Bible and rare illuminated manuscripts. Passed down through generations of his descendants, the Folio remained in private hands for over two centuries before resurfacing at auction in 2016.
Universal Cultural Resonance
Bringing the First Folio to Abu Dhabi is a fitting gesture to the universality of Shakespeare’s artistry. His stories of love, power, jealousy, and ambition have inspired countless adaptations in world literature, theatre, and film.
Shakespeare’s influence on Arab culture – especially in theatre and cinema – has been profound, offering Arab artists a mirror through which to explore social and political realities. Egyptian cinema reworked his comedies – Ah Min Hawwa (1962) adapted The Taming of the Shrew – while Kuwaiti playwright Sulayman Al-Bassam used Hamlet and Richard III to critique authoritarianism and corruption. Across the Arab world, Shakespeare’s themes of ambition, justice, and moral conflict continue to resonate, reinterpreted through local cultural and political realities that resonate far beyond their Elizabethan beginnings.
The First Folio is not only the cornerstone of English literature; it is a monument to the very language itself. Shakespeare’s plays, first printed here, are credited with introducing more than 1,700 words and phrases to English – from eyeball and bedroom to the green-eyed monster and wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Abu Dhabi Art makes for a very fitting stage for the display of a book with the cultural resonance of the First Folio.
“To have the Folio on display amid a collection of other artistic and cultural icons is a reminder that the love of storytelling is universal,” says Harrington. “For any institution or collector, to own a First Folio is to hold in one’s hands the book that gave the world Shakespeare.”
www.peterharrington.co.uk
ABOUT PETER HARRINGTON
Peter Harrington is one of the most respected and dynamic names in the world of rare books, with permanent galleries in London and New York.
From its beginnings in London in 1969, the firm has built an international reputation for sourcing and selling the finest first editions, signed and inscribed books, rare manuscripts, fine bindings, and library sets. Over more than fifty years, Peter Harrington has handled thousands of significant works, from incunabula, early illuminated manuscripts, and Shakespeare folios to landmark works of science, literature, political thought, travel, philosophy, and the arts.
With a team of subject specialists and bibliographers, the firm brings exceptional depth of knowledge to every item it handles, and works closely with collectors, libraries, and institutions to build collections of lasting cultural and scholarly value.
Its galleries in Chelsea and Mayfair in London, as well as New York’s Upper East Side, offer a welcoming, elegant setting to explore rare books and works on paper.
The firm also exhibits at leading rare book and art fairs across the globe, from New York and Los Angeles to Hong Kong, Maastricht, Abu Dhabi, and Melbourne – reflecting its place at the heart of the international rare book community.
As a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association, Peter Harrington offers an unconditional guarantee on the authenticity and completeness of each item it sells, as described in the Editor’s Notes.