Rare First Folio fragment of Shakespeare's Henry IV from 1623 will hit the auction block October 29

RENO, Nev. - Oct. 21, 2021 - PRLog -- 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 28^th-November 1^st. The First Folio play will be offered on Day 2 – Friday, Oct. 29^th - 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 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. 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.

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. For more information, visit www.holabirdamericana.com.