Foundational Texts Available From Swann Auction Galleries, Including Shakespeare and Cervantes

The first modern edition of William Shakespeare’s complete works (Nicholas Rowe’s 1709 Works) was based on the Fourth Folio. Many editions followed suit, increasing its historical value as an original text. The Fourth Folio is the third update to Shakespeare’s works, which corrected obvious errors and modernized the English text, as had the previous numbered folios before it. A copy of this text is featured in the Early Printed Books auction on offer at Swann Auction Galleries, and the auction house says that this particular copy has “distinguished provenance,” and is “finely bound and beautifully preserved.”

Shakespeare is well-represented in the sale, as are Charles Darwin, Francis Bacon, Sir Thomas Browne, Miguel de Cervantes, and others. Individual works of interest include a first Valencia edition copy of El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by Cervantes, a Quarto-format manuscript on parchment of The Book of Hours with illuminated miniatures, a first edition, fourth state copy of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and more. View any of these lots and register to bid at Swann Auction Galleries.