The lot, which includes the legendary 1623 First Folio, is valued at £3.5-4.5 million (€4-5.2 million).

The sale, scheduled for May 23rd, will be the first time in 34 years that all four folios will be offered as a single lot. The auction announcement is timed to coincide with the 461st anniversary of the playwright's birth.

The First Folio "The Comedies, Chronicles, and Tragedies of William Shakespeare", which preserved 18 plays for future generations, including "Macbeth" and "The Storm", which otherwise could have been lost, holds particular value. Of the 750 copies of the first edition, only about 230 have survived to this day, most of which are kept in museums.

Experts call this lot "the pearl of the book market of the decade". The last time a similar set appeared on the auction was in 1989, and a separate First Folio in 2020 was sold for $9.9 million.