First Folio Monument, London

Tucked away on Love Lane, right where the old Saint Mary Aldermanbury churchyard once stood, you鈥檒l find a pink granite monument built in 1896鈥攃omplete with a very dignified Shakespeare bust giving you the side-eye. Officially, it's here to honor the First Folio of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays, but unofficially, it鈥檚 a big high-five to two of his old pals, Henry Condell and John Heminges. These two actors weren鈥檛 just theater buddies at The Globe鈥攖hey were the ones who gathered up Shakespeare鈥檚 plays and got them printed after he died in 1616. They lived in this parish, and fittingly, are also buried here.

Now, the First Folio isn鈥檛 just any book. It rounded up 36 of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays, missing only a few outliers like Pericles, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Edward III, and the now-legendary lost works Cardenio and Love鈥檚 Labour鈥檚 Won. Out of some 750 copies printed, just 235 are still around today鈥攎ostly in museums, libraries, and a few very lucky living rooms.

And if you're wondering what all that old paper is worth? In 2001, one copy went under the hammer at Christie鈥檚 in New York for a cool $6.16 million. But there鈥檚 more! In 2020, another copy smashed records by selling for $10 million, officially crowning it the priciest literary work ever auctioned. Shakespeare: still making headlines, four centuries later...

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Create Your Own Self-Guided Walk to Visit This Sight

Sight Name: First Folio Monument
Sight Location: London, England (See walking tours in London)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Shakespeare's London Walking Tour

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