![]() Before that, a copy sold in 2001 for $6.1 million. ![]() The last time a copy of the First Folio went up for auction was in 2020, when California’s Mills College netted a record-breaking $10 million for the book to help cover budget shortfalls. In the 1960s it came to the United States, joining the collection of Chicago real estate executive Abel E. Seton-Watson, a British political activist and professor, per Sotheby’s. Over the centuries, the book fell into the hands of William Stuart Stirling-Crawfurd, a racehorse breeder and socialite, and R. “This copy is particularly special for the traces of the previous owners in its pages, many of whom have left their indelible imprint throughout the book, reminding us that this is also a living piece of human history that captures the ways in which generations of Shakespeare fans have been inspired by the Bard,” says Austin. At some point, the copy lost its frontispiece page, which bore Shakespeare’s image. At least five people left annotations and doodles on the First Folio’s pages, and three members of the Gordon family wrote their names. Shakespeare’s friends John Heminges and Henry Condel edited and printed the First Folio in 1623.Ī family in Scotland, the Gordons, bought this copy of the First Folio sometime in the 17th century, which likely makes it the only remaining copy with early Scottish provenance, according to Sotheby’s. Fewer than 20 copies are in the hands of private owners, which makes any First Folio auction a “major event,” says Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, in a statement. Today, only 235 known versions remain, the majority owned by libraries, museums, universities and other institutions. Historians believe that printers created around 750 copies of the First Folio in 1623, according to the Folger Shakespeare Library. The two men also helpfully organized Shakespeare’s work into categories such as comedy, history and tragedy, designations that scholars and directors still use today. Of the 36 plays included in the book, only half had already been printed elsewhere, according to the British Library. Without their efforts, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays, including Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night, may have been lost forever. When Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condel put together the First Folio in 1623, they did history a great service. Now, on July 7, Sotheby’s will auction a rare 399-year-old copy of the book, which is estimated to sell for $1.5 to $2.5 million. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies-contain critical early records of the Bard’s work. That’s not to say that Castello imitated Monteverdi, but they were both writing according to the “modern style.” Like Monteverdi’s madrigals, Castello’s 30 sonate concertate are rich in variety and inventiveness.Seven years after William Shakespeare’s death in 1616, two of the playwright’s friends gathered, edited and printed 36 of his texts into large, expensive keepsake books known as the First Folio.īecause many of Shakespeare’s original manuscripts have been lost throughout history, the printed editions of the First Folio-formally titled Mr. If you wish Monteverdi had written more instrumental music, this is the album for you. The ensemble is well-recorded, with a warm ambiance of a small chamber, but play cleanly so every note is discernable. Renaissance wind instruments like the early trombone, cornetto, and dulcian (sort of a bassoon) are notoriously hard to play, yet all sound with a purity of tone and warm expression that makes every phrase a gem. The Academy of Ancient Music, directed by Richard Egar is more that up to the challenge. ![]() ![]() As Castello wrote, “I declare that having observed the modern style, I could not have made them any easier.” The works are short, mercurial, and - apparently - technically challenging. Instrumental recitatives are paired with dramatically contrasting polyphonic sections. His 30 sonate concertate are models of the Venetian Styl Moderno. Thanks to this new recording, I think I understand why.Īlmost nothing is known of Dario Castello, save his music. Over the next 40 years, they would remain continually in print, becoming a cornerstone of every major music library. What was the big hit of the publishing world of 1623? It wasn’t Shakespeare’s First Folio (which came out that year), but rather the omnibus of Dario Castello’s sonate concertate. ![]()
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