LONDON — Christie’s commemorates 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) with a landmark sale of the first four folios, the first four editions of his collected works. The folios will be offered in a four-lot auction celebrating the Shakespeare anniversary in London on Wednesday, May 25.

The first four folios of Shakespeare’s collected works led by an unrecorded first folio brought together at Christie’s this May.

The sale is led by an unrecorded copy of the first folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, widely considered the most important literary publication in the English language. The first folio contains 36 plays, 18 of which had not previously been printed and would have otherwise been lost forever ($1.16/1.7 million). The plays of Shakespeare, preserved for posterity in these volumes, define our knowledge of Shakespeare the man, the playwright, the poet and the actor.

The four folios will tour to New York from April 1-8 and go on public display in London April 20-28 April to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary on April 23; later being exhibited in the presale view in May.

For more information, www.christies.com.