shock News: Holy grail' set of Shakespeare folios for sale

William Shakespeare died 400 years ago, but his stock has never been higher.

To coincide with the anniversary of the Bard's death, Christie's is selling copies of the first four editions of his plays — a collection the auctioneer's head of books, Margaret Ford, calls "the holy grail of publishing."

A Christie's member of staff displays 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, in London, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The book contains 36 plays, 18 of which appear here for the first time in print, and is estimated at 800,000-1.2 million UK pounds (1,127,760- 1.69 million US dollars).

William Shakespeare died 400 years ago, but his stock has never been higher. To coincide with the anniversary of the Bard's death, Christie's is selling copies of the first four editions of his plays - a collection the auctioneer's head of books, Margaret Ford, calls "the holy grail of publishing." The four folios are going on display in New York April 1-8 and London April 20-28 before being sold in London on May 25.