Historic Irish library could make more than £1.8m at auction

Private collection of 19th-century judge includes early editions of Shakespeare, Swift and Bacon, as well as medieval works

One of the most important collections of historic books, including various Shakespeare folios, a first edition of Gulliver’s Travels, signed copies of Wordsworth’s poems and medieval manuscripts, is to go on sale next week. The books form part of a historic library amassed more than 100 years ago in Ireland, the sale of which could exceed £1.8m when auctioned by Sotheby’s on 7 June.

The highlight of the sale is expected to be the Shakespeare folios, which a spokeswoman for the auctioneer described as “the bedrock of the literary culture in the English-speaking world”. The second (published in 1632, 30 years after his death), third (1664) and fourth (1685) will be sold. The third folio is the rarest because an unknown number of unsold copies were destroyed when the Great Fire of London ripped through the city’s booksellers in 1666. It is expected to fetch up to £50,000.

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