First Folio Monument, London

Constructed in 1896, this pink granite monument, adorned with a Shakespearean bust, stands within the former churchyard of Saint Mary Aldermanbury on Love Lane. Its primary purpose is to honor the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, but it also serves as a tribute to Henry Condell and John Heminges, two associates of the Bard. These actors, who collaborated with Shakespeare at The Globe Theatre, played a crucial role in compiling and printing the First Folio after his passing in 1616. Both Condell and Heminges resided in the same parish and found their final resting place in its churchyard.

The First Folio contains all 36 plays commonly attributed to Shakespeare, with the exceptions of "Pericles, Prince of Tyre," "The Two Noble Kinsmen," "Edward III," and the lost plays "Cardenio" and "Love's Labour's Won." Of the approximately 750 copies originally printed, only 235 are known to exist today, many of which are housed in public archives or private collections. Notably, a copy sold at Christie's in New York in October 2001 fetched a hammer price of $6.16 million (then equivalent to £3.73 million), while in October 2020, a copy from Mills College sold at Christie's for a staggering $10 million, making it the most expensive literary work ever auctioned.