LONDON (Reuters)-A rare edition of the first printed works of William Shakespeare made a brief stage appearance at London's Globe Theater Monday ahead of a sale next month where the book is expected to fetch up to $3 million.

The leather-bound, 1,000-page compilation of plays was made in 1623, seven years after the Bard's death, and is known as the First Folio. Three further folios, or versions of the complete works followed, but are generally less valuable.

"This is one of only five complete First Folio copies still in private hands, and is among the two finest," Chris Coover, senior specialist on books and manuscripts at Christie's auctioneers, told Reuters.

Two actors read extracts from the First Folio on stage at The Globe, a reconstruction of Shakespeare's circular playhouse built in 1599, where modern audiences stand and watch from an open air pit, come rain or sunshine.

"This is the first and most definitive version we have of Shakespeare's plays," Coover said, leafing through the edition after it had been returned to Christie's headquarters.

It goes under the hammer in New York on October 8 to 9 and is expected to raise $2 million to $3 million.

Also on sale is a rare original edition of an illustrated poem by Britain's William Blake.

The tiny volume of "Songs of Innocence," which was printed, hand-painted and written by the author in 1789, is expected to fetch $1 million to $1.5 million.

"This is a book made from relief-engraved plates, illustrated by water colors and written in green ink. No two copies of such works are alike," Coover said.

Both books are part of a collection on sale from the library of Abel E. Berland, a Chicago-based book collector.