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Rare Shakespeare volume now evidence
DURHAM, England, (UPI) -- A Shakespeare First Folio, one of the most valuable printed books in the world, made an appearance Friday in an English courtroom as evidence in a trial.
The book has been entered as evidence in the trial of Raymond Scott, a book dealer accused of stealing it from the Cosin Library at Durham University in 1998. It was brought into court in a padlocked plastic box.
"Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories. & Tragedies," published in 1623, was the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. About 1,000 copies are believed to have been printed, and only 228 are known to survive -- 40 of them complete.
Investigators say Scott mutilated the Durham volume to disguise its provenance and presented it to the Folger Library in Washington in 2008 for authentication. He allegedly claimed to be a wealthy playboy acting on behalf of friends in Cuba who had found the book and wanted to know its worth.
Scott had allegedly gone into debt after falling for a Cuban cocktail waitress.
The Durham librarian quickly confirmed suspicions at the Folger that the First Folio was stolen.
A First Folio sold at auction in 2001 for more than $6 million.
DURHAM, England, (UPI) -- A Shakespeare First Folio, one of the most valuable printed books in the world, made an appearance Friday in an English courtroom as evidence in a trial.
The book has been entered as evidence in the trial of Raymond Scott, a book dealer accused of stealing it from the Cosin Library at Durham University in 1998. It was brought into court in a padlocked plastic box.
"Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories. & Tragedies," published in 1623, was the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. About 1,000 copies are believed to have been printed, and only 228 are known to survive -- 40 of them complete.
Investigators say Scott mutilated the Durham volume to disguise its provenance and presented it to the Folger Library in Washington in 2008 for authentication. He allegedly claimed to be a wealthy playboy acting on behalf of friends in Cuba who had found the book and wanted to know its worth.
Scott had allegedly gone into debt after falling for a Cuban cocktail waitress.
The Durham librarian quickly confirmed suspicions at the Folger that the First Folio was stolen.
A First Folio sold at auction in 2001 for more than $6 million.
