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Stolen Shakespeare folio goes on display

Durham University Library and Collections A black and white photograph of two female students studying the Durham First Folio with a Durham University librarian in the 1930s. They are looking at the book and are wearing coats. Their hair is short and curly at the ends. The librarian has short straight hair and is wearing a suit and tie with a waistcoat. He is pointing at the book with his little finger, which has a ring on it.Durham University Library and Collections
Durham's copy of the First Folio is one of 235 which have survived

A copy of Shakespeare's First Folio which was stolen 25 years ago is to go on display for the first time in more than a decade.

The book was taken from Durham University's Cosin's Library in 1998 and reappeared 10 years later at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C.

It was badly damaged and returned to Durham in 2010. Antiques dealer Raymond Scott, from County Durham, was jailed for eight years the same year for handling the stolen copy, but was cleared of stealing the treasure.

The exhibition, Shakespeare Recovered, will run from 4 April to 2 November at Palace Green Library in Durham.

The First Folio, published in 1623, was the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays.

It includes 36 plays, including Anthony and Cleopatra, Macbeth and The Tempest and without it these works might have been lost.

Durham University Library and Collections The Durham First Folio on display, opened at the page of play The Tempest. The binding of the thick book is missing. It is surrounded by wooden book shelves.Durham University Library and Collections
The Folio will be on display until November

Stuart Hunt, director of university library and collections and University Librarian, said: "Having been at the centre of an international theft and recovery, Durham's First Folio is truly exceptional.

"The vandalism it sustained left it extremely vulnerable.

"But with this comes an opportunity to closely examine an iconic object in new ways and discover more about Shakespeare's world and legacy."

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see multiple pages side by side.

The original binding has been exposed, revealing details of how books were made in the 17th Century.

Technological advances have also allowed experts to discover its hidden secrets, including centuries-old doodles.

Hand-made replicas, showing how it would have looked in the 1600s will also be shown.

Durham University Library and Collections The Durham First Folio receiving light-touch conservation to stabilise its condition and prevent further damage. A lightweight Japanese paper is applied with a small brush to the spine where vandalism has left the pages torn and vulnerable.Durham University Library and Collections
Conservators have worked to preserve the the book

Tony King, the university's senior collections care and conservation manager, said: "While the vandalism of the Folio is tragic, its current condition reveals parts of the book that would otherwise be hidden."

The book was originally purchased by Bishop John Cosin in the 1620s and added to his library in Durham in 1669.

About 750 copies were originally printed, but only 235 are known to have survived.

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