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Thursday, April 7, 2016

The Mount Stuart House Copy of Shakespeare's First Folio Now on Display

Another copy of Shakespeare's First Folio has just been authenticated, and it can now be viewed by the public.

A goat-skin bound 3-volume copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, one of the most sought-after and most valuable books in the world, has been discovered at Mount Stuart House, one of the world's most impressive neo-Gothic mansions, on the Scottish Isle of Bute.  The discovery comes ahead of the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death on April 23.

The First Folio, published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, brought together 36 plays - 18 of which would otherwise not have been recorded.   The First Folio ensured the survival of plays such as Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and The Tempest, which otherwise might have been lost.  The announcement of the Scottish copy brings the number of known surviving First Folios to 234.

This Scottish copy goes on public display at Mount Stuart House starting today, April 7, until 30 October.  If you want to plan a trip, look for the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, about  100 kilometers west of Glasgow.  The Scottish island has a population of about 6,500.

For more information, check out these articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/books/the-scottish-play-book-a-first-folio-discovery.html?_r=1

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