£5.00
Probably the most famous copy of 'incomparably the most famous work in the English language', Durham's first edition of Shakespeare's collected plays is distinguished by the longest single continuous ownership of any First Folio. Tragically stolen in 1998, it reappeared in dramatic circumstances ten years later, and was the centrepiece of a trial in 2010. This extensively illustrated booklet explores the importance of the First Folio in general, recounts the history of the Durham copy in particular - from its acquisition in the seventeenth century byt John Cosin, to the recent theft and recovery - and details the bibliographical detective work that led to its recognition as Durham's copy in a court of law.