Rare Shakespeare collection found in France
The First Folio copy discovered in a St. Omer, France, public library may have gone unremarked for decades due to its missing title page, a librarian said.
By Ben Hooper
ST. OMER, France, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Shakespeare collection discovered by librarians going through their facility's collection in France has been authenticated by an expert as a rare First Folio.
Eric Rasmussen, a University of Nevada professor and author of The Shakespeare First Folios: A Descriptive Catalogue, traveled to France during the weekend and said he was able to identify the discovery at the public library in St. Omer as the 233rd known surviving copy of the First Folio collection printed in 1623, seven years after the playwright's death.
"First folios don't turn up very often, and when they do, it's usually a really chewed up, uninteresting copy. But this one is magnificent," Rasmussen told The New York Times.
Librarian Remy Cordonnier told the BBC the copy "has several pages missing, including the title page," which could account for the tome going unremarked for so long.
The book was among a collection inherited from a long-defunct Jesuit college, the library said.
Scholars said First Folio editions are highly sought after in part due to tiny differences in the texts that could reveal insight into Shakespeare's intentions. The copy discovered in St. Omer has the gender of a role in Henry IV switched, indicating the character's sex may have been changed during early performances.
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2014/11/26/ ... t=rrs&or=5
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