Proving the Identity of the Stolen Durham University First Folio

Abstract

The University of Durham Shakespeare First Folio was stolen in 1998. It is an important copy: intriguing history, all leaves original (bar the first), longest provenance. West, who had inspected the book in 1994, recorded copy-specific details in his 2003 Census. In 2008, a Mr Raymond Scott, in tropical wear, took a Shakespeare Folio into the Folger Library in Washington DC, saying he had found it in Cuba asking for it to be authenticated. Obviously identifying features had been removed: its binding, first and last leaves, and title-page. Using the Census, Stephen Massey (ex-Christie's) and the Folger concluded it was the Durham copy. The police were informed, and the book was impounded and returned to Durham. Scott was charged with theft, handling stolen goods, and removing such from the UK. He continued to claim ownership and the Durham Police appointed West as Expert Witness for the Crown Prosecution Service, with the brief: to give a categorical yes/no answer to: ”Was this the Durham Folio?“. West's witness statement, using information in the Census, Durham pre-theft archival documents, and the results of extensive analyses by Folger conservationists, employed twelve tests of identity under three headings to prove it was the Durham copy: Tests of Necessity (e.g., gilded edges, good condition, material and colour of binding fragments); Borderline Tests (sewing supports, press variants, dimensions, creases/tears); and Tests of Sufficiency (MS ”Troilus & Cressida“ on the Catalogue page, holes in thirteen leaves). At the Crown Court trial in 2010, the Defence conceded it was the Durham copy. The jury found Scott not guilty of theft, but guilty of the other two charges. The judge sentenced him to eight years in prison.