French Library Announces Discovery of Shakespeare First Folio In Its Collection

Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times brings us news of the discovery of a Shakespeare First Folio in a small public library in Saint-Omer, France. The librarians originally thought it was an old, but garden variety edition of Shakespeare's works. Mais non! Says librarian Remy Cordonnier, "I didn't instantly recognise it as a book of value," he said. "It had been heavily used and was damaged. It had seen better days. "[But] It occurred to me that it could be an unidentified First Folio, with historic importance and great intellectual value." He called in Shakespeare scholar Eric Rasmussen, who visited the library and verified Mr. Cordonnier's belief that the copy is indeed a First Folio, bringing the number of known surviving First Folios to 233.

And imagine this: the library has an even rarer item in its collection: a Gutenberg Bible. Sounds like even more of a reason for a visit to picturesque and historic Saint-Omer.