Shakespeare's First Folio in Saint-Omer

This is the kind of story that only happens here… The story of a treasure hidden in a library and forgotten by everyone until pure chance and an inventory reveal a rare manuscript: a 1623 ‘First Folio’ from the works of Shakespeare.

In 2014, Rémy Cordonnier, head of heritage collections at BAPSO (Bibliothèque d’Agglomération du Pays de Saint-Omer), was reviewing volumes as part of the preparation of an exhibition on English literature when he came across a Shakespeare manuscript listed as dating from the 18th century.paration of an exhibition on English literature when he came across a Shakespeare manuscript listed as dating from the 18th century. The layout, the language used and the patina of the leather quickly gave him the impression of an older edition. He even thought the manuscript might be a First Folio, a first edition. This is the first compilation of Shakespeare’s theatrical works, dating from 1623, seven years after his death. There must have been around 800 volumes of this publication, of which only 232 are still preserved in the world. As luck would have it, Eric Rasmussen, a leading Shakespeare scholar at the University of Reno in Nevada, was visiting London to prepare for the five hundredth anniversary of the author’s death. Delighted by the discovery, he made the round trip almost immediately after being contacted. A few minutes’ analysis of the work was enough to convince him that it was indeed a first folio. This is the 233rd copy in the world and the 2nd in France (the other is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France).

To be or not to be: yet it had been there for 400 years

It is relatively easy to imagine that this First Folio was sent by a Catholic Englishman fleeing the persecution of Protestants in England. The copy is in ‘good condition’, but about thirty pages are missing, including the title page, which explains why it has been forgotten for four centuries. On the first page of the work is the name Neville, which could be the pseudonym of a certain Edward Scarisbrick, a member of a large English Catholic family who, according to Shakespeare scholar Eric Rasmussen, took refuge with the Jesuits in Saint-Omer in 1650. It’s just one of many theories, and one that remains a mystery. Handwritten annotations, corrections and remarks complete the work and add life to this unique work. This First Folio will also join an impressive collection of 800 manuscripts and 230 incunabula (works printed in the West before 1501), as well as a genuine Gutenberg Bible. All these works are the subject of fairly regular exhibitions in this attractive library and archive room, which is worthy of a film set.