"Folio Thief Gets 8 Years" For Stealing and Damaging Rare Books
Raymond Scott had stolen a first folio edition of William Shakespeare's works from Durham University in 1998. Now he has been sentenced to eight years in prison. "In this strange case, it's not so much the theft that galls, book theft has been going on for centuries and is not likely to subside. It's the fact that Scott mutilated the volume ... Scott had removed the goat binding and cut the cords on the spine in an effort to disguise the book's provenance. Some pages are also missing, including the frontispiece engraving of the Bard" (Rebecca Rego Barry).
The BBC News: "Raymond Scott, 53, from County Durham was cleared of stealing the treasure, but found guilty of handling stolen goods at a trial in June. The 1623 work was taken from a display cabinet at Durham University in 1998. Judge Richard Lowden called the folio "quintessentially English treasure" and said damage to it was "cultural vandalisation". The case related to one of the surviving copies of the 17th Century compendium of Shakespeare's plays.It was handed in by Scott to the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC a decade later. The Newcastle Crown Court trial was told Scott kept the badly-damaged volume, estimated to be worth about £1m, at his house for a decade before taking it to the Folger library where staff called police.It was alleged Scott hoped to sell the treasure at auction and share the money with friends in Cuba."
>>> Antiques dealer jailed over stolen Shakespeare folio - BBC News, August 2, 2010
>>> Folio Thief Gets 8 Years - By Rebecca Rego Barry, Fine Books & Collections, August 2, 2010
>>> Stolen Durham University Shakespeare folio 'mutilated' - BBC News, July 9, 2010