Re-arrest over Shakespeare theft

The first folio was one of several items stolen in 1998

An antique dealer has been re-arrested on suspicion of stealing a £15m first edition of Shakespeare's works.

Durham Police, acting on new information are questioning Raymond Scott, 51, of Wigeon Close, Washington.

The 1623 first folio collection of works was taken in 1998 from a library at Durham University, police said.

The book was returned to the UK from America last month after it turned up at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC in June.

Police said a man claiming to have discovered the book in Cuba had asked staff at the library to verify if it was genuine.

Experts suspected the book was stolen and called in the British Embassy, Durham Police and the FBI.

Only between 200 and 300 copies of the collection of plays are thought to have survived around the world.

It was acquired by John Cosin, former Bishop of Durham, and was part of the library he established in Durham in 1669.