Shakespeare's First Folio, on display in Skipton Town Hall, Yorkshire

One of the most important books in the English language

I visited Skipton. A copy of Shakespeare's First Folio is housed in the Town Hall in Skipton. 

Shakespeare died in 1616. In 1623 thirty six of his plays were compiled in one volume, known as the First Folio. The First Folios took over two years to print. It is thought that around 750 First Folios were printed. 233 of these are known to survive. The British Library owns five of them. Fewer than 50 remain in the UK. It seems that no two volumes are alike.

Many of Shakespeare's plays would not have survived without the First Folio. This copy was donated to the museum by Ann Wilkinson, a local woman. It is on permanent display and the pages are turned regularly.

There are few places in the world which have a First Folio on permanent display. Skipton is lucky to have such a treasure in the town. I would have travelled much further to see such a historic book. It gave me goosebumps to see it. After leaving the exhibit I returned to take a final view, unwilling to leave it. When you consider the age of the book and what it means to world literature, it's almost a miracle to have it quietly displayed in this small corner of the world.