The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen Read Free Book Online

why he had turned over the book and paintings. Scott responded: “The Russian chess grandmaster Mikhail Tal used to sacrifice pieces—a knight or a bishop—just to confuse his opponents. Think of this as my Tal move.” 23
    In the end, the Tal move didn’t work. In the closing statement of Scott’s attorney, the best that he could do for his client was to characterize him in an extraordinary sequence of insults:
    Raymond Rickett Scott, shopper and shoplifter, serial credit card user, of cards sometimes not even obtained in his own name, a Walter Mitty fantasist, international traveler and playboy with an extensive line in sharp clothes from the apparently bygone age, a Ferrari driver and fine cigar smoker, no doubt last seen in a cinema near you starring in “Boogie Nights,” a 53-year-old, still living at home with his elderly mother, complaining in text messages about having to ask for permission for another night or two away, international playboy with a single bed in Washington, Tyne and Wear, pockets empty, bank accounts stripped by a beautiful young woman in Havana who seems to have got through 111 times the national average wage in six months. 24
    He concluded by asking the jurors, “May it be that he’s been had over? No doubt loving every minute of it. But if that may be the case, your verdicts in respect of these charges would be not guilty.”
    The jury of seven women and five men returned guilty verdicts on the charges of handling stolen property and removing stolen property from Great Britain but did not find Scott guilty of actually stealing the folio. The judge adjourned the case to allow a psychiatric report to be prepared before passing sentence.
    On August 2, 2010, with the report in hand, Judge Richard Lowden told Scott:
    You are to some extent a fantasist and have to some degree a personality disorder and you have been an alcoholic… . Your motivation was for financial gain. You wanted to fund an extremely ludicrous playboy lifestyle in order to impress a woman you met in Cuba. Your Cuban friends were brought in to provide support for your elaborate scheme. 25
    Passing sentence, the judge condemned the damage to the First Folio as “cultural vandalisation” of a “quintessentially English treasure.” 26 Scott was given a six-year prison term for handling stolen goods and two years’ imprisonment for removing stolen property from Britain. 27 The eight-year sentence was the longest ever meted out in a case involving a stolen First Folio. Chris Enzor, chief crown prosecutor, welcomed the punishment:
    Raymond Scott is a dishonest conman and serial thief who found himself in possession of a national treasure. The sentence reflects the seriousness of his crime, handling a book recognised across the world as one of the most important literary works ever published and removing it from the UK with a view to selling it. 28
    Did the Durham University copy ever reside in Cuba or belong to a bodyguard of Castro’s? That tale certainlymakes a good story, and who knows, Scott may well believe it.
    The Palace Green Library now has locks on cases that contain valuable books, but at the time of the theft there was little security whatsoever. After the book was recovered, you might hope that any aspiring thieves would have to come in through the ceiling, Tom Cruise–like, on grappling hooks, while avoiding lasers and other high-tech devices, but this is not now—nor was it then—the case.
    The recovered folio was put on public display in its damaged condition while experts from Durham University’s Conservation Unit, based at Palace Green Library, began the process of conservation. The recovered copy had the binding and first and last pages removed. The first few and the last pages consequently came loose from the sewing and became damaged along the edges. To retain the shape of the book’s original smooth gilded edges, the conservators plan to repair the sewing by laying new cords over those that remain.