The story of how a first volume of the works of William Shakespeare was unearthed in a Council storeroom is to be told to leading Shakespearean scholars from around the world.

And to illustrate the find, Dr Anthony West, a global expert on the First Folio, published in 1623, will use a cartoon published in the Telegraph & Argus during his prestigious speech.

When the paper covered the unveiling of the volume at Craven Museum, Skipton, last month, it was illustrated in the paper by T&A artist Steven Spencer.

Present at the opening ceremony was Dr West, who has now been invited to curate an exhibition about the life of the First Folio at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC.

The Folger is the “mecca” of First Folios – it has 82 copies, one third of all the volumes that are still in existence.

Dr West will tell the tale of his authentication of the Craven First Folio, which came to Skipton in 1936, but was not thought to be a first edition.

It is now on permanent display in a secure unit in the Craven Museum in High Street, and its story is told in a recording by Mirfield-born Shakespearian actor Sir Patrick Stewart.

Dr West will give his talk at the opening of the exhibition on June 6.

  • Read the full story in Friday's T&A