Shakespeare's 400-yr-old 'first folio' worth 4m pounds found in French library

William Shakespeare's rare 400-year-old first edition of complete works, referred to by modern scholars as the "First Folio," which is worth 4 million pounds has been found in French library.

The edition, entitled 'Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies,' was first published in 1623 and has been found in northern France, the Mirror reported.

Only 750 editions of the book, which contains 36 plays, were printed and until now just 228 were thought to be still in existence, including five in the British Library and 82 in America.

Museum curator Remy Cordonnier said Saint-Omer's status as one of the 17th century's most important towns meant it was a likely place to have discovered the rare book.

Experts have assessed it as 99 per cent certain to be genuine; however, several pages appear to be missing, including the title page, which might explain why no one spotted it earlier, he further added.