Shakespeare’s First Folio: State Library of NSW takes the Bard’s ‘radical’ 400-year-old book out of the vault

Shakespeare’s 400-year-old First Folio is on display at the State Library of NSW. Photograph: Sang Tan/AP

It is one of the most valuable books in Australia, both for its cultural importance and the price copies fetch on the high-end auction market.

Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, commonly referred to as the First Folio, marked its 400th anniversary this year, and the only copy of the work in Australia has been taken out of its temperature controlled, darkened vault and is now on display at the State Library of NSW.