A copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio — a book containing 36 of his plays first published in 1623, seven years after his death — has been discovered at a stately home on the Isle of Bute, reports The Guardian.

‘The book languished in the library of Mount Stuart House for more than 100 years before being rediscovered weeks before the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death on 23 April’, reports STV News.

‘There are no other copies of more than half of them and plays like Macbeth and the Tempest might have otherwise been lost.’

‘The Bute First Folio was confirmed as genuine by Emma Smith, professor of Shakespeare studies at Oxford University, bringing the total number of known copies to 234.’

‘Mount Stuart House’s Folio belonged to Isaac Reed, a well-connected literary editor working in London in the 18th Century, professor Smith said.’

‘A letter from Reed shows he acquired the Folio in 1786 and further records indicate it was sold after Reed’s death in 1807 to a ‘JW’ for £38. Some copies are now worth more than £3m.’

‘After this sale there are no public records of the Folio and it was not included in Sidney Lee’s 1906 census of First Folios. It was at some point between these two dates that Mount Stuart acquired the Folio because it is mentioned in a catalogue of the Bute library in 1896.’

‘The Mount Stuart edition is unusual because it was bound in three volumes with many blank pages which would have been used for illustrations.’

Professor Smith said: ‘When we think of Shakespeare we usually think of his plays being performed on stage.

‘But the written word and the First Folio is central to our understanding of Shakespeare. I hope this anniversary year encourages people to reread the texts of his work.’

‘The discovery will form the focal point for a new education programme and will go on display from 7 April at Mount Stuart House as part of an exhibition that will run until 30 October.’

Head of collections at Mount Stuart House, Alice Martin, added: ‘In terms of literary discoveries, they do not come much bigger than a new First Folio, and we are really excited that this has happened on Bute.’