- Raymond Scott
The mystery of the stolen Durham First Folio is beginning to look more like watered-down Mickey Spillane novel than a play by William Shakespeare. 51-year-old Raymond Scott was arrested nearly two weeks ago after he turned up at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. with a copy of the First Folio. The rare book was soon identified as the copy that was stolen in 1998 from the Durham University Library. Scott claims he obtained the folio from a friend while visiting his fiancé in Cuba. The Washington Post talked to Scott last week while reporters from The Daily Mail tracked down the fiancé, a nightclub dancer from Havana, and the friend, a former bodyguard for Fidel Castro. The stories they told had many similarities. But, some potential discrepancies also emerged in the tale of how Raymond Scott came into possession of the First Folio.
The Dilettante’s Tale
Raymond Scott told his story to reporters last week while he sipping on Dom Perignon champagne from a Swarovski crystal-encrusted glass. Scott readily admits to liking the finer things in life and was wearing a Cartier watch, Rolex bracelet, Versace ring and Tiffany sunglasses. He describes himself as a dilettante and a dabbler in the arts.
Scott says he never attended university or held a job. He lives with his elderly mother in a modest house in Washington, Tyne and Wear in northeast England. He says his taste for expensive clothes, cars and travel has been funded by his deceased father’s savings. His father was an electrical engineer who died four years ago as a result of Alzheimer’s.
Scott began travelling to Cuba 12 years ago when he developed a taste for cigars. He was in Havana on an extended holiday to celebrate his 51st birthday last October when a 21-year-old night club dancer named Heidy Garcia Rios caught his eye. He told The Daily Mail, “Heidy was dancing in a show at my hotel in Havana…I sent a message to the Master of Ceremonies asking if it was possible to meet one of the dancers and he was happy to oblige. We arranged to go shopping the next day and I bought her a new outfit to wear for our first dinner date that night. She looked stunning. We became close, and I asked her to marry me in February at a party with her friends and family.”
Scott says their relationship became serious when he rented a luxury villa in Havana so that he and Rios could have privacy. It’s illegal under Cuban law for locals to socialize with tourists but Heidy’s mother gave the relationship her blessing and the two proceeded with their engagement.
Scott rented the villa from a friend of the Rios family, a former major in the Cuban Army and Castro bodyguard named Odeiny ‘Danny’ Perez. Scott says Perez had inherited the villa and a collection of 54 antiquarian books from his mother who had recently died. All but one of the books were in Spanish. Scott claims the sole English volume was kept in a wooden bible box and had been in the Perez family since 1877.
Raymond says he recognized the book was a collection of Shakespeare’s plays and learned about the First Folio and the Folger Shakespeare Library on the Internet. Scott told The Daily Mail, “We were excited that we might have something valuable, and we agreed that if we had we would sell the book at auction and split the proceeds, with some of the money being donated to children’s charities here and in Cuba.”
Since Perez could not travel to the United States, the two men agreed that Scott would fly to Washington, D.C. in hopes of having the Folger authenticate the book. Although Scott says he did not purchase the book, he does say he paid Perez a £5,000 deposit before leaving for D.C. in mid-June.
Scott stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington and walked into the Folger Library on June 16 without an appointment. He left the book with the library as experts conducted their research. He was arrested two weeks later and released on bail without charges after two days of questioning. Police in the UK are currently investigating the case.
Scott seems to be enjoying the spotlight telling The Washington Post, “I think I was preparing for this all my life, really. I just felt that I was destined for something a bit more than 9-to-5. I just felt that eventually, maybe I would make my mark on the world.” Although he has been previously engaged to two other women, Scott says he plans on returning to Cuba in November to marry Rios in Havana’s Princess Diana Memorial Garden.
The Nightclub Dancer’s Tale
Scott’s fiancé, 21-year-old Heidy Garcia Rios, lives in Havana in a run-down house with a decaying roof. She shares the house with her mother, grandmother and three aunts. Rios says she has never left Havana and looks forward to the day when Scott takes her to England.
Rios told The Daily Mail that Scott swept her off her feet after seeing her dancing in his hotel nightclub. “He told me he was staying in the Presidential Suite which is very grand, she said, “I thought he seemed a nice man, very kind, charming and stylish. He told me I was beautiful and asked me to go with him to a local bar for a drink, so I said yes. He drank mojitos and I had juice, as I don’t like the taste of alcohol, and he told me I was a princess and that he wanted to be with me forever. From then on, we spent every evening together. He bought me jewelry and clothes and took me for dinners in nice restaurants. I know he is older but I don’t mind – it makes him wiser than me.”
Rios says Scott proposed to her in June at a restaurant in Havana. This differs from Scott’s account of the engagement. He claims he asked Rios to marry him in February at a family party.
But, Rios says February was the month when Scott learned about folio from her friend Danny Perez. Rios told The Daily Mail, “Back in February Danny told Raymond that he had a book that had been passed down through his family and he wanted him to have a look at it. It was the only book in Danny’s collection that was in English. I did not know what the book was called but it looked very old and a few inches thick. ‘Raymond was very interested in the book. He did not discuss it much with me, but when he came back in June he had $10,000 to buy the book from Danny.”
Rios says she had not heard from Scott since he left Cuba in June and didn’t learn about his arrest until she was contacted by reporters. She insists her fiancé is innocent and says she still plans to marry him later this year.
The Bodyguard’s Tale
Former Cuban Army major and Castro bodyguard Odeiny ‘Danny’ Perez insists the book he gave Scott was not a copy of the First Folio. Instead, he says it was an old, battered copy of “The Tempest.” When shown a picture of First Folio’s cover by The Daily Mail, Perez told the reporter, “That is not the book I gave to Raymond. I have never seen it before. My book was called Tempest and had the front and back covers missing. Some of the pages were also missing.”
Perez claims he was not paid for the book but says that all three agreed to split the proceeds it the book was sold.
Scott insisted the book Perez gave him was the First Folio, saying “The Tempest is the first play in the Folio, but I have no idea why he thinks it was only The Tempest and not the entire Folio. Maybe he has got confused.”
- Photo of First Folio released by Durham University
The Folio’s Tale
The potential discrepancies in the three stories are not enough to determine that Scott is lying or necessarily bring us any closer to the truth. But as Paul Collins wrote in a recent analysis for Slate.com, the Durham Folio has its own unmistakable tale to tell. Collins says, “Thanks to a careful inventory of Durham folio pages performed in 1905, a number of its identifying marks are already well-known. There’s a patched hole in the colophon, for instance; there’s a broken clasp on the outside of the book; there’s a specific annotation regarding Troilus and Cressida. What’s more, any scan or photos made of Durham folio pages before the folio was stolen would have preserved its distinct set of textual variants. History suggests that the odds of another folio having the same set of variants are essentially nil; common sense would dictate that any other details like telltale pen marks, ember burn holes—which are surprisingly common in old folios—and tears are not likely to be duplicated exactly in any two books.” (Read the complete Slate article)
The case is now in the hands of police investigators. Although more details may emerge before investigators release their findings, only the lawman’s tale will bring this mystery to a close.
