The Folio400’s first effort for the Barbican Estate 

IT is the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare’s “first folio” of plays, in 1623, seven years after the playwright’s death.

To mark the milestone, organisers of the anniversary celebrations had applied “to place a timeless larger-than-life First Folio on the site it was printed”.

The former William Jaggard’s Print House in Lauderdale Place is now flats in the Barbican Estate, run by the City of London.

But its planners have raised concerns about “the lack of artistic merit in the design” and the Folio400 group has been sent back to the drawing board.

The team is hoping to get their latest plans approved before the year is out.