Monday, April 23, 2007





today is documentedly the anniversary of his death, but arguably also the anniversary of his birth.

i have no qualms at all saying that i am grateful for him.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where is this signature from? As in which document? Some will or some play manuscript? As far as I know his handwriting exists only in one manuscript of Thomas More. I am ignorant. Enlighten.

olidhar said...

this is the signature from the last page of shakespeare's will. it reads: by me william shakespeare. at least, that's probably the spelling of shakespeare in this instance (as you know, the spelling of the surname was not regularised until quite later). anyway, a transcription of the will is online at http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Epaul/shakspere/shakwill.html

stanley wells (in the book _shakespeare for all time_) writes: 'The signatures on the will are shaky. Shakespeare was probably already ill... He died within a month, and was buried in Holy Trinity on 25 April.' (this, the later version of the will, was prepared on 25 march.)

and there are, it is considered, some six signatures of the man extant.
besides the writing in the said 'Hand D' in the thomas more manuscript. of course, even the bit about hand d being our man is often debated with vim and vigour.