2"<is.vi.i42.,SEPT. i8.'58.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 



227 



poets, linguists, and even musicians (Depping, 

 Les Juifs dans le Moyen Age, c. !.)• No opinion 

 is more unjust and unfounded than that which 

 maintains that the Hebrew race has not eminently 

 contributed to the advancement of the human in- 

 tellect. It has fulfilled its mission amongst the 

 nations — perhaps better than any other, — con- 

 sidering its dreadful trials, its awful destinies. 

 " So true it is," however, as Alfred Maury ob- 

 serves, " that the chain of intellectual progress 

 has never been broken, and that from the re- 

 motest antiquity to our own times, there has 

 always been some region of Earth — some nation 

 which has treasured, cultivated and improved the 

 heirloom of Science bequeathed by the Huma- 

 nity of preceding ages to the 'Most Worthy^ 

 From age to age — from nation to nation — the 

 torch is handed down — no nation ever knowing 

 to which other it shall transmit the providential 

 heirloom. And yet — whilst the torch burns 

 brightly, each favoured people fondly imagines 

 itself to be the last holder, and practically says : 

 '' Apres moi le Deluge .'" Andrew Steinmetz. 



SHAKSPEARIANA. 



Shakspe»res Bust (2»* S. vi. 91.) — The en- 

 graving referred to by Mr. E. Y. Lowne is most 

 probably one which forms the frontispiece to a 

 work entitled Illustrations of Stratford-on-Avon, 

 mid the Life of Shakspeare, from original drawings, 

 printed and published by F. and E. Ward, High 

 Street, Stratfonl-on-Avon, 1851. 



The book, as stated by your correspondent, is 

 about folio size ; and the inscription on the tomb, 

 in the copy I have in my possession, is very dis- 

 tinct. The book contains likewise some very 

 good views of Stratford. J. M. H. 



Edward Y. Lowne will find a reprint of " Re- 

 marks on the Monumental Bust of Shakspeare" 

 in Britton's Autobiography, after Part II., incor- 

 porated with other interesting tracts, under the 

 title of Essays on the Merits and Characteristics 

 of William Shakspeare : Also Remarks on his 

 Birth and Burial-place, his Monument, Portraits, 

 and Associations, with Numerous Illustrations, by 

 John Britten, F.S.A., dedicated to Charles Knight, 

 Esq. 



We have in our possession a cast which was 

 published by Britton of the original bust, pre- 

 sented by the author to my late father, William 

 Hamper, F.S.A , who was a joint labourer in the 

 rich fields of antiquity, especially as regarded 

 Warwickshire. I will conclude by a quotation 

 from the Autobiography, which will probably ac- 

 count for the difficulty in meeting with " Re- 

 marks on the Monumental Bust of Shakspeare :" — 



•• On the eventful day (April 23, 181G) to celebrate the 



two hundredth anniversary of the Poet's death, I not only 

 published, but wrote and printed the following paper, a 

 copy of which, embellished with two wood-cuts, was 

 given to every purchaser of the Print." 



Should your correspondent not be able to meet 

 with the work, I shall be happy to copy any part 

 he may wish. Ltdia A. D. H. 



Ringwood, Hants. 



Shakspeare Portraits. — The undoubted interest 

 which would attach to the discovery of any por- 

 trait of our great national poet which could be re- 

 lied upon with any ordinary amount of certainty, 

 will be, I trust, sufficient apology for calling atten- 

 tion to the subject in your columns. I simply 

 wish to acquire information respecting those pub- 

 lished portraits of Shakspeare which are supposed 

 most nearly to approach to a true resemblance, 

 and the order in which they may be classed : I 

 have generally understood these to be, the engrav- 

 ing by Martin Droeshout prefixed to the first folio 

 edition ; the Chandos portrait ; also the Jansen 

 engraving ; and last, but possibly most accurate of 

 all, the Stratford bust. Most critics, I believe, 

 take exception to certain points in the last-named 

 portrait, such for instance as the extreme length 

 of the upper lip ; but without impugning the like- 

 ness as a whole, and the view taken that this 

 would most likely be a reproduction taken from 

 a cast after death seems very far from improbable, 

 especially so as the bust was erected by the poet's 

 own children, and therefore most likely to be his 

 true effigy. There is a point, however, to which 

 I would call attention in connexion with this par- 

 ticular resemblance and that of the Droeshout 

 portrait. On comparing the two, I think it can 

 hardly fail to strike the observer that the features of 

 the bust appear to be those of a very much younger 

 man than either the Chandos or the Droeshout 

 print represent, and this would cause perplexity ; 

 for clearly, if taken after death, the features would 

 wear an appearance of greater age than those of a 

 portrait which in all probability was painted many 

 years previously. 



While on the subject I would wish to refer to 

 an article which Mr. S. W. Singer contributed 

 to your columns in the year 1855 respecting cer- 

 tain photographs which he had taken from the 

 Stratford bust, and to ask that gentleman whether 

 these are at present in existence, and can be seen 

 by me ; and in that case, at what address, as I am 

 most anxious to meet with a clear and distinct 

 copy of the bust ? 



I shall be exceedingly obliged to any of your 

 correspondents who can furnish me with any ad- 

 ditional information regarding the authenticity of 

 the above-named portraits, as there are so many 

 ludicrous discrepancies among the thousand (so- 

 called) resemblances of the bard, and I think I 

 shall be excused for calling attention in your 



