Xiv PREFACE. 



Jonson's Every Man in his Humour, a part which 

 he is known to have played in 1598, and this would 

 easily account for Ben Jonson's commendation.* This 

 conjecture is so extremely probable, that I have no 

 hesitation in endorsing it. 



We come, then, now to " the Chandos portrait." With 

 the longest pedigree of any, it possesses at least as much 

 collateral evidence of probability, and is, moreover, 

 important as belonging to the nation.-f- It has been 

 traced back to the possession of Shakespeare's godson, 

 William, afterwards Sir William, Davenant, and all that 

 seems to be wanting materially, is the artist's name. 

 The general opinion is, that it was painted either by 

 Burbage or Taylor, both of whom were fellow-players 

 of Shakespeare. It is styled the Chandos portrait from 

 having come to the trustees of the National Portrait 

 Gallery from the collection of the Duke of Chandos 

 and Buckingham, through the Earl of Ellesmere, by 

 whom it was purchased and presented. The history 

 of the picture, so far as it can be ascertained, is as 

 follows : 



It was originally the property of Taylor, the player 



* Boaden adds : "Let it be remembered in aid of this inference that tradition 

 has invariably assigned to him, as an actor, characters in the decline of life, and 

 that one of his relatives is reported to have seen him in the part of old Adam, 

 the faithful follower of Orlando, in that enchanting pastoral comedy As You 

 Like ft." Op. cit., p. 22. 



t "Life Portraits of William Shakespeare," by J. Hain Friswell. London, 

 1864. 



