xii PREFACE. 



Jansen, and that it was ever in the possession of Lord 

 Southampton, or painted by his order. 



As a fine head, and a work of art, it is the one of all 

 others that I should like to think resembled Shakespeare, 

 could its history be more satisfactorily detailed. 



Many regard as a genuine portrait, the Bust at Strat- 

 ford-on-Avon, which is stated to have been executed by 

 Gerard Johnson, and "probably" under the superinten- 

 dence of Dr. John Hall. The precise date of its erection 

 is not known, but we gather that it was previous to 1623, 

 from the fact that Leonard Digges has referred to it in 

 his Lines to the Memory of Shakespeare, prefixed to 

 the first folio edition of the Plays published in that year. 

 Mr. Wivell relies very strongly on the circumstance of its 

 having been originally coloured to nature.* Hence tra- 

 dition informs us that the eyes were hazel, the hair and 

 beard auburn. It must be admitted, however, that a 

 portrait after death can never be so faithful as a picture 

 from the life, while no sculptor who examines this bust 

 can maintain that it was executed from a cast.-f- 



Those who approve of the Droeshout etching, published 

 in 1623, as a frontispiece to the first folio, find a strong 

 argument in favour of its being a likeness in the com- 

 mendatory lines by Ben Jonson, which accompany it. 



* "An Inquiry into the History, Authenticity, and Characteristics of the 

 Shakespeare Portraits. " By Abraham Wivell. London, 1827. 



f The Stratford Portrait was doubtless painted from the bust, and probably 

 about the time of the Garrick Jubilee, 1769. 



