X PREFACE. 



convenience, in the order in which they occur in the plays 

 and poems. 



In spelling Shakespeare's name, I have adopted the 

 orthography of his friends Ben Jonson and the editors of 

 the first folio.* 



As regards the illustrations, it seems desirable also to 

 say a few words. 



In selecting for my frontispiece a portrait of Shake- 

 speare as a falconer (a character which I am confident 

 could not have been foreign to him), I have experienced 

 considerable difficulty in making choice of a likeness. 



Those who have made special inquiries into the authen- 

 ticity of the various portraits of Shakespeare, are not 

 agreed in the results at which they have arrived. This is 

 to be attributed to the fact that, with the exception of the 

 Droeshout etching, to which I shall presently state my 

 objection, no likeness really exists of which a reliable 

 history can be given without one or more missing links in 

 the chain of evidence. 



There are four portraits which have all more or less 

 claim to be considered authentic. These are " the Jansen 

 portrait," 1610 ; "the Stratford bust," prior to 1623 ; "the 

 Droeshout etching," 1623; and "the Chandos portrait," 

 of which the precise date is uncertain, but which must 



* Amongst the entries in the Council Book of the Corporation of Stratford, 

 during the period that John Shakespeare, the Poet's father, was a member of th.e 

 Municipal body (he filled the office of Chamberlain in 1573), the name occurs 

 one hundred and sixty-six times under fourteen different modes of spelling. 



