PREFACE THE present little work does not aspire to any originality, nor does the collector claim to include any (or scarcely any) documents not already comprised in other lists. But it occurred to him that it might be of use to have the principal documents gathered together in one book in a handy form. The labours of Malone, Knight, Dyce, Furnivall and others, not forgetting Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, have opened up so many sources of information that there does not seem much left in this direction for later compilers to investigate, various errors and inaccuracies having to a great extent been corrected. As some limit must be placed to so called "documentary evidence," I do not propose to go further back than Shakespeare's father, as we have no positive evidence at an earlier date. I may briefly state that by "documentary evidence relating to Shakespeare," I mean the chief legal or other documents in connection with his family and property and the productions of his genius. This evidence consists of: (i) The Stratford registers of births, marriages and deaths, and the inscriptions on the family tombstones, (ii) Contemporary notices of the poet, whether contained in poems, correspondence, or other wise. (iii) The minutes and accounts of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon. (iv) Legal documents. This embraces a somewhat wide area, but is, I think, sufficiently definite, including exemplifications of Court records, Royal Warrants, Fines, Conveyances, etc. (v) The entries of his plays and poems in the registers of Stationers' Hall. (vi) The poet's Will and the dedications prefixed to his poems during his life as contained in his works, and the quarto and other editions of his dramas up to the publication of the First Folio in 1623. There are very few documents that are known to contain his handwriting, and there is only one letter extant that is addressed to him. It is of course impossible to state whether any further genuine "Shakespeare documents" may yet come to light. Owing to the numerous fabrications published by Payne Collier and others, any fresh manuscript has to undergo the most jealous scrutiny, though there are still numerous papers of the Elizabethan period at the London Writ and Record Office which have to be gone through, and which present a field of search for the industrious student of Shakespeare. Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps so thoroughly explored the Chamberlain's accounts and records of the Corporation of Stratford, that no fresh evidence can be expected in that quarter. Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, in his Life, has gone very closely into the question of the pecuniary position of the poet's father, this being shown by reference to the registry of the Court of Record and the documents of the Corporation. Naturally the position of the father at different times would tend to show what education he was able to give his son; and though the pecuniary difficulties in which John Shakespeare became involved Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps considers not to have been so great as has been made out, and his social status at one time to have been good among the yeoman class of the period of Queen Elizabeth, yet there seems little doubt that these embarrassments occurred when the poet was at school, in fact at about eleven years of age, and necessitated his father's withdrawing him from school to assist him in his own agricultural pursuits. At any rate, John Shakespeare came to reside at Stratford about 1551, and attained the highest honour the Corporation had to bestow, being elected Mayor or High Bailiff in 1568, entitling him to the prefix of Magister or Master. He was living in Henley Street in 1552, in the house which tradition assigns as the poet's birthplace. The fact that John Shakespeare used a mark when signing his name on a legal document is not evidence that he could not write. The contrary is probable, because he was Chamberlain and kept the town accounts, heading them with the words "made by John Shakespere." In those days people who could write often used a mark instead of writing their name. The contemporary notices of Shakespeare fully prove that the world of his day was aware of and appreciated his genius. The apparent neglect of his works which followed his death is, I think, easily accounted for. Soon after followed the Civil War between Charles I. and the Parliamentarians; then there was a period of sad decadence in the drama, when the writers for the stage of the day pandered to the lowest tastes, following the example of a licentious Court. Then came a second revolution, and the natural restlessness, so antagonistic to literary talent and dramatic growth, which prevailed until the succession to the throne of England was settled upon a firm basis, and men's minds were able to devote themselves to the arts of literary advancement. This was not the case until more than a hundred years after the death of our Poet. The documents, which are either fully or partially set out, have been collated with the originals or with facsimiles thereof either by myself or by those in whose possession or custody they are, and I gratefully acknowledge my obligations to Mr. W. S. Brassington of the Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford-upon-Avon, and to Mr. R. Savage, Librarian and Secretary to the Birthplace Trustees, who have most kindly and materially assisted me in this field. I am also indebted to Dr. Furnivall, formerly President of the "New Shakspere Society," for many valuable suggestions, and to the kindness of Mr. Marsden J. Perry, of Providence, Rock Island, U.S.A., who has collated Mr. HalliwellPhillipp's copy of No. 147 of this collection with the original in his possession. The collection has been made during the intervals of professional work, and it is hoped that the documents are accurate copies, but no one knows better than a lawyer how easily errors |