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Observations on an Autograph of Shakspere, and the Orthography of His Name: Communicated to the Society of Antiquaries by Sir Frederic Madden, K. H., F. R. S. And S. A. In a Letter to John Gage, Esq.
Unraveling Shakespeare’s signature and the truth behind the autograph debate.
This scholarly study compiles a careful examination of an autograph attributed to the poet Shakespeare and the orthography of his name. It presents a facsimile of the signature, discusses its provenance, and weighs it against other known signatures and historical documents. The work also situates the signature within a broader conversation about manuscript accuracy, forgery, and the reliability of early printed material.
The author argues for a balanced approach that combines careful handwriting analysis with contextual evidence from the book’s history. Readers will see how experts compare handwriting, inspect paper watermarks, and consider how texts were prepared for publication in the early modern period. The result is a clear, patient discussion that highlights the challenges of separating genuine material from forgeries in Shakespearean literature. Understand how scholars assess signatures and contraction marks in historical documents. Explore the role of facsimiles and forensic-style checks in verifying authenticity. Learn how this volume treats famous forgery debates and related literary controversies. See how orthography and authorial stewardship influence the dating and attributions of works. Ideal for readers with an interest in Shakespeare, manuscript studies, and the history of literary documentation.
This scholarly study compiles a careful examination of an autograph attributed to the poet Shakespeare and the orthography of his name. It presents a facsimile of the signature, discusses its provenance, and weighs it against other known signatures and historical documents. The work also situates the signature within a broader conversation about manuscript accuracy, forgery, and the reliability of early printed material.
The author argues for a balanced approach that combines careful handwriting analysis with contextual evidence from the book’s history. Readers will see how experts compare handwriting, inspect paper watermarks, and consider how texts were prepared for publication in the early modern period. The result is a clear, patient discussion that highlights the challenges of separating genuine material from forgeries in Shakespearean literature. Understand how scholars assess signatures and contraction marks in historical documents. Explore the role of facsimiles and forensic-style checks in verifying authenticity. Learn how this volume treats famous forgery debates and related literary controversies. See how orthography and authorial stewardship influence the dating and attributions of works. Ideal for readers with an interest in Shakespeare, manuscript studies, and the history of literary documentation.
124 pages, Hardcover
Published August 24, 2018
About the author
Frederic Madden
111 books4 followersSir Frederic Madden was an English palaeographer.
From his childhood he displayed a flair for linguistic and antiquarian studies. In 1826 he was engaged by the British Museum to assist in the preparation of the classified catalogue of printed books, and in 1828 he became assistant keeper of manuscripts. In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1833 he was knighted, and in 1837 succeeded Josiah Forshall as keeper of manuscripts. He did not get on well with his colleagues, and retired in 1866.
Madden was the leading palaeographer of his day. However, his ignorance of German prevented his ranking high as a philologist, although he paid much attention to the early dialectical forms of French and English. His minor contributions to antiquarian research were numerous: the best known, perhaps, was his dissertation on the spelling of Shakespeare's name, which, mainly on the strength of a signature found in John Florio's copy of the work of Montaigne, he contended should be "Shakspere." This led to a lengthy debate and to a period when the "Shakspere" spelling nearly became the norm.
He edited for the Roxburghe Club Havelok the Dane (1828), discovered by himself among the Laudian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, William and the Werwolf (1832) and the old English versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838). In 1839 he edited the ancient metrical romances of Syr Gawayne for the Bannatyne Club, and in 1847 Layamon's Brut, with a prose translation, for the Society of Antiquaries. In 1850 the magnificent edition, in parallel columns, of what are known as the Wycliffite versions of the Bible, from the original manuscripts, upon which he and his coadjutor, Forshall, had been engaged for twenty years, was published by the University of Oxford.
In 1866-1869 he edited the Historia Minor of Matthew Paris for the Rolls Series. In 1833 he wrote the text of Henry Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages; and in 1850 edited the English translation of Joseph Balthazar Silvestre's Paléographie universelle.
During his tenure as Keeper of MSS, Madden undertook extensive conservation work on the Cotton manuscripts (often in the face of opposition from the Museum’s board, who deemed the enterprise prohibitively expensive). In collaboration with the bookbinder Henry Gough, he developed a conservation strategy that restored even the most badly damaged fragments and manuscripts to a usable state. Vellum sheets were cleaned and flattened and mounted in paper frames. Where possible, they were rebound in their original codices.
As well as the fragments found in the garret, he carried out conservation work on the rest of the collection. Many manuscripts had become brittle and fragile, including the codex that contains the only known copy of Beowulf (Cotton Vittelius A xv).
On his death at his home in St Stephen's Square, London, he bequeathed his journals and other private papers to the Bodleian Library, where they were to remain unopened until 1920.
From his childhood he displayed a flair for linguistic and antiquarian studies. In 1826 he was engaged by the British Museum to assist in the preparation of the classified catalogue of printed books, and in 1828 he became assistant keeper of manuscripts. In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1833 he was knighted, and in 1837 succeeded Josiah Forshall as keeper of manuscripts. He did not get on well with his colleagues, and retired in 1866.
Madden was the leading palaeographer of his day. However, his ignorance of German prevented his ranking high as a philologist, although he paid much attention to the early dialectical forms of French and English. His minor contributions to antiquarian research were numerous: the best known, perhaps, was his dissertation on the spelling of Shakespeare's name, which, mainly on the strength of a signature found in John Florio's copy of the work of Montaigne, he contended should be "Shakspere." This led to a lengthy debate and to a period when the "Shakspere" spelling nearly became the norm.
He edited for the Roxburghe Club Havelok the Dane (1828), discovered by himself among the Laudian manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, William and the Werwolf (1832) and the old English versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838). In 1839 he edited the ancient metrical romances of Syr Gawayne for the Bannatyne Club, and in 1847 Layamon's Brut, with a prose translation, for the Society of Antiquaries. In 1850 the magnificent edition, in parallel columns, of what are known as the Wycliffite versions of the Bible, from the original manuscripts, upon which he and his coadjutor, Forshall, had been engaged for twenty years, was published by the University of Oxford.
In 1866-1869 he edited the Historia Minor of Matthew Paris for the Rolls Series. In 1833 he wrote the text of Henry Shaw's Illuminated Ornaments of the Middle Ages; and in 1850 edited the English translation of Joseph Balthazar Silvestre's Paléographie universelle.
During his tenure as Keeper of MSS, Madden undertook extensive conservation work on the Cotton manuscripts (often in the face of opposition from the Museum’s board, who deemed the enterprise prohibitively expensive). In collaboration with the bookbinder Henry Gough, he developed a conservation strategy that restored even the most badly damaged fragments and manuscripts to a usable state. Vellum sheets were cleaned and flattened and mounted in paper frames. Where possible, they were rebound in their original codices.
As well as the fragments found in the garret, he carried out conservation work on the rest of the collection. Many manuscripts had become brittle and fragile, including the codex that contains the only known copy of Beowulf (Cotton Vittelius A xv).
On his death at his home in St Stephen's Square, London, he bequeathed his journals and other private papers to the Bodleian Library, where they were to remain unopened until 1920.
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