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Primary sourceDocument19th century photograph of 17th century originals

Seals of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare and unidentified 17th century lawyer · 19th century photograph of 17th century originals

Nineteenth-century photographs of the personal seals Shakespeare used on legal documents.

These seals show the legal and personal marks Shakespeare used in his lifetime, apart from his literary work.

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Two photographs of old parchment legal documents. The top shows a boxed handwritten signature in brown ink beneath faded script. The bottom shows a parchment tag with brown handwriting and a dark brown wax seal with a raised impression.
Seals of William Shakespeare, photographed and published in the 19th century.

About this source

What it is

These are photographs, taken and published in the 19th century, of seals associated with William Shakespeare and an unidentified 17th-century lawyer. The images show legal parchment documents bearing handwritten signatures and a wax seal with a raised impression.

Why it matters

Seals and signatures were used to authenticate legal documents in Shakespeare's time, and these images give a glimpse into the everyday legal and business side of his life, beyond his writing. They connect Shakespeare to the practical world of property, contracts, and law in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.

Look closer

  • Why were seals and signatures important for legal documents in this period?
  • What might these legal documents suggest about Shakespeare's life outside of his plays?
  • How does photographing old documents in the 19th century affect how we see and study them today?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Shakespeare on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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