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Secondary sourceDocument1838

Shakespeare's Autograph Facsimile

Frederic Madden · 1838

A facsimile of William Shakespeare's signature, published in an 1838 scholarly study comparing surviving autographs.

This is a reproduction of Shakespeare's own signature, used by scholars to verify his authentic handwriting.

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Scanned black-and-white image of a handwritten signature in early modern secretary script, reading 'William Shakespeare' with a flourish and a long descending stroke at the end.
Facsimile of William Shakespeare's signature, from Frederic Madden's 1838 monograph.

About this source

What it is

This image reproduces William Shakespeare's handwritten signature, taken from an 1838 monograph by scholar Frederic Madden. It shows the signature in secretary script, a common handwriting style of Shakespeare's time.

Why it matters

Very few documents survive in Shakespeare's own hand, so his signatures are precious evidence. Scholars like Madden studied and compared these signatures to confirm which documents were genuinely his and to understand his handwriting.

Look closer

  • What does the style of the handwriting tell you about writing in Shakespeare's era?
  • Why might historians need to carefully compare several signatures before trusting one as genuine?
  • What does the flourish at the end of the signature suggest about how it was written?

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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