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Shakespeare's Signatures Collected

William Shakespeare

A compiled image of the six authenticated signatures of William Shakespeare, taken from legal documents, the only undisputed examples of his handwriting.

These are the only undisputed surviving examples of Shakespeare's own handwriting.

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Six cropped examples of handwritten signatures reading William Shakespeare, stacked vertically on a light background, each in a different script style and state of legibility, showing the known signatures collected from documents. — The six known signatures of William Shakespeare, collected from surviving legal documents.

About this source

What it is

This image collects the six known signatures of William Shakespeare, each written on a legal document during his lifetime. They are labelled with their origins.

Why it matters

These signatures are the only surviving specimens of Shakespeare's own handwriting that are universally accepted as authentic. Because so little in his own hand survives, these small marks have become central to debates about his literacy, his life, and even theories questioning his authorship of the plays attributed to him.

Look closer

Why might a famous writer leave behind so few examples of his own handwriting?
What differences do you notice between the six signatures, and what might explain them?
Why do historians rely so heavily on legal documents for evidence about ordinary people's lives?

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.