William Shakespeare engraving by John Henry Robinson

What it is

This is a black-and-white engraving of William Shakespeare, made by the engraver John Henry Robinson and published by Fisher, Son & Co. in London in 1827. It is held today by the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. The print shows a bald man with a pointed beard, wearing a lace collar, with a signature reading 'William Shakespeare' beneath the image.

Why it matters

Shakespeare died in 1616, so this image was created more than two hundred years later. It was not based on a sitting with Shakespeare himself but on earlier images, showing how publishers in the 1800s kept producing and reselling versions of his face for readers and book buyers. It reveals how an image can become a brand long after the real person is gone.

Look closer

• What details make this portrait look confident and authoritative, even though no one alive in 1827 had ever seen Shakespeare?
• Why might a publisher in 1827 want a striking portrait like this to sell alongside Shakespeare's works?
• What is missing from this image that you might want to know about the real Shakespeare?