Page:Observations on an autograph of Shakespeare, and the orthography of his name.djvu/18

 history of this treasure, I must beg leave, before I conclude, to make a few remarks on the orthography of Shakspere's name, as written by himself.

There are five acknowledged genuine signatures of Shakspere in existence, exclusive of the one which forms the subject of this communication. Of these, three are attached to his will in the Prerogative Court, executed 25th March, 1615-16; the fourth is written on a mortgage deed, dated 11th March, 1612-13, of a small estate purchased by Shakspere of Henry Walker, in Blackfriars; and the fifth on the counterpart of the deed of bargain and sale of the same property, dated 10th March, 1612-13.

From a comparison of these with each other, and with the autograph now first brought forward, it is most certain, in my opinion, that the poet always wrote his name, and consequently, that those who have inserted an e after the k, or an a in the second syllable, do not write the same (as far as we are able to judge) in the same manner as the poet himself uniformly would authorise us to do. This I state in opposition to Chalmers and Drake, who assert that "all the genuine signatures of Shakspeare are dissimilar." Let us consider them separately, not according to the priority of dates, but in the order they were introduced to the notice of the public.

In the year 1776, George Steevens traced from the will of Shakspere the three signatures attached