Shakespeare’s Signatures

As we know, William Shakespeare the man, has remained an elusive figure. He left behind little documentation — no letters, no handwritten manuscripts, few contemporary accounts, and only six signatures, each spelled in a different way.

Here are the six signatures:

1. From the a legal lawsuit case, dated May 11, 1612: Willm Shakp
2. From the purchase of a house in Blackfriars, London, on March 10, 1613: William Shaksper
3. From the mortgage application of the same house a day later: Wm Shakspe
4. From his last will dated March 25, 1616, first page: William Shakspere
5. From the will, second page: Wllm. Shakspere
6. From the will, last page: William Shakspeare

They are all from legal documents.
On similar documents his father proved he was illiterate by using his “mark,” a drawing of a glover’s tool, instead of a signature. His daughter also used a mark, showing that she too was illiterate.

A few scholars claim that some of them were not penned by Shakespeare himself, but by a professional scrivener noting the person who attached the seal.

The spellings on all six differ and most of them feature the abbreviated version of the name, which was a popular convention and common practice at the time.
After his death, the name was still spelt various ways by editors of his literary production who did not seem to agree on the true spelling. Later the name was modernized into “Shakespear”, popular in the 18th century even if in the following century the spelling of “Shakspere” was used.
The spelling of “Shakespeare” was not introduced until well into the 20th century.

The spelling is different and most feature the shortened version of the name, which was a popular convention and common practice at the time.
After his death, the name was still spelled in various ways by the editors of his literary production who did not seem to agree on the true spelling. Later the name was modernized into “Shakespear”, popular in the eighteenth century although in the following century “Shakspere” was used.
The spelling of “Shakespeare” was only introduced in the 20th century.

Sources from Shakespeare’s lifetime wrote his last name in more than 80 different ways, ranging from “Shappere” to “Shaxberd.”
However it is spelled, Shakespeare is thought to mean “spearman”, corresponding to shake (“brandish a weapon”) + spear, and probably referred to a belligerent or argumentative person.
Shakespeare was thus not necessarily a positive name do have, so much so that a certain Hugh Shakespeare even changed his name to Hugh Saunders at Oxford in 1487 “because of its base repute.”

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Come sappiamo, l’uomo William Shakespeare, è una figura vaga. Lasciò poca documentazione: nessuna lettera, nessun manoscritto, pochi resoconti contemporanei e solo sei firme, ognuna scritta in modo diverso.

Ecco le sei firme:

1. Da una causa legale, datata 11 maggio 1612: Willm Shakp
2. Dall’acquisto di una casa a Blackfriars, Londra, il 10 marzo 1613: William) Shaksper,
3. Dalla richiesta di mutuo per la stessa casa il giorno dopo: Wm Shakspe
4. Dal suo testamento del 25 marzo 1616, prima pagina: William Shakspere
5. Dal testamento, seconda pagina: Wllm. Shakspere
6. Dal testamento, ultima pagina: William Shakspeare

Le sei firme provengono tutte da documenti legali.
Su documenti simili suo padre dimostrò di essere analfabeta usando il suo “contrassegno”, il disegno di uno strumento da guantaio, invece di una firma. Anche sua figlia usava un contrassegno , dimostrando di essere anche lei analfabeta.

Alcuni studiosi sostengono che certe firme non siano state scritte dallo stesso Shakespeare, ma da uno scrivano professionista che annotava la persona che aveva apposto il sigillo.

L’ortografia è diversa e la maggior parte presenta la versione abbreviata del nome, che al tempo era una convenzione popolare e una pratica comune.
Dopo la sua morte, il nome venne ancora scritto in vari modi dai redattori della sua produzione letteraria che non sembravano d’accordo sulla vera ortografia. Successivamente in nome venne modernizzato in “Shakespear”, popolare nel XVIII secolo anche se nel secolo seguente si fece uso della grafia di “Shakspere”.
L’ortografia di “Shakespeare” fu introdotta solo nel XX secolo.

Fonti contemporanee a Shakespeare scrivono il suo cognome in più di 80 modi diversi, che vanno da “Shappere” a “Shaxberd”.

Comunque sia scritto, si pensa che Shakespeare significhi “lanciere/soldato armato di lancia”, composto da “shake” scuotere (“brandire un’arma”) + “spear” lancia,” e probabilmente si riferiva a una persona belligerante o polemica.
Shakespeare non era quindi necessariamente un nome positivo, tant’è che un certo Hugh Shakespeare lo cambiò in Hugh Saunders a Oxford nel 1487 “a causa della sua infima reputazione”.