Huge Savings Shakespeare, William. (1564–1616) Portrait After The Original By Droeshout Save Big: 95% Off [LeVCAq9w]

The Droeshout Portrait is depicted on the frontispiece of all Four Folios and is printed alongside, here rendered smaller and above, a poem To The Reader by Shakespeare’s friend Ben Jonson in which he praises the accuracy of the engraving’s likeness stating that the engraver has managed to “outdo the life” and has “hit his face” accurately. Despite this, the portrait squeezes the author into formal court costume, which has the effect of making Shakespeare look somewhat stiff and unnatural, and this has led some people to question the authenticity of the Droeshout Portrait.

The first facsimile was published by E & J Wright (London) in 1807, for which the plate was re-engraved. The present example is a re-issue of the frontispiece to the Fourth Folio (1685) in which the portrait was moved from off the title page and printed on the page opposite, with the Ben Johnson verse printed below it as shown here.