THE HE FRONTISPIECE of this volume is a reproduction of the Felton Portrait of Shakespeare, which was bought for five guineas from a dealer in antiquities in 1792, and came into the possession of the well-known Shakespeare scholar, George Steevens. The original was painted on a wood panel some eleven inches by eight and bore on the back the inscription "Gul. Shakespear[e], 1597. R. B.," these initials intended to suggest Richard Burbage, the famous actor who is believed to have painted the portrait of Shakespeare, an engraving of which by Droeshout appears on the title page of the first folio of Shakespeare's works, 1623. The Felton portrait, which exhibits finer lines than that of Droeshout, has often been reproduced by engraving, first and best in 1794 by T. Trotter, from whose plate this frontispiece is made. The original painting has apparently been long since lost. |