Author(s): Stephanie Nolen

Shakespeare

'Behold that special face. Is it Shakespeare?'

NEW YORK TIMES

William Shakespeare's grius has many faces in his plays-but what did he look like? The portraits that we have, including the 'bladder-faced burgher' Mark Twain scoffed at, were all created after his death. But in May 2001 Canadian journalist Stephanie Nolen broke a story that created headlines around the world. A painting had come to light-of a bright-eyed, mischievous young man with a quizzical grin-that may be the only portrait of Shakespeare made during his life.

SHAKESPEARE'S FACE tells many stories: the extraordinary tale of how the portrait came to reside beneath the bed of a Montreal grandmother; the setbacks her grandson overcame in his quest to authenticate it; the intriguing detective story of the forensic analysis; the flavour of daily life in Shakespeare's time. And it recruits an international cast of experts who explore our desire, repeated over the centuries, to find an image of Shakespeare that speaks to us. For many people, the smiling face in this small portrait is suggestive of the humorous, humane man

who wrote the greatest plays in the language. Is it really him?

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JONATHAN BATE, TARNYA COOPER, MARJORIE GARBER, ANDREW GURR, ALEXANDER LEGATT, ROBERT TITTLER AND STANLEY WELLS