SHAKSPEARE'S SEAL.
(Vol. v., p. 539.)
There is a very full and curious account of a ring-seal (of which I possess two red wax impressions), supposed to have belonged to Shakspeare, in a work unassumingly entitled A Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon, by R. B. Wheler, published in 1814. I presume that is the seal—or, rather, ring-seal—to which reference is made; but how far Mr. Wheler's statements and speculations may encourage "belief in the genuineness of this relic," your correspondent, and others taking any interest in such matters, must for themselves determine.
As the publication above named is before me, it may not be unacceptable to give a summary of Mr. Wheler's narrative, which occupies eight concluding pages of the Guide. It appears that on the 16th March, 1810, an ancient gold ring, weighing 12 dwts., and bearing the initials "W. S.," engraved in Roman characters, was found by a labourer's wife upon the surface of the mill-close adjoining Stratford churchyard, being the exact spot whereon Mr. Oldaker since erected his present residence. It had undoubtedly been lost a great many years, being nearly black; and, continues Mr. W.,—
"Though I purchased it upon the same day, for 36s. (the current value of the gold), the woman had sufficient time to destroy the 'precious ærugo' by having it unnecessarily immersed in aquafortis, to ascertain and prove the metal, at a silversmith's shop, which consequently restored its original colour. It is of tolerably large dimensions, and evidently a gentleman's ring of Elizabeth's age. Similar seal-rings are represented on cotemporary paintings and monuments: and the crossing of the central lines of the 'W.' with the oblique direction of the lines of the 'S.' exactly agree with the characters of that day. For proof we need wander no farther than Stratford Church, where the Totness and Clopton tombs will furnish representations of rings, and Shakspeare's monument of letters, perfectly corresponding in point of shape. The connexion or union of the letters by the ornamental string and tassels" [or True Lover's Knot, according to your correspondent], "was then frequently used, of which numberless instances may be found upon seals and upon inscriptions, in painted windows, and in the title-pages of books of that period; and for further coincidence of circumstances, it may be observed over the porch leading into the hall of Charlcote House near Stratford (erected in the early part of Elizabeth's reign, by the very Sir Thomas Lucy said to have prosecuted Shakspeare for deer-stealing), that the letters 'T. L.' are surrounded in a manner precisely similar."
After adverting to many vain efforts made by him to discover whether there existed anywhere Shakspeare's seal attached to letter or other writing, Mr. Wheler states that he had examined—
"A list of all the inhabitants of Stratford assessed to the levies in 1617, wherein I cannot discover any apparently respectable person the initials of whose name agree with 'W. S.:' but from this assessment, though probably copied from an anterior one, nothing conclusive can be estimated, it being made in the year subsequent to Shakspeare's death; and I should, from a close observation of the ring, be inclined to suppose that it was made in the early part of the poet's life. Mr. Malone, in a conversation I had with him in London," (adds Mr. Wheler), "the 20th April, 1812, about a month before his death, said that he had nothing to allege against the probability of my conjecture as to its owner."
Mr. W. afterwards proceeds:
"That such a seal was used by a person connected with Shakspeare by a marriage is certain; for I possess an impression of the seal (and apparently a seal-ring) of Adrian Quiney, bailiff of Stratford in 1559-60; and who, I have every reason to believe, was the uncle of Thomas Quiney, our poet's son-in-law. This seal of Quiney's, which is appended to a deed dated June 28, 9 Eliz., 1567, being a conveyance of property in Bridge Street, Stratford, very minutely corresponds with the Shakspeare ring in size, and has a very near resemblance to it in the string and tassels uniting the Roman initials 'A. Q.;' which ornamental junction is carved somewhat similar to what is now called The True Lover's Knot, and in the Shakspeare ring the upper bow or flourish resembles a heart."
In Shakspeare's age—
"Seal-rings were very fashionable, but were probably more limited than at present to the nobility and respectable families; for I still confine myself to the respectability of its proprietor.... After numerous and continued researches into public and private documents, I find no Stratfordian of that period so likely to own such a ring as Shakspeare."
Mr. Wheler concludes—
"At present, I possess no positive proof whatever. Let it be remembered that my observations are merely relative. I yet hope to meet with an impression of the ring in my possession; and in this I am more particularly encouraged by the fact, that should success attend the investigation, this seal-ring would be the only existing article PROVED to have originally belonged to our immortal poet."
When Mr. Wheler wrote, the signatures in Montaigne's work, &c. had not been restored to the light.
A Hermit at Hampstead.