Small round-up this week!
* To see or not to see? Shakespeare’s death mask on display for the first time in macabre exhibition of medical artefacts – Anyone know anything about the authenticity of the Shakespeare death mask?
* Henry VIII as King David – From the British Library’s Manuscripts blog
And a neat trailer for Nancy Bilyeau’s The Crown:
The attribution of the death mask as being Shakespeare has been slated by many scholars. No less than Professor Stanley Wells has said he is ‘very sceptical about the whole story’. The Daily Mail article shows it in comparison to the Cobbe Portrait which too has often been taken as not being of Shakespeare. A few years ago, a German forensic scientist compared the mask to the Davenant Bust in London’s Garrick Club and stated it was a very good match. However, many ‘experts’ say the bust dates from the middle of the 18th century. Only the Droeshout Portrait in the First Folio is regarded as a definite likeness. As with much regarding the life of William Shakespeare, I have a feeling this will run and run.